Breaking In: Interview with TV Writer Carla Robinson

by Juliana Weiss-Roessler

Imagine you had the opportunity to write for a highly acclaimed sci-fi series at its peak, the kind of show that sparks the most rabid of fandom. Now envision yourself winning a Peabody Award and a Nebula Award for your work, and then being singled out by TV Guide as having written one of the creepiest episodes. Pretty amazing, right?

Well, that’s exactly what Carla Robinson accomplished when she wrote for the first and second seasons of Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica. Before joining their staff, she wrote experimental plays. When that didn’t work out, she came to Los Angeles where she sold work to All My Children and CBS’s Family Law, and was elected for programs at Warner Brothers and the American Film Institute before making her way over to help defeat the Cylon invasion.

Read on for the insightful and funny interview with Carla about breaking into the biz and her experience on Battlestar.

Why did you go into TV writing?

I was putting myself through college on a scholarship for microbiology and working two jobs to provide for essentials the scholarship refused to cover -– mainly pizza and beer. I didn’t even own a television at the time, but managed to catch a line-up of Thursday night comedies on a tiny, black and white set at my night job. Must-See-TV became a ritual for me. It was my fix. And something possessed me. I began to stay up nights to jot down lines of dialogue and plot out various scenes. Soon, the scenes became a script. Only later did I realize I had written my very first television spec. And I enjoyed it. So I wrote another.

I moved to Los Angeles and wrote even more scripts. I also joined a writers group populated by nasty, venomous people who were all-too-eager to tell me everything that was wrong with my scripts. I grew to appreciate these people. They were, after all, the only people reading my scripts. I also joined an innovative theater group where I could hear my work performed live on stage. It was about that time that I switched from beer to bourbon.

I still had trouble getting read until I entered my scripts into a few contests and began to win some attention from industry people. The lovely and talented Ron Moore was one of these people. Ron read my specs for Law & Order and The Practice, and he brought me in to pitch for Roswell. The pitch went well, and I was poised to get a freelance assignment. Then the show was cancelled. I likewise sold a story to the CBS drama Family Law and was prepared to go to script when episodes of that show began to be pulled. But I kept writing.

How did you get your first staff job?

I did everything the hard way. But I did it. I was very close to getting a number of staff positions, but at the last minute, a decision was made not to hire a staff writer on the show in question. In time, my scripts made their way around and landed on the desk of Ron Moore. He remembered me and was impressed that I had written completely new material, in this case specs for The West Wing and Six Feet Under. He read them, and I was invited to join the newly imagined series Battlestar Galactica.

What advice would you give to female writers trying to break in today?

I would give the female writers the same advice I give the male writers. Always wear a protective cup. And keep your work current and polished. I can tell you from personal experience that I only got a job because I kept writing even when no one was reading me. I have writing samples for procedural and character-oriented shows, and plenty of original material in my arsenal. I realize I sound like a deranged automaton, but I cannot stress enough how important it is to write a variety of scripts. It will help you in so many ways as you traverse this tricky world.

What are some pitfalls and roadblocks aspiring TV writers should watch out for?

Thanks for asking that question, Juliana. You just gave me the title for my autobiography: “Pitfalls and Roadblocks, the Carla Robinson story”. Frustration is a fundamental part of this life, and one has to expect it and prepare for it. Television writers, for the most part, have little say in what shows get on the air and stay on the air. I mean, really -– who among us could have predicted the phenomenal success of Dancing with the Stars? That celebrated dancer and former GOP leader Tom DeLay?

There will be ups and downs. But writers, probably more so than any type of artist, can practice their craft even during the down times. All it takes is a quiet room where one can put words onto a blank page. It doesn’t even have to be a nice room. They don’t have to be nice words. But it’s good practice to play around with various scenes and scenarios. The ability to write quickly and effectively will pay off when someone tells you, “I need you to write this scene. And by the way, I need it tomorrow.”

What was the writer’s room on Battlestar Galactica like?

It was a lot like “Lord of the Flies”. No, I’m totally kidding. It was a blast. All of the writers were encouraged to contribute ideas, and all of the ideas were considered and explored. Sometimes, we would take a story down a divergent path just to see how far we could go with it. We examined character and story arcs, and every writer on staff had to abandon some pet theories or story lines in order to satisfy the overall series arc. We always had the same goal in mind -– to make a good show and to service the characters and their world as well as we could. In addition, we as writers had great respect for our fans. We love our fans.

