10 Screenwriting Tips from Vince Gilligan on how he wrote Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul

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Vince Gilligan is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. He is known for his television work, specifically as creator, head writer, showrunner, executive producer, and director of AMC's Breaking Bad and its spin-off Better Call Saul. He was also a writer and producer for The X-Files.
Vince Gilligan has won four Primetime Emmy Awards, six Writers Guild of America Awards, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, two Producers Guild of America Awards, a Directors Guild of America Award, and a BAFTA Television Award. Outside of television, he co-wrote the screenplay for the 2008 film Hancock and wrote and directed the Breaking Bad sequel film, El Camino.

1. When you hear a ridiculous idea or a joke, try to think of a domino effect situation that would lead to that ridiculous concept actually being plausible.

2. Have a finite show in your mind while writing. Make sure your characters change and they, like the show itself, have a beginning and an end.

3. To make a coincidence believable, make sure it is ultimately bad for the main character. If it benefits them, there shouldn’t be a coincidence. 

4. Build the story brick by brick, index card by index card. Fill the corkboard with indispensable plot points until you have enough for an episode.

5. Make sure you have a one-liner pitch sentence about your show that gives an idea of where the show is going and stick by that one-liner. 

6. As a new staff writer, remember to have a good attitude in the writer’s room. Don’t try to change the show, you need to first prove yourself by having the ability to speak in the voice of the characters already in it. 

7. Your writing won’t be of quality when you first start, no matter who you are. But if you start with an enthusiasm for it and keep at it, you’ll get there.

8. There’s no other way of pitching than putting one leg in front of the other. Make sure you really believe in the project and just go for it. 

9. In television production, you sometimes have to roll with the punches. If something doesn’t go your way, don’t dwell on it, rather try to turn lemons into lemonade. 

10. Most of the time, doing organic storytelling that stems from character is a good way to go about writing television, but sometimes writing something just for the fun of it might result in great moments.

#VinceGilligan #BreakingBad #BetterCallSaul #Screenwriting #Screenwriter

[dinglbarry]

One of the greatest writing moments of any show is the moment when Walt and Jesse are in the RV with Hank trying to get in. The suspense of that moment is off the charts and it's a scenario where the audience can't begin to imagine, how Walt and Jesse are going to pull it off and the writers pulled it off in the most believable way ever. No Deus Ex Machina! Unbelievable!

[juxe]

i find it absolutely nuts how a silly 5 second joke lead to the creation of arguably the greatest show ever made in tv history, arguably one of the greatest stories told across any medium along with another one of the greatest tv shows ever made

[JacobPatrick]

I love when experienced pros are so open.

[dinglbarry]

The thing that I liked most about the Walt and Jane's father in the bar coincidence is that Walt later addresses it to Jesse and goes into just how astronomical those odds were. Something about him acknowledging it makes the coincidence acceptable... perhaps the breaking Bad universe had a plan and it wasn't a coincidence.

[canuckpilot]

I like how well-designed the entire series is and the focus on change. The first season is Walter's change, the second is Jesse's, the third is Skylar's, the fourth is Hank, and the fifth is the consequences of how each character has changed.
It's a brilliant way of doing it, allowing each character to have significant change over the course of a season without having to reboot/re-establish themselves. Of course, each character changes each season, but the most significant change is centered around one character. Wish more series had that.

[TomEyeTheSFMguy]

1. When you hear a ridiculous idea or joke, try to think of a domino effect situation that would lead to that ridiculous concept actually being plausible.
2. To make a coincidence believable, make sure it is ultimately bad for the main character. If it benefits them, there shouldn't be a coincidence.
3. Have a finite show in your mind while writing. Make sure your characters change and they, like the show itself, have a beginning and an end.
4. Build the story brick by brick, index card by index card. Fill the corkboard with indispensable plot points until you have enough for an episode.
5. Most of the time, doing organic storytelling that stems from character is a good way to go about writing television, but sometimes writing something just for the fun of it might result in great moments.
6. Make sure you have a one-liner pitch sentence about your show that gives an idea of where the show is going and stick by that one-liner.
7. As a new staff writer, remember to have a good attitude in the writer's room. Don't try to change the show, you need to first prove yourself by having the ability to speak in the voice of the characters already in it.
8. Your writing won't be of quality when you first start writing, no matter who you are. But if you start with an enthusiasm for it and keep at it, you'll get there.
9. There's no other way of pitching than putting one foot in front of the other. Make sure you really believe in the project and just go for it.
10. In television production you sometimes have to roll with the punches. If something doesn't go your way, don't dwell on it, rather try to turn lemons into lemonade.

[kierantohill]

That bit ab coincidences NEEDING to be a bad thing is so eye opening to favorite moments in the most popular TV shows. Like you’ll never question a one in a million chance if it’s something bad, it just gets u more excited bc u can’t believe it happened.

[gdhuertas]

Vince Gilligan seems like such a gentleman. Thank you very much for this channel and these videos!

[MrKaren]

Ok, this is REALLY a weird coincidence, but I was doing some of my own writer's research while listening to this (trying to find a more interesting synonym for "genial"), and JUST as I was looking at the idiom "hail-fellow-well-met" (which is a great old-time English idiom, by the way if you ever are looking for a sort of retro-sounding synonym for genial/friendly/hearty), Gilligan said it at EXACTLY the same time! What are the odds of THAT old-timey, seldom-used phrase coming up randomly in speech, especially by a modern-day tv writer? Shows what a good writer Gilligan really is, that his vocab's not just limited to whatever the modern trendy phrases/slang is, he appreciates the great old anachronistic slang classics of language, too!

[thestupidsofheaven]

Really loved To make a coincidence believable, make sure it is ultimately bad for the main character. If it benefits them, there shouldn’t be a coincidence.

[oliverford]

Fascinating how the idea for one of the best shows ever started as a joke the creator's friend came up with!

[nathanarmstrong]

I think Vince is a true writing genius. For one, to even write the stuff the way he does takes an observant person combined with a good deal of life experience.

[twistedoperator]

The greatest writer of my gen full stop.

[kenneth]

I binge watched breaking bad and nearly lost my mind. Thanks for a great channel. I'm recommending it to other writers.

[marturb]

For a starting writer, Vince is truly inspirational

[beeanca]

Vince Gilligan. That's it, that's the comment! 💯 thank you for this content!!! Better Call Saul Season 6 please! 😀

[Zecamilleo]

I really wish that he does something outside of the breaking bad universe/ tv series formt, I really want a original movie written by him

[KoNViiKz]

Vince goes on to say that coincidences that are good for the characters is lazy writing. Although I agree, I think it can lead to interesting story-telling sometimes. For example in the pilot of Breaking Bad, the DEA is raiding a home-lab and Walter is sitting in the back of the police car of his brother-in-law, and sees one of his former student spying on the raid by the next house and makes the connection immedietly that he is the wanted suspect. He then proceeds to stalk him with the aid of his files saved in the school's system, to eventually offer him a deal to work as lab partners. It's kind of ironic that Vince goes on to say that, yet this is a pitch perfect coincidence in his pilot, the one who he arguably wrote all by himself. Love Vince, but you can't say coincidences are always bad. They happen in real life, they happen in fiction. Just need to be careful with them.

[CKimDancer]

love this channel. please keep it coming

[danielruiz]

I think number 8 is the most important for writers that have begun writing