OK, writer to writer, let’s be strategic, what are you up against?
Getting into TV is hard. TV is a multi-million dollar, high-risk industry. There isn’t a producer out there waiting for you with a big bag of money. As an inexperienced newcomer, you’re a risk. The reality is that however talented you are, however exciting your material, unless you’ve been taught how to write within the insanely difficult storytelling restrictions imposed by the TV business model you’re a risk that producers may not be prepared to take. Why? Look at it from the producer’s point of view. If you can’t hit that deadline with what’s needed, you could jeopardise the whole project and lose the company millions.
Television’s ‘Just in time’ business model.
TV’s ‘just in time’-style business model is designed to work brilliantly for the production house, not for writers. Many writers want to write their own series. But while these days producers often, first-off, just want a pitch-deck for a new series (a few pages with one or two-sentence loglines and summaries of the series’ bible, storylines, pilot plus descriptions of tone and the like), at some point, pitch-deck or no pitch-deck you will need write the pilot and storylines, and do it at speed so that your producer knows it will work and can show the material to investors.
It’s a huge job to go from a logline to a plot, let alone a series - writing hours and hours of screen time! Speed is essential- you can’t keep rewriting and if you take too long you might lose your producer (TV’s a business). In some cases, depending on the production house and the country you’re writing for, the producer may need complete scene by scene plans of episodes (scenes, sets and characters) well ahead of time. Sometimes these plans will need to be set in stone weeks even months ahead of drafts being written - so that actors can be hired, sets built, costumes made, locations chosen all ready to go on a specific date, while you and/or a team of writers are actually writing drafts.
Okay, you’re panicking - every writer panics the first time they hear this and it gets worse. But forewarned is forearmed. Stay with me.
How ‘worse’?
The structural skills you’ll need are not those you've learnt about the Hollywood conventional one hero, single chronological journey. TV structure is utterly different. It has to be. It’s about multiple protagonists, multiple interwoven stories, ongoing carefully split-up serial content and specific screen time.
You need to learn how to:
Finally, in some production houses, particularly if you’re working on a series in production for broadcast TV, you need to be so utterly in control that within a very limited time after the plotting meeting, you’re able to write and submit a plan for an episode with a specific number of scenes and
And, often, do it without writing a scene or a line of dialogue.
upskilled, knowing the language;
knowing the methodology, inspiring the trust;
having studied and actually written a practice pilot episode;
presenting material that’s not only talented and vividly original but will tick the logistical and budgetary boxes;
most of all looking like that rare and wonderful creature to producers: a writer who’s new, rough around the edges, but is, quite genuinely, a catch.
give you speed skills at inventing and interweaving quality storylines;
give you practice at writing good material within the industry’s crazy production restraints;
give you practice in writing a pilot;
keep you calm, focused and productive faced with emergencies and deadlines;
get you valued and trusted;
significantly boost your chances of breaking in.
To create vividly original story material quickly, with flexibility, under pressure and to order.
To create, split and interweave multiple storylines using beats like the pros.
To write within the often extreme limits on sets, locations, actor availability etc. as per the TV business model.
To excel using the characterisation, style, dialogue choices, mood and aims of the show’s model (as created by the show’s original writer).
To compress or extend storylines without losing story values and quality.
To use a wide range of analytical and practical TV skills you can apply in your own series and those of others. to take away and use on your own TV series.
To use cards to build episodes brick by brick.
To construct and write, step by step, a fake pilot for a TV series (devised by Linda )to Linda’s instructions (first you’ll write a detailed scene-by- scene breakdown in the professional manner, as is often required by production houses, next you’ll actually write the pilot!)
You’ll get BOTH practice and theory within the course - and, when you’re creating and writing the pilot for the fake TV series pilot you’ll be plotting multiple storylines with beats, structuring with cards, recalibrating, creating an industry-style scene breakdown and interweaving - all just like the pros!
YOU GET TO ACTUALLY WRITE A PILOT!
Crucially, the course is designed for you to work at your own pace, in your own time, with a full year’s access to the course materials, so you can catch up if life intervenes and you get left behind.
You want to become a professional television writer and are ready to put in the hard yards to get your skills.
You’re already a TV writer but you want to fine up speed creativity skills and get better at multiple storyline creation, plotting and writing pilots
You’re a producer, director or script editor who wants to move into becoming a writer.
