LB: TVWriter™’s New “THE BASICS OF TV WRITING” Mini Site

So there I was, looking through this site so I could nod, Godlike, and say to myself, “It is good.” And while, yes, I thought TVWriter™ looked pretty damn good I also had this nagging feeling: “Something’s missing.”

The same nagging feeling I would have each time I finished the first draft of a script for, oh, HAWAII FIVE-0 or STREETS OF SAN FRANCISO or THE FALL GUY or MIKE HAMMER or any of the other shows I’ve written/produced.

It’s a feeling I hate. This tingling “What’s wrong?” sensation. Because it’s a call to action. I can’t go forward – can’t do anything else in the world – until I figure out the problem and fix it.

Fortunately, my wife Gwen the Beautiful came to my aid, as she always does. “You have an introduction to the site,” she said, “and all kinds of lessons about writing and living in L.A. and the rest, but you don’t have an introduction to television writing per se. No lessons in the basics. You assume a familiarity with the medium and the way it does business that may not exist.”

“15 years of no introduction?” I said. “Jeeze, what’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing’s wrong with you,” Gwen said. “It’s just that writing television has been your life since the ’60s. You’re so steeped in it that you forget other people aren’t. I know that your rule as a writer is to cut, cut, cut to the bone, maybe this time around you cut too much.”

Gwen the Beautiful was right, of course. She’s always right. So for the past month and a half I’ve been hard at work at “lessons in the basics.” Last week I finally finished and set up a sexy little sub-division of TVWriter™ that I’m calling “The Basics of TV Writing.” It consists of an overview – because I’m compulsive that way – and the 4 basic divisions of the television writing process:

• THE BASICS OF TV WRITING: Overview
• The Logline
• The Leavebehind
• The Outline/Story
• The Teleplay

And now it’s up and running so everyone can get grounded in what’s up and then move on from there. To see what I’m talking about, just go to the “Our Mini Sites” section of the site index in the righthand column of each page and scroll down till you see what I’m talking about or, of course, click above.

Sorry – oy, am I sorry! – for the 15 year delay.

LYMI,

LB

Author: LB

A legendary figure in the television writing and production world with a career going back to the late ’60s, Larry Brody has written and produced hundreds of hours of American and worldwide television and is a consultant to production companies and networks in the U.S. and abroad . Shows written or produced by Brody have won several awards including - yes, it's true - Emmys, Writers Guild Awards, and the Humanitas Award. View all posts by LB