Write to TV: Out of Your Head and onto the Screen

by Martie Cook

In Write to TV (third edition) industry veteran Martie Cook offers practical advice on writing innovative television scripts that will allow you to finally get that big idea out of your head and onto the screen. With this book you’ll learn to craft smart, original stories and scripts for a variety of television formats and genres, including comedy, drama, pilots, web series, and subscription video on demand. This new edition has been updated with expanded coverage on writing for global audiences, content creation for streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, as well as writing the web series, podcasts and utilizing free platforms such as YouTube. It also features new chapters on writing for niche markets; breaking into the writers’ room; creating binge-worthy series and how to accompany pilot scripts with a series pitch document. Plus, expanded information on creating complex and compelling characters including writing anti-heroes and strong female protagonists and much, much more. Including information directly from studio and network executives, agents, and managers on what they’re looking for in new writers and how to avoid common pitfalls, advice from successful creators and showrunners on creating original content that sells, and tips from new writers on how to get into a writers room and stay there. This book contains information from more than 20 new interviews, access to sample outlines, script pages, checklists, and countless other invaluable resources, and is the ideal book for anyone who wants to break into the TV writing industry.

Genres: Writing, Film

340 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Speculargloss]

skimmed

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid information, candidly told -- but the drop quotes began to drive me insane about 1/4th of the way through the book. They were all good quotes and from knowledgeable people, but they often had little to do with the topic being discussed.

Still, worth reading if you've never taken a television writing class and want to know more about it. Covers areas that most books of this genre do not, such as writing movies-of-the-week and for local news and magazine shows.

(At $30, however, the price is a little steep.)