You’re working on creating your own TV series but are struggling with plotting and structure (that said, you’ll learn the skills TO APPLY to your pilot and series, also what practical and logistical restrictions you’ll have to work around. You won’t be helped to develop and finish THE SPECIFIC SERIES YOU’RE WRITING).
You’re a novelist and want to learn good story structure.
Eventually, you want to write non-linear, flashback, or multiple protagonist films..
You want to learn from an internationally-recognised teacher whose TV classes routinely get sold out in hours.
You like the idea of studying on your own, in your own time, not locked into deadlines or course timetables, with access to the materials for a year.
You’re going to go into debt to take this course.
You don’t have the time to commit to learning the theory and practicing using the exercises.
You are writing your own TV series and want a course that will quickly help you get it market-ready (in reality if you are already writing a TV series without knowing the restrictions you are likely to need a great number of revisions). The course teaches you the skills for you to apply to your own work.
You’re assuming that a good idea is sufficient and ‘if you write it they will come'.
You assume that getting production funding is routine and easy.
You want to bring along a new idea for a TV series and get instructions for developing it as the course proceeds.
You want one-to-one feedback from Linda on your exercises during the course.
This is not possible in a self-guided course. Linda has designed this unique, packed course to provide you with extensive, top-quality teaching that you can work on in your own time, when it suits you, so you are not locked into someone else’s timetable.
While you won’t get Linda live, you have the option, as an extra, of arranging one or more feedback consultancies with Linda to discuss the Scene Breakdown and the fake pilot you work on in the course.
Probably seven hours a week for 14 weeks if you work solidly on the course, but you have the materials for a year.
It is important to have the time to devote, but if you're trying to get into TV, you’ll already be trying to fit your writing in around your day job so speed skills could help you!
Remember you get a full year’s access to the course materials from the date of course commencement.
The course is currently open for enrollment.
Passion, talent, and the will to work hard are the only prerequisites!
It is important to have the time to devote, but if you're trying to get into TV, you’ll already be trying to fit your writing in around your day job so speed skills could help you!
Most writers hone their skills in existing TV series before moving into writing their own series. If you don’t want to do that you will really need to learn the skills and the restrictions the course will teach you! You can’t know the restrictions without being told. Actually, without being negative, in my experience, most writers entrusted to write series on their own are already very experienced in TV writing because there are so many do’s and don’ts in TV writing, and nothing is like experience. Possibly that’s changing.
Be aware that if and when you get commissioned to write a series, depending on the number of episodes, it might well be that a team of writers is involved (so the scripts are produced almost simultaneously). You’ll need to brief these people. Whichever way you look at it you need the skills.
I am planning a course specifically on creating a series. This course would be a prerequisite for that.
Well yes and no. Possibly no because there’s a good chance that while what you’re writing might be high quality it won’t, in its present state, be doable within the extensive restrictions of the medium and of the producers’ piggy bank. It might need extensive re-writing, which makes it unattractive to producers. Yes, in the sense that learning the skills and the parameters will much better equip you to rewrite the script. Also, down the track, the skills will show how to choose and create something that will work in the medium and show producers that you know your skills and are someone to be taken seriously and watched. Of course, even for very experienced writers, getting any script produced is a lottery. Hence the expression ‘development hell’. This is just the world all writers live in.
So was I - and I nearly died when I saw the limitations and the deadlines! I’ve never met a writer who hasn’t. It’s crazy-restricted. Nuts.
Hey, congratulations! Yes, you need it. You may not get a second chance. Go in as prepared as possible and wow ‘em.
Unfortunately, as I’ve said, there aren’t producers out there with big bags of money just waiting to bestow it on new writers. The world is full of good TV ideas. While your material may be talented, as I’ve explained, it will probably have significant technical problems that you won’t have known about - with some episodes too long or too short, too much or too little serial content in various episodes, stories not interwoven properly, or forgotten about. Those ‘someone elses’ who fix are very expensive. And maybe your script needs too much adjusting to be financially viable. Why wouldn’t the producer buy an equally good and ready-to-go project from an experienced and reliable writer whose name will impress directors? TV is a business. Best to fine up your skills and write your own produceable material.
Great! But if you’re working for free, be aware a) that the producer has made no commitment to you, you are working for months unpaid and b) even if you finish, the producer may decide against it. This course will reduce the risk, save you time and increase your professional chances in the industry. You need to get into the position of being paid to write and for that, you need to know your tools of the trade.
That’s fine, but at some point you’ll need to learn your skills.
