Crafty TV Writing by Epstein, Alex -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Praise Title Page Dedication Contents Introduction: Why You Want to Write TV Part One: Thinking Inside The Box

1 The Hidden Structure of a TV Series

What Makes Great TV? A Hook An “Attractive Fantasy” Characters We Never Get Tired Of A Place Where Stories Walk in the Door Episodic vs. Serial Stories Demographics and Networks The Show Bible

2 Great Episode Ideas

The Springboard What Makes a Great Springboard? How to Come Up with Great Springboards What Makes a Bad Story Idea Mixing and Matching Themed Shows

3 Writing the Script

Teasers and Tags Act Outs Breaking Story Time Compression Weaving Stories Together—The Beat Sheet No Hand Waving, Please The Most Powerful Screenwriting Tool in the World Mix It Up The Rule of One Tracking Expectations Treatments Going to Pages—the Script Dialogue Action

Part Two: The Writer’s Toolkit

4 Bad Writing and How to Fix It (Or at Least Get Away with It)

When Is Your Draft Done? Contracts and Drafts Taking Criticism The Flavors of Bad Writing Pulling vs. Pushing Geography Suspension of Disbelief Offscreen Story Go-Tos Point of View Communicating Without Dialogue

5 Bringing the Funny

What’s So Funny? Great Comic Premises Plausible Surprise Funny Word Last Commitment Juxtaposition Squiggy Comedy Is in the Characters Comedy Is in the Pauses, Too Don’t Break the Frame Joke on a Joke Bric-a-brac Up and Back Trivia Underwriting Overwriting Learning to Be Funny Stand-up Comedy

Part Three: Working In TV Land

6 Preparing to Be a TV Writer

Writing Partners Film Schools and Classes The Free Alternative Film School Seminars and Workshops Awards and Competitions The Spec Script Spec Pilots as Samples Screenwriting Software

7 Breaking In

Getting an Agent Staffing Season L.A., the Big Nipple The Back Door Other Back Doors

8 Getting Hired

Killer Story Pitches Be Fun Just Do It Be Flexible but Passionate Writing Your Freelance Script Multiple Jobs

9 Moving up the Food Chain: Writing on Staff

Who Are All These People? Story Editors Your Master’s Voice Credit Where Credit Isn’t Due Production Notes Playing Nice with the Other Kids How to Run a Writing Room Surviving Getting Fired

10 The Holy Grail: Creating Your Own Show

Spec Pilots for Real Pitching Festivals: Any Use? The Pilot Episode Coming Up with a TV Show Enjoying the Process A Parting Word

Appendix 1. Resources Appendix 2. Writing Contests and Fellowships Appendix 3. Final Draft vs. Screenwriter Appendix 4. Scale Payments Appendix 5. Samples Appendix 6. Script Pages Also by Alex Epstein About the Author Acknowledgments Notes Glossary Index Copyright