ABSTRACT

In Write to TV (third edition) industry veteran Martie Cook offers practical advice on writing innovative television scripts that will allow you to finally get that big idea out of your head and onto the screen. With this book you’ll learn to craft smart, original stories and scripts for a variety of television formats and genres, including comedy, drama, pilots, web series, and subscription video on demand.

This new edition has been updated with expanded coverage on writing for global audiences, content creation for streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, as well as writing the web series, podcasts and utilizing free platforms such as YouTube. It also features new chapters on writing for niche markets; breaking into the writers’ room; creating binge-worthy series and how to accompany pilot scripts with a series pitch document. Plus, expanded information on creating complex and compelling characters including writing anti-heroes and strong female protagonists and much, much more.

Including information directly from studio and network executives, agents, and managers on what they’re looking for in new writers and how to avoid common pitfalls, advice from successful creators and showrunners on creating original content that sells, and tips from new writers on how to get into a writers room and stay there. This book contains information from more than 20 new interviews, access to sample outlines, script pages, checklists, and countless other invaluable resources, and is the ideal book for anyone who wants to break into the TV writing industry.

part I|44 pages

How Hollywood Works

chapter 2|9 pages

The Lay of the Land

chapter 3|13 pages

The Spectacular SPEC

chapter 4|8 pages

Getting your Scripts Read

part II|80 pages

Comedy

chapter 5|4 pages

Writing for Laughs

chapter 6|12 pages

Developing your Comedic Story

chapter 7|9 pages

Comedic Structure

chapter 8|14 pages

Outlining Your Comedic Story

chapter 9|26 pages

Scripting Your Comedy

chapter 10|13 pages

Other Kinds of Tv Comedy

part III|42 pages

Drama

chapter 11|11 pages

Plot-Driven Drama

chapter 12|9 pages

Character-Driven Drama

chapter 13|16 pages

Formatting For Drama

chapter 14|4 pages

Dramedies

part IV|36 pages

Creating Original Series

chapter 15|6 pages

The Mechanics of a Television Pilot

chapter 16|13 pages

Building your Series from the Ground Up

chapter 17|15 pages

Selling an Original Idea

part V|12 pages

Characters

chapter 18|10 pages

Creating Complex and Compelling Characters

part VI|8 pages

Dialogue

chapter 19|6 pages

Writing Dialogue that Dances on the Page

part VII|7 pages

Rewriting: A Necessary Evil

chapter 20|5 pages

Rewrite the Heck Out Of It

part VIII|20 pages

Pitch Perfect: How to Pitch Stories and Series

chapter 21|9 pages

Essentials of a Professional Pitch

chapter 22|4 pages

Pitching Ideas for Existing Series

chapter 23|5 pages

Pitching Pilots

part IX|8 pages

Niche can be Nice

chapter 24|6 pages

Writing for Fragmented Audiences

part X|6 pages

Thinking Out of the Box

chapter 25|4 pages

Web Series and Podcasts

part XI|20 pages

The Business Side of Television

chapter 26|4 pages

The Writers Guild of America

chapter 28|4 pages

Writing Teams

part XII|46 pages

How to Get your Foot in the Door

chapter 29|14 pages

How to Get Work as a Television Writer

chapter 30|5 pages

Getting the Interview

chapter 32|4 pages

The Power of Networking

chapter 33|9 pages

Other Things that can Help you Succeed

chapter 34|3 pages

Welcome to the Room!

chapter 35|3 pages

Some Final Thoughts