Script Essentials 2026 Summary Notes - Session 5: What Makes A Great Spec?

Our wrap up notes for the fifth session in our 2026 Script Essentials Webinar series

Published: 23 June 2026

Our fifth Script Essentials session was hosted by writer and filmmaker Sai Karan Talwar with professional script readers Karen Featherstone and Paula Hines. The pair discussed what they look for when reading a new script and how to keep readers engaged. For anyone unsure about what a spec (speculative) script is on a more fundamental level - check out our blog post by Philip Shelley on Spec Scripts linked here.

Sai: What are the biggest misconceptions emerging writers have about what script readers are looking for?

Paula:

Try imagining the reader as your first audience. Put yourself in the reader's shoes and think about what you’re putting on the page that is making them want to keep reading.
You can build this skill by reading as many scripts as possible. Think about what it is about a script that makes you want to keep reading and apply these techniques to your own writing. Similarly, try reading scripts that are for shows you maybe don’t enjoy, and think about what in the script isn’t working for you - from there you can find common pitfalls to avoid in your own writing.

Karen:

It’s important to realise that readers are not just looking for something that they have seen a lot of already on TV. Rather, readers are looking to be engaged in terms of original voice, character, and story.
A lot of people start their scripts with something extremely visual and dramatic without considering why the action/plot is important to the protagonist.
Readers want to feel something when reading a script.

Sai: what makes a script feel distinctive rather than derivative?

Paula:

Character is key to a compelling and distinctive script. The characters don’t have to be likeable, but we have to be interested in them and want to spend time with them.
Put your character at the forefront of your story, they are going to be our way into the story and so should be front and centre at the start.

Karen:

For Karen, similarly, character should be at the centre. A character should ideally not fall into stereotypical tropes and should be a distinctive individual who we’re intrigued by.
A good script often has a confidence to the writing. There is a sense of clarity and intention to the piece which makes you feel that this writer has authority over their own story world. You can feel confident that this is a script where the writer is in control of the story.

Sai: What are red flags the it comes to structure in specs?

Karen:

When structure works best it is invisible in a script. Think of structure more of a tool for you to use when editing - think about your own script and where the inciting incident it, where is the mid-point, where are we losing interest, etc.
Karen also highlighted the benefit of watching things that you do not enjoy and try to figure out what it is about them that you’re not gelling with? Is it the protagonist? Is it the plot? The structure? Realising what makes you not connect with other writing is useful to learn what to apply, or not apply, to your own writing.

Paula:

Paula pointed back to Simon Nelson’s session (available to watch on the Script Essentials portal) which breaks down all of the structural issues with new scripts in a very clear and concise manner.
Paula echoed Karen’s point that structure should be invisible when it is working best. The reader should be able to focus on the character and the story as opposed to be thinking consciously about the structure when it is doing its job.

Sai: What should writers be reading or watching to get good examples of storytelling at the moment?

Paula:

Paula swears by reading scripts and comparing this to what has ended up on the screen. Paula recently read the script for Sinners and compared that to the finished product which was a great learning example.

Karen :

If you’re writing in a specific genre, one good thing to do can be to look at what is currently popular in that genre - recognise what are the common tropes, and then figure out how to avoid those tropes and therefore make your own vision on that genre more unique.

Sai: What does a strong voice look like on the page?

Paula:

For Paula, Voice is about the way that a writer tells a story which means that only that writer could have told that story. Think about the way you are introducing characters, scene directions, dialogue - and what are you doing to make these shine as examples of writing that only you could have put onto the page.
Also, with a spec script, Paula highlights that this is the first, and possibly only, time you’ll have completely free reign to write whatever you want. You haven’t got producers worrying about costs, just think about what you want to write and write with freedom.

Karen:

Voice is incredibly difficult to articulate from a reader-point of view. Voice, for Karen, is when the writer has noticed something about the world, or has a takeaway about the world which has not been expressed in that way before. No matter what they’re writing about, there needs to be an angle to the way that the writer is viewing the world which is distinctive.
We all have a unique take on the world as we are all individuals - and sometimes our original voice can be squashed down by trying to second-guess what commissioners want. It is important to remember that, even though we want, as writers, to impress the readers - you need to try and remember your original voice. Think about why you are writing this, and what is it about your view on the world which makes you, you; regardless of what the reader may want from a practical standpoint.

Sai: How important are the first 10 pages, and what needs to happen in those 10 pages to keep pulling the reader along and sustain interest for the rest of the script?

Karen:

Essentially, you need to grip and intrigue the reader. However, this does NOT mean just jam your script full of action without underlying meaning.
Character is key and so create characters who intrigue us. Give them behaviours which pull us in and make us want to learn more about them - and, make us wonder why that subtle character observation may tie into the wider plot and cause issues for them down the line.
It is also important to remember that your screenplay should be a visually textured experience. TV is a visual medium so do not neglect this, allow the reader to clearly visualise the script - this does not mean clutter it with excessive stage direction, rather confidently articulate the world and action.
Also, start as late as you can in your script!

Paula:

Paula echoed Karen’s point about character being key. Think about how you’re bringing us into this world, and this character. What makes this character intriguing and makes us want to stick with them and learn more about them?