Category: television writing

Larry Brody’s TV Writing Tips & Tricks #5

Characterization – Part Two
by Larry Brody

Once you the writer have given us, the audience, characters with whom we can sympathize, your next job is to give these new people some “tsuris,” which is Yiddish for “Trouble with a Capital T.”

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

As Aristotle pointed out a couple of years ago, effective writing comes from building up to a climax, which means that once you’ve established the basic situation for your character – the neec that must be fulfilled – you can start out “small,” with only one unmanageable stress. read article

10 Screenwriting Tips from Taika Waititi

Taika Waititi is a New Zealand film and TV director, producer, writer, actor, and, yes, it’s true, comedian known for his work in JoJo Rabbit and Thor Ragnarok.

Oh, and The Mandalorian too. (It would have been criminal omit his best TV work.) read article

Larry Brody’s TV Writing Tips & Tricks #4

Characterization
by Larry Brody

When writing for television, the key to creating a successful series is creating characters the audience wants to come back and see again and again. This means they have to be interesting—maybe even quirky—and realistic.

Many writers—and most development executives—think this means the characters have to be likeable, but television history belies this. Any Sippowitz may be everyone’s favorite “fascist” cop, but is he likeable? And what about Archie Bunker? read article

Larry Brody’s TV Writing Tips & Tricks #3

Scene Construction
by Larry Brody

Scenes are more than a signposts on your way to the end of the screenplay road. They’re more than just moments in which story or character points are thrown out at the viewer or reader. A good scene in a screen or teleplay—and by good I mean EFFECTIVE in terms of getting the response you want—is a mini-story in itself, with a beginning, middle, and end.

In other words, scenes need to be structured so that the intensity within them grows and then climaxes, like microcosms of your script. read article

How Professional Screenwriters Outline

Old showbiz saying: “If you have the chance to post a video with distinguished and Oscar winning writers saying the same thing you always say, DO IT! So:

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