Writing for television can be a rewarding career, but it's a difficult one to break into. Before you think about trying to sell yourself as a writer, it's important to learn the basics of write for TV, and how writing for TV differs from writing for other media, such as film or stage.
Instructions
Write for Television
1. Understand the difference between writing for television and writing for film. The two most commonly pursued writing jobs in the writer's marketplace today are writing for TV and writing for film. Both are high profile jobs that can make you a lot of money and establish great careers, but both are very, very different. The philosophy behind writing a screenplay is, generally speaking, to tell a compelling story using a visual medium that conveys its plot through action and dialog. The emphasis with most screenplays (read: most SUCCESSFUL screenplays) is that it is a visual medium, first and foremost. Writing for television is different. While television obviously still has a visual aspect to it, the philosophy behind it is different. Your main goal in television is to tell a simple story in the shortest amount of time possible, while keeping the viewer interested enough in the characters to tune in the following week for another installment. This is where the good are separated from the great. One could argue that it is more difficult to write for TV because there are more constraints put upon you. If you like a challenge, then this is the medium for you to explore.
2. Determine what genre would best suit you. If you feel drawn to writing for television, then there must be some reason behind it, other than the money that a successful writer can make. If it was simply money that you wanted, there are many far easier jobs to simply attain piles of cash. Really investigate the question within yourself: "Why do I feel compelled to write for television? What were the great TV shows from my youth that inspired me?" Was it a rerun of The Honeymooners that you saw, late one night, that made everything click, or do you remember seeing an episode of Perry Mason long ago that planted the seed? Whichever genre you are drawn to naturally, that is the one you should focus on. That's not to say that, with some practice and effort, you couldn't write for whatever genre you wanted to. The point, however, is that especially in the beginning, you should focus on the type of work that you feel most comfortable with. This will make the first couple of scripts you produce more natural, and your writing will benefit greatly from it.
3. Write a spec script for an existing TV show. A spec script is literally a script written on speculation. When shopping yourself around to literary agencies, many agents will want to see spec scripts that you have written for shows that already exist. "But I have my own ideas! I want to create my own show!" That's fine. Hopefully one day you will. You need to prove to the agent who will be trying to get you jobs that you could write on the staff of a show that is already making a lot of money. Check the Nielson ratings for the major networks (and the major cable channels with regular series, for that matter) and see what shows are doing well. What types of shows are they? Do any of them speak to you in any way? Do any of them fall into a genre that you feel is right for you to write for? If so, pick one and make it your mission to know this show inside and out. This is much easier with the advent of past seasons of TV shows on DVD and the ability to watch past episodes of shows online. Watch that show. Rent the DVD's of any past seasons and watch as many episodes as you possibly can. It is not an exaggeration to say that watching between 25-30 episodes of a show is the minimum exposure you need to start writing a spec for that TV show. When you expose yourself to that TV show in this way, your mind will automatically start thinking in the voice of the show. You will, without thought, start picturing the characters in situations that happen to you in everyday life. This is exactly the way that a great spec script gets written. You know the characters, you know the voice of the show, and you know the ground they've covered already. Now it's your turn to introduce them to a situation or event that you and you alone can bring to the table.
4. Teach yourself basic television script structure. Final Draft is an indispensable tool for the beginning script writer. The sole reason is this: templates. While many other scriptwriting programs are comparable, only Final Draft has the extensive television script templates that show exactly how, not only a television script is written, but a television script for a SPECIFIC TV show. Aside from those templates, there are a number of books on the subject that demonstrate how dialog and action are to be formatted for TV scripts. Before you get that far, however, you must consider the overall structure of what you are writing.A basic sit-com script has a two act structure. As you will see, if you watch any sitcom series for more than 30 episodes, a basic formula is always present. Follow this formula that presents itself. You will see it for yourself, but the basic structure is as follows: opening, first scene (the main plot problem is presented), second scene (the secondary plot is introduced), third scene (complication with main plot, end of Act I), fourth scene (secondary plot heightens), fifth scene (main plot problem comes to a crisis and climax), sixth scene (resolution to main plot), seventh scene (the closer... a resolution for the secondary plot).A basic hour-long drama is more complex and has more variety, due to the fact that there are numerous types of hour long dramas. The hour long crime drama is one of the most popular, and also most simple. These hour long dramas usually follow a truncated three act structure, similar to the three act structure of a motion picture. Act I focuses on introducing the crime and the suspects, and ends with a twist, or reversal of the audiences expectations. Act II focuses on exploring the twist introduced at the end of Act I, and fleshes out leads and red herrings, leading to the Act II climax, where another reversal is presented to the audience, even bigger than the reversal at the end of Act I. This must be a reversal that leads to a very short, action filled Act III, where the protagonist pursues the antagonist directly in some manner, leading to a final crisis and climax at the end of Act III that gives the audience one last reversal of their expectations, this being the biggest of the episode.
