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The script plays one of the most important role in the success of a project, be it a film, TV series, short feature film or a documentary. The direction and the marketing do play their own important part, but if the base of the project, which happens to be the script, is not up to the target viewer’s expectation, liking or comprehension, the project falls flat, irrespective of other factors.

Scripts for a documentary are very hard to write. Documentaries are based on real life stories. So, it is very important for the script to be flexible, more so at the start of the project itself. When the documentary is especially for a TV series, it becomes tougher as it would be shown in a series of 30 minutes or perhaps, a maximum of 60 minutes, which happens to include commercial breaks. So, it is important to divide the script into small segments that has a story of its own, with a subtle closing of its own, yet maintaining the continuity of the whole project. Here are a few tips on how a good TV documentary series script should be like:

1.The topic of the documentary needs to be researched completely before the shooting starts. Since, they are basically stories about real life, there is not much scope of dramatization. Although, like dramatic scripts, we need to have characters, interesting plots and subplots, the flow needs to be natural.

2.The outline of the script must be made before hand. The outline must contain the characters, and the plot revolving them, and a vague idea about how a conclusion would take place. The reason for allowing vagueness in the article is because the script would essentially change during the course of the shooting of the long series.

3.The narration of the documentary should be in tune with the theme of the story itself. It should be appropriate, and if required, a narrative voice could be used in the background, in places where the portraying the scenes through characters would seem redundant. However, it is the characters and their activity throughout would provide life to the documentary.

4.The above points depict the shooting script. Now comes in the editing script or the post-shoot script, where the editor must be given an idea of how to complete the documentary. The script need not be as tight as the first script, but by this time, the characters and the plot must develop perfectly for the documentary to end. The writer must now have a perfect outline about the final documentary.

5.The script, at this stage must be as detailed as possible as the editor must be able to manipulate the script according to his own vision.