By Daniel Ong
Behind popular local shows like Police and Thief, Sayang Sayang, Parental Guidance and the recent blockbuster Red Thread, 38-year-old Tan Wei-Lyn lives and breathes the eventful role of scriptwriter and producer, and lets on that Singapore has room for better writers.

But before you triumphantly claim “Aha!”, don’t be quick to judge as she shares how scriptwriters play a crucial role in crafting out captivating stories that keep television viewers glued to their seats.

To get the ball rolling, we ask, “What’s the difference between what you do and say, writing a storybook?” Unruffled, she says that while storybook authors get complete control of their characters and storylines, a scriptwriter has to consider various production aspects as well.
She pauses for dramatic effect and says, “Do the actors say their lines properly?”
“Sometimes actors are more dramatic in a different way and you have to take into consideration what the director feels. It’s not how lines are said but how best it comes across onscreen.”

True, but does that mean that a scriptwriter’s job is to just sit passively in the background? To this suggestion, she quickly asserts, “A scriptwriter cannot be in the back. The best team is when the writer is very clued into what everyone else is doing. We’re part of the huge process.”

Yet, while she does an excellent job, we can’t help but ask, “Does Singapore need more talented writers?”
“Not just Singapore,” she replies. “I think in general the world needs better writers. For whatever reason in Singapore it has been overlooked but people think that they can write when they can string a sentence together.”

“Because unlike foreign studios, we don’t have the budget to do explosive car chasing scenes or action scenes. We rely on clever writing to bring the viewers ratings in.”

It sounds like hard work, yet Wei-Lyn remains pleasantly chatty and affable in person. She reveals that she draws on life for inspiration “because a lot of it is writing what you know”. The self-confessed TV addict has written several well-received shows like Sayang Sayang. Her latest piece, Polo Boys, will be coming out this year.

So how did she begin her career?

Wei-Lyn explains that back when Under One Roof had just begun airing, she was an aspiring lawyer. The turning point came when she caught the local comedy and was inspired by how a television programme could be put together. This compelled her to sign up for a writing class, which saw a scriptwriting job offered to her at the end of it.

Since then, Wei-Lyn has risen through the ranks to become an executive producer with MediaCorp. Although she isn’t in a position to comment, it is a sore point for her that, while credit goes to the producers and director, the scriptwriters take the fire if there is any. She prefers “if it’s good, the entire team should take the credit, and if it’s bad, everyone should share the blame as well”.

As the interview draws to a close, we get her to offer some advice for budding writers waiting for her words of wisdom.

She pauses once more before replying, “It’s to keep writing and to have humility. To be confident and yet be humble with what you do, because you won’t know everything. If you don’t have the ability to be critical about your work, you stop growing as a writer, so it’s a tough one – not to react negatively when you get criticism but to take it and make something positive out of it.”

And with a note of finality, she says, “You just have to keep going.”