I’ve pitched original TV shows. I’ve judged TV scripts in a major
screenwriting competition. And I’ve been
hired to write for television. Based on
these experiences, here, for what they’re worth, are three thoughts on writing
for TV:
One: Write The Pilot Before Finalizing The Bible
When writing for TV, it may seem logical to nail
down the pitch bible before turning to the pilot episode. In reality, it actually makes a lot of sense
to go ahead and draft the pilot when the bible is still at a very preliminary stage.
Before you draft a pilot, it’s difficult to know
exactly which elements will work in the actual show. A character trait or plot formula that sounds
great when described in a bible may actually be difficult or impossible to execute
well in a script.
And if an element is difficult to incorporate into
one script, it will be hell to do it over and over again for multiple
seasons.
Two: Conserve Your Story Energy
In reading for contests and giving notes through
my consulting website, I’ve come across a certain kind of pilot script numerous
times. This kind of script is chock full
of excellent writing. Every few pages I
find one of those clever moments writers strive for. It’s simply a great read. But at the end of the pilot, I think: “Now
what?”
It’s a fantastic pilot, but the series is out of
fuel.
In feature scripts, character arcs should be
visible and closure is your friend. In
the best pilots, you can’t see whole arcs at all; you only see suggestions of
arcs. In features, any sequels are
another writer’s problem (at least for now).
In TV, there are dozens of sequels already planned and they’re very much
your problem from the start.
I’ve done it myself: I’ve resolved a conflict between two
characters in a pilot, with the intention of providing an emotional and
entertaining moment and later thought to myself: “You did more harm than good
there. You sacrificed the energy fueling
many later episodes for a single moment.”
That’s not energy efficient.
A producer once said to me that he reads feature scripts
from a lot of promising writers, but too often all the good stuff is in Act One. While it’s not as obvious, the exact same
issue occurs with pilots; you can’t put all the good stuff in episode one.
Or you’ll run out of gas.
Three: Consider “Setting”
How many times have you watched a TV show and
wondered what city it was set in? A lot
of shows make little use of setting.
Similarly, in many pilots I read, there is very
little sense of setting at all. I think
it’s an underused device in TV writing, one that has the potential, given the
right locale, to set a script apart.
Consider the extremely popular CSI Miami; it mined a great deal of
entertainment value from its Floridian-urban setting. The City of Miami is a vibrant element of the
series, which may be one of the reasons the show was so tremendously popular
worldwide.
Setting isn’t an essential ingredient in every
popular show, but it is another tool
for every writer to keep in mind.
