Crafty TV Writing Thinking Inside the Box

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ISBN: 9780805080285 | 0805080287
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 5/30/2006

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Everyone watches television, and everyone has an opinion on what makes good TV. But, as Alex Epstein shows in this invaluable guide, writing for television is a highly specific craft that requires knowledge, skill, and more than a few insider's tricks.

Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction: Why You Want to Write TV	p. xvii
Thinking Inside the Box
The Hidden Structure of a TV Series	p. 3
What Makes Great TV?	p. 4
A Hook	p. 8
An "Attractive Fantasy"	p. 11
Characters We Never Get Tired Of	p. 14
A Place Where Stories Walk in the Door	p. 28
Episodic vs. Serial Stories	p. 33
Demographics and Networks	p. 36
The Show Bible	p. 38
Great Episode Ideas	p. 41
The Springboard	p. 42
What Makes a Great Springboard?	p. 46
How to Come Up with Great Springboards	p. 51
What Makes a Bad Story Idea	p. 56
Mixing and Matching	p. 62
Themed Shows	p. 63
Writing the Script	p. 65
Teasers and Tags	p. 66
Act Outs	p. 67
Breaking Story	p. 74
Time Compression	p. 76
Weaving Stories Together-The Beat Sheet	p. 77
No Hand Waving, Please	p. 80
The Most Powerful Screenwriting Tool in the World	p. 82
Mix It Up	p. 83
The Rule of One	p. 84
Tracking Expectations	p. 86
Treatments	p. 92
Going to Pages-the Script	p. 93
Dialogue	p. 101
Action	p. 104
The Writer's Toolkit
Bad Writing and How to Fix It (Or at Least Get Away with It)	p. 111
When Is Your Draft Done?	p. 112
Contracts and Drafts	p. 115
Taking Criticism	p. 116
The Flavors of Bad Writing	p. 119
Pulling vs. Pushing	p. 120
Geography	p. 123
Suspension of Disbelief	p. 125
Offscreen Story	p. 130
Go-Tos	p. 133
Point of View	p. 136
Communicating Without Dialogue	p. 138
Bringing the Funny	p. 142
What's So Funny?	p. 143
Great Comic Premises	p. 144
Plausible Surprise	p. 145
Funny Word Last	p. 146
Commitment	p. 147
Juxtaposition	p. 147
Squiggy	p. 149
Comedy Is in the Characters	p. 151
Comedy Is in the Pauses, Too	p. 153
Don't Break the Frame	p. 155
Joke on a Joke	p. 156
Bric-a-brac	p. 156
Up and Back	p. 157
Trivia	p. 158
Underwriting	p. 159
Overwriting	p. 160
Learning to Be Funny	p. 162
Stand-up Comedy	p. 162
Working in TV Land
Preparing to Be a TV Writer	p. 167
Writing Partners	p. 170
Film Schools and Classes	p. 173
The Free Alternative Film School	p. 176
Seminars and Workshops	p. 179
Awards and Competitions	p. 180
The Spec Script	p. 182
Spec Pilots as Samples	p. 190
Screenwriting Software	p. 191
Breaking In	p. 195
Getting an Agent	p. 195
Staffing Season	p. 199
L.A., the Big Nipple	p. 200
The Back Door	p. 203
Other Back Doors	p. 207
Getting Hired	p. 208
Killer Story Pitches	p. 209
Be Fun	p. 211
Just Do It	p. 213
Be Flexible but Passionate	p. 214
Writing Your Freelance Script	p. 217
Multiple Jobs	p. 221
Moving up the Food Chain: Writing on Staff	p. 223
Who Are All These People?	p. 224
Story Editors	p. 225
Your Master's Voice	p. 228
Credit Where Credit Isn't Due	p. 231
Production Notes	p. 232
Playing Nice with the Other Kids	p. 234
How to Run a Writing Room	p. 236
Surviving Getting Fired	p. 243
The Holy Grail: Creating Your Own Show	p. 248
Spec Pilots for Real	p. 251
Pitching Festivals: Any Use?	p. 254
The Pilot Episode	p. 255
Coming Up with a TV Show	p. 257
Enjoying the Process	p. 266
A Parting Word	p. 268
Resources	p. 269
Writing Contests and Fellowships	p. 273
Final Draft vs. Screenwriter	p. 275
Scale Payments	p. 279
Samples	p. 281
Script Pages	p. 289
Glossary	p. 303
Notes	p. 311
Index	p. 315
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Crafty TV Writing Thinking Inside the Box

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