Learn how to write for television and develop your concept into a professional first draft.
Applicable to comedy, drama, and reality, this unique course is designed for creative aspiring writers with no prior experience—as well as those with screenwriting experience—who seek to break into television writing. Learn in an interactive environment the basics of creating, writing, and presenting your first television script for both drama and/or comedy, including how to take your idea to the next step and create a complete half-hour or one-hour television script.
Beginning and professional writers are welcome. Prior screenwriting experience is not required.
Students will be emailed several TV scripts (shooting drafts) in PDF format prior to the first-class session (and more during the course) to be read in advance if possible. We’ll also be viewing videos related to the topics throughout the course.
This course will also include special guests, including WGA writers and producers working in television today. Students will get the opportunity to ask questions and get a behind-the-scenes look into how television is made, learning about the different career paths to becoming a professional television writer and what showrunners, producers, creative executives, and fellowship competitions are looking for from writers working today.
Note: No meeting on September 1.
Live video conference: This workshop will be held via our online video conferencing platform, Zoom. You can view brief tutorials on using the platform here. On the start date or the day before, participants will receive an email with login info (please check your spam if you don’t see it).
In this workshop you’ll learn:
- The steps usually taken for a first-time professional television writer towards writing the first script (general idea, character development, style, story acts, etc.)
- Structure
- Character development
- The importance of your first script as a calling card
- How to find an agent and get your script read
- Who should you be writing for
- Who does what job on a television series
- The outlets for new shows and new ideas
- Developing your idea
- The best way to write for you
- The Writers’ Room
- The collaboration processes
- Overview of winning past and current television show scripts
- Feedback on your current concepts, outline, scenes and scripts
Time requirements
- Follow-up and prep time is up to each participant.
Materials
- All reading materials will be provided.
Who should take this workshop?
- This workshop is designed for writers of any level of experience, who would like to take their writing to the next level and learn how to develop their idea or script into a professional draft, which can be confidently shown to anyone (in or out of television), who is also a professional. In addition we will cover all of the important “real” details of the television/entertainment industry.
If you need an accommodation for this workshop, please contact us at access@writer.org. We will attempt to fulfill all requests, but advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility services.
