Writing for Television

Writing for Television

People think that writing for television and film is the same but on the contrary both the industries are different. The main elements of the television industry are networks, studios and production companies. Writers are basically hired by a studio to write for a particular network or channel. They even have the rights to sell the material elsewhere. This material is then used by the production companies to bring the script into action.

The writers face two kinds of deals, a development deal and overall deal. Development deal requires the writer to write for only a single project. Only a single story is being developed for which the writer gets paid from $30,000 - $50,000. Overall deal requires the writer to write on a long term basis and the income is more than development deal.
After the initial filtering, about 4-10 writers are selected and they are placed in hierarchy. Showrunner is at the top and is the program creator. They are the ones which have maximum experience in writing and receive an Executive Producer status and earn up to a million. Later in the hierarchy of writing team are co-executive producers, supervising producer, producer, co-producer, and executive story editor and at the end is the staff writer, also known as baby writers as they are the starters.  

Aspirant writers should start by joining classes which are taught by experienced TV writers. The classes help to get the basics right and the same time helps increase the friend circle, which will be of help at some point of time. Beginners can get a break by hiring an agent which has contacts as most of the shows don't hire baby writers and it would take about three years to get the break. But at this level originality of work is what matters. Original material relating to screenplays or even a sketch material will be of good help. One can also work on spec. Specs are trailers which give the outline of the story. This shows the grasping power of the writer. Plays should be carefully chosen when writing a Spec. Do not choose a series just because it is hot or is based on fiction. While choosing a play the writer should keep in mind what he finds interesting and what he wants to work on in future. After preparing the spec, send it to the showrunner of the same show, because the showrunner will be under the assumption that no one knows his show better than himself.  It is advised to send the spec to showrunner of a similar show. Specs reflect the writing ability, the grasping ability, the scene structure sense, story narration style of the writer.

With these entire qualities one can land up as a writer's assistant and if a showrunner hires the starter, it would be a good boost to him. An assistant can also witness the actual proceedings of the show and the basics get brushed up .One must never quit writing. Even if a writer doesn't get anywhere for a short period of time at least he will improve his writing skills which will be of great use in the long run. The writer should meet the deadlines when on job. Sometimes the deadlines can be short too. So constant writing can train in that aspect too.

The writers have the greatest power. He can play with the mind of the viewer. He is responsible for the shaping of dreams of millions of viewers and all this can be achieved by constant practice.

Writing your first Screenplay

Introduction to the story, characters, location and time frame should usually be the start of the screenplay. Setup is an important part as the audiences have knowledge about the movie or the performance. It's better to start with a picture rather than an unknown voice on a blank screen as that will be good to absorb the audience into the story. The image can be of anyone, either that of the actor who plays the central role, or any place like his hometown, whatever conveys the theme? Like in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a snake is shown crawling which later gets killed by Potter in order to save himself and the students. 

Starting with characters interaction is also a good idea as the audience concentrate on them for a while to decide whether they want to pursue them or not and also keep them wondering about the plot of the story. But it's very important that whatever is portrayed in the first few scenes or the first ten minutes should be directly related to the story. If any irrelevant stuff is being displayed it will simply confuse the audience and can also make them lose interest.

After gaining audience's interest the next ten pages should explain about the unfolding of the story and at the same time holding the suspense of the story. Most of the characters can be introduced, environment can be created, past events can be enacted and the villain can also be introduced but that isn't a must. To build the suspense the villain can be pictured as a good guy but his reality comes to light after a bad incident or when he caught red handed by another character. But this shouldn't take long to test the patience of the viewers.

Next is the catalyst or the inciting incident which creates a twist in the movie. The normal flow of the story should be disrupted. The audience should be kept on their toes so as to retain their interest in the story. Questions like what do the characters want and what is obstructing them should be answered here.  After these questions are answered the next question will be very important, that whether the evil-doer will win in his plan. Until this question isn't answered the audience waits for something to happen, they wait for some action or they wait for the climax of the movie. If the antagonist doesn't win the story will have a happy ending and the characters will live happily ever after. But if he does win, then the story will have a tragic end and sometimes will result in the death of the main character. This is known as the first act of the movie.  

The catalyst or the inciting incident can be depicted as small scenes which when linked creates a mystery or with the receiving of vital information by some character or as a clash between the good and the bad characters. In the movie "Disturbia" the hero watches reports on the television about missing girls and were later found murdered. In another scene, the hero hears a scream of a girl from his neighbor's house, who is also the antagonist of the movie. 

Plot point one is the climax of the movie. It occurs after the first act. They are usually meant to surprise the audience with something unexpected with the occurrence of a pivotal event.  The main lead takes a risk and faces his opponent. And if it's a happy ending kind of a movie, the main lead gains victory over the villain by either killing him or making him learn a lesson. And if the story is supposed to have a sad ending, the villain gets away by causing harm to the good character. The last page should give an idea about what the future will be for all the characters and if it's a sequel, it should keep the audience guessing about the future.