TV Writing Intensive
GUIDE TO SCRIPTWRITING COURSES
The TV Writing Intensive happens in a short time span (1 day in NYC, or 2 days on Zoom). The course includes a mixture of lectures and exercises. It’s open to writers of any level. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
The best TV shows are addictive, beckoning us to bring the characters into our homes or devices, episode after episode. The people might be cops, thugs, monsters, geeks, doctors, lawyers, fixers, or just ordinary people with everyday problems. The format might be network, streaming, or a web series. As long as it hooks us.
Each TV show is a unique story-machine, with its own rules and formulas. Here you’ll learn how to write for TV and how to market your work.
Whether you seek to write comedy, drama, or something in between, we’ll show you how to write TV episodes that might, someday, get everybody buzzing.
It gives a nuts-and-bolts overview of what writing for TV involves.
Richard Chang
journalist/actor
Notes
TV writers either work on the staff of an existing series or they create an original show. To break into the business, you need samples of your work—either episodes of existing shows or original scripts, the latter more desirable these days.
TV Writing I and the Intensive focus on writing “spec” scripts for existing shows, which is the best way to learn how TV episodes work. TV Writing II Pilot focuses on creating an original series and “pilot” episode.
These courses cover “scripted” shows, as opposed to reality TV.
Upcoming Classes
Syllabus
This course gives an overview of the basics of TV writing craft. Course components:
Brief lectures
Writing exercises
Topics:
The Current TV Landscape
Episode Ideas
Mapping Out Episodes
Format
Scene
Breaking In
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
