Screenplay and novel consultancy services

‍About Deborah

I've spent my career working with stories and writers.

I'm a producer, writer and script and story editor with a long professional career in television and radio.

I've worked across drama, development and production, and have spent much of my career helping writers develop ideas, characters, stories and scripts.

My television career includes producing EastEnders, as well as working as a Script Editor and Story Editor on EastEnders, Casualty and Family Affairs.

I've also worked as a story producer, development executive, writer and director, and have produced and directed for BBC Radio 4.

This means that when I read a script or manuscript, I'm not approaching it purely from an academic perspective. I'm looking at it as someone who has spent years asking the same fundamental questions professionally:

Does the story work?
Do I care about these characters?
What is keeping me turning the page?
Where does the story lose momentum?
What does the writer want the audience to feel?
And what could make this work stronger?

Working with writers:

One of the most rewarding parts of my career has been working with writers.

As a script and story editor, I've worked closely with writers at different stages of development — helping shape ideas, identify problems, strengthen stories and prepare scripts for production.

I've also worked as a tutor in English Literature, Media Studies and Creative Writing, and particularly enjoy helping writers develop their confidence as well as their ideas.

My approach is straightforward: honest, constructive and completely focused on helping the writer make their stories as good as it can be.

I don't believe in imposing a formula on a writer or rewriting their work in my own voice. Every writer has something different to say. My role is to help them find the strongest way of saying it.

Writing and qualifications:

I hold an MA in Novel Writing from Middlesex University, awarded with Distinction, and a Distinction in Creative Writing from the Open University.

I have also completed the BBC Script Editor Course, BBC Researcher Course and Robert McKee Story Seminar.

My own writing experience, combined with many years spent editing and developing other writers' work, gives me an understanding of both sides of the creative process.

Why Lighthouse Scripts?

I set up Lighthouse Scripts to offer writers something I know from experience can be enormously valuable, which is a knowledgeable, independent and honest pair of eyes on their work.

You may have been working on your novel or screenplay for months — or years. You know it intimately.Sometimes that makes it difficult to see the things that aren't quite working.

An experienced reader can help you step back from the manuscript, understand what you've actually got, and decide what to do next.

‍About Deborah

I've spent my career working with stories and writers.

I'm a producer, writer and script and story editor with a long professional career in television and radio.

I've worked across drama, development and production, and have spent much of my career helping writers develop ideas, characters, stories and scripts.

My television career includes producing EastEnders, as well as working as a Script Editor and Story Editor on EastEnders, Casualty and Family Affairs.

I've also worked as a story producer, development executive, writer and director, and have produced and directed for BBC Radio 4.

This means that when I read a script or manuscript, I'm not approaching it purely from an academic perspective. I'm looking at it as someone who has spent years asking the same fundamental questions professionally:

Does the story work?

Do I care about these characters?

What is keeping me turning the page?

Where does the story lose momentum?

What does the writer want the audience to feel?

And what could make this work stronger?

Working with writers:

One of the most rewarding parts of my career has been working with writers.

As a script and story editor, I've worked closely with writers at different stages of development — helping shape ideas, identify problems, strengthen stories and prepare scripts for production.

I've also worked as a tutor in English Literature, Media Studies and Creative Writing, and particularly enjoy helping writers develop their confidence as well as their ideas.

My approach is straightforward: honest, constructive and completely focused on helping the writer make their stories as good as it can be.

I don't believe in imposing a formula on a writer or rewriting their work in my own voice. Every writer has something different to say. My role is to help them find the strongest way of saying it.

Writing and qualifications:

I hold an MA in Novel Writing from Middlesex University, awarded with Distinction, and a Distinction in Creative Writing from the Open University.

I have also completed the BBC Script Editor Course, BBC Researcher Course and Robert McKee Story Seminar.

My own writing experience, combined with many years spent editing and developing other writers' work, gives me an understanding of both sides of the creative process.

Why Lighthouse Scripts?

I set up Lighthouse Scripts to offer writers something I know from experience can be enormously valuable, which is a knowledgeable, independent and honest pair of eyes on their work.

You may have been working on your novel or screenplay for months — or years. You know it intimately.Sometimes that makes it difficult to see the things that aren't quite working.

An experienced reader can help you step back from the manuscript, understand what you've actually got, and decide what to do next.