Script Magazine has published my new article delineating the two types of stories on television — “procedural” and “personal” — which are easy for writers to get confused by.
It’s being posted on their website in connection with my upcoming April 3 webinar for The Writers Store on “What Makes a Great TV Idea? Learn What Hollywood Looks for in a TV Idea and Pilot Script”.
Reservations for this 90-minute audio/powerpoint class at 1 PM Pacific next Wednesday are available through The Writers Store for $59 until Sunday, and $79 after that. Even if you can’t attend live, they will send it to you after the fact to watch/listen at your leisure.
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
I used to lament the fact that so many network series focus on cops, lawyers, and/or doctors. I tried pitching and developing multiple series about other kinds of workplaces. I felt, like many aspiring television writers do, that there are many different kinds of job challenges that could make for compelling television.
But in my years of doing it professionally – selling some ideas, but having many others be batted down by executives, producers, or my own agents – I’ve learned some things. And one of the chief lessons is that “work responsibilities” generally can only drive stories and series concepts for certain kinds of occupations.
The kind of jobs that can do this generally have two specific qualities. The first is that they are heroic: they involve doing something for others. The stakes of a typical story are not just friends and family, but society at large. The show’s regulars are involved in protecting, helping and/or fighting for humanity, beyond their personal sphere.
The second quality is that the nature of their work consists of… (read the rest on Script Magazine’s site)