What was your favorite part about writing on Battlestar?

It sounds odd to say it, but it was intriguing to write a script without really knowing what was going to come next. We often made changes mid-stream, which can be difficult for a writer, but I think because the ride was so exulting, we were all eager to go along with it. There was always a sense at BSG that each script was part of a much bigger and greater world. That goes for the show itself. Some people regard BSG as simply a science fiction show on the Sy-Fy network. But those of us who know Battlestar realize there was a lot more going on aboard those spacecraft. There was love, lust, treachery, palace intrigue, and a little thing called loyalty. Oh, the humanity!

Who was your favorite BSG character to write for, and why?

I had a fondness for all of the characters, but I took particular delight in writing scenes for Gaius Baltar. From the very first episode, Baltar is a two-edged sword. The survivors of this devastated world seek a scientist to offer answers and wisdom in a perilous time, and they get Gaius Baltar, a man with far more to hide than anyone can imagine. It was fun to put Baltar into odd alliances with various characters and watch him weasel out of trouble at every turn. Every action Baltar takes is designed to conceal his continued perfidy and save his own life, but in the process, he ascends to power and hero status among the fleet. One gets the sense that Baltar truly believes that power makes a man more handsome. Or at least taller. Eventually, even Baltar is forced to concede that power is illusory. And it’s then that he finally establishes a sense of peace over his role in determining the destiny of mankind.

I understand you got your start writing experimental plays. Can you tell us a little about them? How do you think that experience helped inform your TV writing?

I had an idea to take a popular literary work and alter the nature of the primary character. For example, one of my plays was based on Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre”, which I subsequently titled, “Jane’s Error”. Only my Jane was not the prim, strait-laced governess of the novel. My Jane was more than a little bit slutty. (Okay, it seemed like a good idea at the time.)

Another play examined the work of theoretical physicist Erwin Schrodinger and his Schrodinger’s Cat thought experiment where a quantum cat can exist as both dead and alive at the same time. The title of my play was “That Darn Schrodinger’s Cat,” and it dealt with a scientist whose love life was both dead and alive at the same time. Can you imagine how badly this one bombed? I was there, and trust me. It bombed. Nevertheless, I loved writing these plays, and I was delighted when they were produced. And I learned valuable lessons from staging my plays, most significantly how to duck and weave when audience members begin to throw fruit.

I suppose most normal people would have been deterred from ever again putting themselves into a position to receive such ridicule. But that’s normal people. Television writers must keep trying. We write new scripts, and we get everyone we can to read them. And we take the criticism and the notes and do the next draft. And a lot of us drink.

What’s your writing process?

Oh, if only I had one…

My basic process is to develop an idea and gather notes and research and think up some dandy lines that my so-far nebulous characters might say in a so-far nebulous world.

Then, if I feel the story has legs, I just start writing. If it’s my own material, I don’t do much of an outline on the first draft. If I am writing on assignment, I do write an outline as time is obviously a consideration. In every television script, however, there are certain restrictions. I encourage writers to maintain a conservative page length and to keep a focus on act breaks and scene transitions.

Have you had the opportunity to work with a writer, actor, producer, or other artist that you particularly admired or were a fan of from afar? Can you share your “fangirl” experience with us?

I was a big fan of Mary McDonnell, and I was thrilled to meet her and to write her character of President Laura Roslin.

I always felt that Mary was the sort of actor who could speak volumes with her eyes, or the crinkle of her nose. I admire actors who know how to use quiet to attain an emotional reaction. And as Laura Roslin, Mary McDonnell would evoke a quiet sense of grace as she delivered the life-altering and sometimes life-obliterating orders to the colonists in her charge. Mary took her role to heart, and she was eager to meet with the producers and discuss how to best play such a pivotal role in the series. It was a pleasure to work with her.

What projects are you currently working on?

I have some new pilot scripts, and I was a recent winner in a Horror Film Festival with my horror feature.

Read Past Breaking In Interviews:
Sitcom Writer Jacqueline McKinley
Sci-Fi Writer Jane Espenson
Writing Team Kelly and Courtney Turk

Juliana Weiss-Roessler is an aspiring TV writer in Los Angeles. She has been writing in web-based media for 10 years, including writing web videos for an Emmy-nominated reality series and ghostwriting a blog for Yahoo. To learn more about the process of applying to write for TV, visit her website WeissRoessler.com to read her spec scripts or visit her blog Boring Future Generations.