Month: April 2016

5 African American Female Television Writers Who Paved the Way

We at TVWriter™ love us a good pioneer tale, and this article delivers five of ’em. Read on and see what we mean:

feliciadby K. Nicole Mills

Over the past two years, we have witnessed history in television.  This has been the most diverse time period in the history of the small screen.  The amount of diverse content available to audiences has drastically increased, and people of color currently headline numerous shows on every major network and digital platform.   We have made great strides considering the fact that when ‘Scandal’ premiered in 2012, it was the first network drama with a black woman as it’s lead in almost four decades.  Many attribute the shift of developing more diverse characters to the “Shonda Effect,” a term inspired by Shonda Rhimes who has continuously hired people of color in lead roles on all of her shows.  She simply creates television shows that mirror the reality of the world that we live in.

“I’m normalizing TV. I am making TV look like the world looks. Women, people of color, LGBTQ people equal way more than 50 percent of the population. Which means it ain’t out of the ordinary.” – Shonda Rhimes read article

Productivity for Writers

Or maybe it’s writers for productivity. Who the hell knows. Oh, wait – Jane Cui, the writer of the following article, does. Man, does she know:

Lunin1030 Accomplished Writers Reveal Their Productivity Secrets
by Jane Cui

This is probably not the first productivity article that you have read. You probably have seen countless lists telling you tips like “Don’t go on facebook!” or “don’t check your email!”

But the real key to productivity is not about little tricks or one-day-stints. It’s about working consistently even if you don’t feel like it, or you’re too tired, or you have to take care of children. It’s difficult, but not impossible to create a system for works. You can do it, because these writers (who are human, just like you) have done it. read article

Peggy Bechko’s World: Do You Wanna Be a Writer?

by Peggy Bechko

Do ya? Do ya?

Or maybe you’re a writer already but things are going just the way you’d like and you’re having a crisis of faith in your decision to write and be a writer.

It happens. I suspect to all of us. At some point we break down, throw our hands in the air and question … well, everything! read article

The Week at TVWriter™ – April 18, 2016

Thumbs-Up

In case you’ve missed what’s happening at TVWriter™, the most popular blog posts during the week ending yesterday were:

Kelly Jo Brick: The Write Path with Manager Zadoc Angell, Part 1 read article

Herbie J Pilato: How THAT GIRL Changed Everything

Contributing Editor Herbie J Pilato is busy these days with not only his own TV series but also writing regularly about classic TV for the TV Academy’s website, Emmys.Com. Here’s his latest, reminding us of what good television writing can be:

It's the whole Thomas fan-damily!
It’s the whole Thomas fan-damily!

by Herbie J Pilato

The first frames of the opening credits of television’s legendaryThat Girl placed viewers in the front car of a train as it barreled into New York City. 

That locomotive not only carried a young woman who was filled with dreams of independence, but it also brought television into a new era of enlightenment.  A groundbreaking program teeming with wit, style and social consciousness, That Girl didn’t set out to change the world.  But over the course of its celebrated five-year run, it did exactly that. read article