Chapter 70 – Outlining Your Web Series Saves the Day
by Leesa Dean
This has been a crazy week. My cat Lamont suddenly got very sick so I stopped working for a few days–running back and forth to the vet, buying medicine, etc. Meanwhile, on Friday afternoon when he seemed be better, I went out to play tennis and blow off some steam and BAM, the guy I was hitting with accidentally (I’m hoping accidentally anyway) bashed in my finger when he mistakenly hit a ball towards me at about 70 mph. Luckily, the finger didn’t break, wasn’t on my right hand or a thumb (which would’ve really freaked me out for drawing) but was swollen, bruised and I was NOT a happy camper. I also was forced to take a few extra days off while my finger and the cat healed.
Meanwhile, a friend who has an idea for a web series but hasn’t written anything yet asked me about the best way to proceed. I told her to outline everything. She’d never done it before (she’s written one movie script using the “I’m just winging it” method) and was a little intimidating by getting right in a short format. She also wants to ultimately break into tv writing.
Since I was laid up, I had the time to help break down what’s involved for her and realized, ok, these tips might also be useful for other web creators/aspiring web creators…if (high drama), I can ever type again. I’ll cut to the chase: I can type again. And since outlining is an important part of being a tv writer, it’s also a crucial skill to develop if you’re attempting to go that route. Creating/writing/outlining a web series is a great place to start. So, hobbled finger and all, here are four tips to get started: