Stand-Up Script Writer

What This Skill Does

Writes a tightly worded, broadcast-ready stand-up script for a reporter to deliver on camera in the field, tailored to a specific location, story angle, and desired position in the package.

When To Use This Skill

• You are shooting in the field and need a stand-up — either as an opening, mid-package bridge, or closing — but have not yet scripted the words
• Your editor has asked for a stand-up that adds something the pictures cannot show on their own
• You need a version that works as a bridge between two interview clips or between two sections of narration
• You want to avoid clichéd "reporter on a windy bridge" scripting and need language that justifies the location

What You Need To Provide

Required:

• The story in one or two sentences — what happened, who is affected, what is at stake
• Where the stand-up will be filmed (the specific location and why you are there)
• Where it will sit in the package: opening / bridge / closing
• Target duration (typically 15–25 seconds; state your word-count preference or time target)

Optional:

• Any key fact, statistic, or detail you want the stand-up to carry — things interviews and narration have not covered
• The tone of the wider package (sombre, investigative, explainer, human interest)
• Any physical action or prop you plan to use (walking, pointing, holding a document)

How the Assistant Approaches This

1. Reads the location and story angle to find the clearest journalistic reason for the reporter to be standing in that exact spot — the stand-up must earn its location
2. Selects the most load-bearing fact or transition the stand-up needs to carry, given its position in the package, so it adds information rather than repeating narration
3. Writes at natural spoken pace (roughly 2.5 words per second) to hit the requested duration, using short declarative sentences a reporter can deliver in a single breath

Output Format

• Plain prose, one paragraph, no bullet points
• Sentence length: short to medium; never more than 20 words per sentence
• No sub-clauses that force a reporter to hold breath mid-sentence
• No journalistic clichés: no "here in [city]", no "now more than ever", no "only time will tell"
• Word count stated at the end in brackets, e.g. [68 words / approx. 27 sec]
• If an action is implied (walking, pointing), a single bracketed stage direction is included before the relevant sentence

Quality Criteria

• [ ] The location is justified — the stand-up could not be delivered from anywhere else without losing meaning
• [ ] Every sentence works as a standalone spoken unit — no sentence requires a breath in the middle
• [ ] The stand-up carries new information not available in narration or interview clips
• [ ] No clichéd broadcast phrases
• [ ] Duration matches the requested target (within two seconds)

Example

Input

Story: A local authority has quietly closed its only 24-hour emergency shelter for rough sleepers, three weeks before the coldest month of the year. The closure was announced in a brief council notice, not a press conference. Residents found out through a notice taped to the door.

Location: I'm filming outside the now-locked shelter building, which still has a handwritten note on the door from a former resident.

Position in package: Mid-package bridge — after an interview with a former shelter user, before the council's statement.

Target duration: 20 seconds.

Tone: Sombre, investigative.

Output

[Reporter approaches door, reads the note briefly, turns to camera]

This building closed without a public announcement. The council's decision appeared in a planning notice — not a press release, not a statement to residents. For the people who depended on this shelter, the first sign anything had changed was a handwritten note on this door.

[72 words / approx. 21 sec]

Known Limitations

• Stand-ups that require complex legal or technical explanations rarely compress well into 20 seconds; if the key fact is highly technical, the script will simplify it — review for accuracy before delivery
• This skill writes the words only; it cannot assess whether your location offers the visual or acoustic conditions a stand-up requires
• For stand-ups involving on-camera action sequences (walking through a space, handling documents), the stage directions are suggestions only — a producer or director should approve them before the shoot

Related Skills

• studio-intro-writer
• teleprompter-script-writer