Category: Resources

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

LB: Should I Contact Agents Even Though I’m Starting Graduate School?

Building-Relationships-e1349448015688

Glad You Asked Dept. 3/14/14

This just in from M.R.,

Hello, I am a screenwriter who recently registered a TV pilot spec script with the WGA. I was wondering is prudent for me to pitch and to send is TV pilot script to screenwriters, agents, and managers, if I am attending graduate school in fall?
Does being a full-time grad or college student, limits networking, for example, to pitch, to correspond, and to meet with screenwriters, agents, and managers until he finished college?
Thank you for your time, and have a nice day, 
M.R.

Thanks for writing, M.R. I love it when people send in questions I actually have answers for. So here’s my take:

Dear M.R., read article

JOHN OSTRANDER: SHORT FORM AND LONG FORM STORYTELLING

splash-spectre3-1by John Ostrander

My favorite new show on TV this year is The Blacklist. It’s on opposite another show I enjoy a lot, Castle, which is now in its sixth season. Assuming it makes it (and I certainly do hope it’s renewed). I wonder if I’ll still love The Blacklist five years from now.

The new trend in American TV appears to be serial anthology shows such as American Horror Story and True Detective. Both take a season to tell a complete story and then the following season tells a different story but in the same genre. American Horror Story often keeps most of the same actors but then casts them in different parts. You tell the story and then you move on, giving a complete beginning, middle, and end.

There’s a lot to be said for that. The BBC series, Broadchurch, told a good story – so much so that I wonder how they’re going to do a sequel as they evidently plan to do. read article

The March TVWriter™ Advanced Workshop has 2 Openings

writersm1Yeppers, you heard it here. The next Advanced Online Workshop starts March 19th, a week from today, and we have two openings left.

If you’re ready to dive in and learn more at each of the four meetings than you ever thought you’d learn in, oh, a whole semester in a normal writing class, then now’s a perfect time to sign on and be amazed by Our Beloved Leader, LB – AKA Larry Brody, the dude behind this site.

Editing/cutting down on wordage is everything to LB, so we’re going to follow his lead. Which means that instead of going into all those details, details, details about what the Workshop is and how it operates, we’re sending you straight to the Advanced Online Workshop Page. read article

Julie Livingston: Improv for Writers

Julie Livingston Column 2by Julie Livingston

One of the best things about being a writer is I can do it pretty much anywhere, any time. I am free to practice my craft as often and as vigorously as I like – or at least as much as I can stand. I don’t need specialized equipment, an exotic location or studio financing. Best of all, I don’t need anyone else’s permission to do it (if you read that last sentence and though, “Yes, I do,” please stay tuned because I will talk about that in another column soon).

Writing, in most of its incarnations, is a solitary pursuit. And that is somewhat true for TV writing as well. But, as I am learning, writing isn’t the only skill you need to become a TV writer. In fact, some people I’ve talked to recently have hinted it might not even be the most important. In addition to being able to write, you also need to be what they call, “good in a room.” You need to stand out without stepping on toes. You need to speak up, but not talk too much. Your job, I am told, depends heavily on your ability to contribute to the group effort without derailing the process by going off onto a tangent, holding on to an idea too hard or failing to listen to what others are saying.

To be “good in a room” you need to know how to work with people according to a specific set of standards. For some people that might mean overcoming their natural shyness. For others it could be learning to curb the tendency to blurt out every idea that pops into their head. Basically, it all comes down to understanding the protocol and being likable, which is not exactly something you can practice alone in the middle of the night. read article

What NOT to do When Writing a Script

by Ken Levine

NoMistakesHere are some handy tips on what NOT to do when writing a script:

Don’t put extra pressure on yourself unnecessarily. I once had a writing teacher who said, “Think of each page of your sitcom as being worth a thousand dollars. Then say to yourself, ‘is this page worth one thousand dollars?’” This teacher should be shot. First of all, his math is off. And secondly, there will be some pages worth five grand and others worth sixteen bucks because you’re just describing a character driving away to end the scene. Don’t put monetary values on pages or jokes or anything. It’s arbitrary and destructive.

Don’t feel every line has to be perfect before you can go on to the next. The end result will be a rather stilted very calculated script. Get a flow going. You can always go back and revise. Don’t let one difficult line completely stall the process. And here’s the dirty little secret: The lines won’t be perfect anyway. read article