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How to Write a TV Drama Series

How to Write a TV Drama Series

The Keys to Succeeding as a Professional Writer on TV. I have been checking books about TV writing for a time now, and I must say that many get old very quickly. The reason is obvious, the TV drama world is changing at the speed of light. After reading a few, I’ve decided to select Writing the TV Drama Series by Pamela Douglas, who has been updating her book and I’m sure she will continue to do…

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CHECK OUT MY #SCREENPLAYS

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A comprehensive online screenwriting news and educational magazine.

1. Find the rhythm

2. Create touchstones

3. Skip the small talk – unless there’s subtext

4. Build on rhetoric

5. Eavesdrop

6. Respect the silence

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The screenwriter uses lots of different kinds of scenes to accomplish very specific parts of the overall story. Sometimes the main purpose of a particular scene is to establish setting, or deliver exposition, or reveal important information.

The following list of scene types are not all, but the most common kinds of scenes found in screenplays today. And often times, a scene may be a combination of two or more scene types.

1. Setting - Where are we?

2. Atmosphere/Mood - What is it like there?

3. Introduction - Who is it we are dealing with here?

4. Exposition - Necessary information. Quick and Clever.

5. Transition - getting from one place to another. Fast.

6. Preparation - What will it take to prepare for the task at hand?

7. Aftermath - How does the character feel about what just happened?

8. Investigation - Gathering information.

9. Revelation - The reader/audience finds out something important.

10. Recognition - The character finds out something important.

11. The Gift - Using a prop with emotional investment and turning it into a weapon, emotional or otherwise.

12. Escape - The character is trying to get away, avoid, or hide.

13. Pursuit - The character is trying to follow, capture, or secure.

14. Seduction - Someone must convince someone else.

15. Opposites - Two characters from seemingly opposite poles are forced together.

16. Reversal of Expectations - A character expects a certain, very clear outcome, but another character surprises him, influencing him to reverse his intention and do something else - practically the opposite of what he planned to do.

17. Unexpected Visitor - Someone unexpected shows up. Problems arise.

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A comprehensive online screenwriting news and educational magazine.

There is a lot to say about sequences, but the two most important principles to remember about sequences are:

1. They are the screenwriters best friend. They are small and self-contained enough that they can be kept in mind all at one time (unlike the entire feature, 90 to 120 pages), can be written in one burst of energy and can be shaped and honed independent of each other.

2. They must absolutely have a clearly defined tension in order to have shape. By shape I mean that the audience starts to take a vested interest in one or another turn of events in the near future (and therefore is involved, participating) and they have an idea of how things are going - hope versus fear. Once that overall shape is established, the sequence itself can contain all manner of desperate elements as long as this tension is periodically kept alive.

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The First 10 Pages of your screenplay are vital. Getting started in the right direction will help ensure a successful script.

At the beginning of a screenplay, you’ve only got about 10 pages to accomplish these five major rules:

Establish the tone/genre (is this a comedy, fantasy, spoof, etc.)

Introduce your main character: interesting, flawed, and if not likeable, at least empathetic… somebody we can hope and fear for.

Clarify the world of the story and the status quo.

Indicate the theme or message (Good vs. Evil, Man vs. Nature, etc.)

Set up the dramatic situation – that is, what the story is going to be about.

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In their book The Tools of Screenwriting, David Howard and Edward Mabley illustrate ten things the screenwriter must accomplish when writing dialogue:

1. It must characterize the speaker, and perhaps the person addressed.

2. It must be idiomatic, maintaining the individuality of the speaker, yet still blend into the style of the screenplay as a whole.

3. It must reflect the speaker’s mood, convey his or her emotion, or provide some window into his or her inner life.

4. It must often reveal the speaker’s motivation or an attempt to hide his or her motivation.

5. It must reflect the relationships of the speaker to the other characters.

6. It must be connective, that is grow out of a preceding speech or action and lead into another.

7. It must advance action.

8. It must sometimes carry information or exposition.

9. Often it must foreshadow what is to come.

10. It must be clear and comprehensible to the audience.

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Paul Thomas Anderson on the Screenwriting Process

Paul Thomas Anderson on the Screenwriting Process thescriptlab.com - Back when P.T. Anderson released The Master, he sat down with Epix to talk about his screenwriting process, specifically what it means when we say "I am going to go write." Sometimes it diverts off into research, while other times it shifts into brainstorming. Available on the App Store. God Bless You