Category: Resources

40 years worth of TV writing experience and info, yours for the taking.

The Unreliable Narrator in TV

The unreliable narrator has long been a common device in literature, but it’s only recently that it has reared its challenging heard in our wonderful world of TV writing. Here’s some advice about how to watch and interpret some of the medium’s hottest new shows.

Framing Device Betrayal: What to Fear From ‘WandaVision’ and ‘Young Rock’
by Leonardo Adrian Garcia and Libby Hill

Narratives have long used framing devices when it comes to telling stories. What is “Arabian Nights” if not Scheherazade introducing the concept of episodic storytelling under the guise of staying her own execution? read article

Larry Brody’s TV Writing Tips & Tricks #16 – Teleplay Format

by Larry Brody

Looking for more detailed info on TV Writing? Then this is for you!

For all practical purposes, teleplays come in three formats. There’s one-hour film, half-hour film, and half-hour tape.

The hour film format is used for dramas, action shows, and primetime soaps. It looks a lot like typical screenplay format. read article

Stephanie Bourbon on Doing What You Love For A Living

LB’S NOTE: One of our fave TV writers-illustrators-screenwriters-vloggers, Stephanie Bourbon, gives us the kind of advice we all need to believe in…especially creators.

by Stephanie Bourbon

Here’s a little reminder if you are stuck in a rut!
 

DO WHAT YOU LOVE and accept nothing less for your life and career. 

TRUTH ~ when my mother was sick with lung cancer about two months before she died when she knew it was growing again and she would need at least one more surgery that would probably leave her paralyzed from the waist down she said to me
“if I make it out of this, I’m going back to painting. I hate graphic design.”
I knew she wasn’t making it out of it. I hoped, but I knew she wasn’t going to, and this crushed me. I thought, “I don’t want to be dying and have regrets like that.” It changed the course of my life.
You see, society tells us from the moment we are born that we need to do certain things. Get a college degree, get married, own property, pop out some kids, and have a steady career that makes money. Art and everything creative is fine for a hobby but not for a career. 
Why is that? 
EVERYONE enjoys art.

Yes even those who pretend that they are so above it all that they don’t own a TV, go to the movies, go to concerts, etc.. and yes all that POP CULTURE stuff? All the commercial films and TV shows, and books, etc.. all that is ART TOO.  read article

Wes Anderson Interview on writing The Grand Budapest Hotel

One of the most talented writer-directors in the world talks about one of his greatest works, The Grand Budapest Hotel. Settle back and enjoy while you’re learning.

Via Outstanding Screenplays

Handling Condescending Feedback on Your Creative Work

Nathan Bransford, TVWriter™’s favorite publishing know-it-all, shares his feelings about the kind of criticism that drives this TVWriter™ minion positively insane…so that neither you nor I will go ballistic.

Don’t listen to condescending feedback
by Nathan Bransford

My editing client Saranyan landed a literary agent last week and he posted a really great thread about persevering in the face of negative feedback, starting with this post: read article