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Posts tagged as “Structure”

From Outline to (First) Draft (PT28)

Alex and Nick discuss how to turn an outline for a TV script (pilot or spec) into a fully-fledged draft.

Where should you begin? What if you’re stuck or don’t know where to start in a scene? What should you tweak and improve when looking back at your first draft? Should you use every option in Final Draft?

The Paper Team opens their screenwriting software…

SHOWNOTES

Content

1) Outline versus Draft (0:42)
2) Where to start? (2:23)
3) Scene Work (7:08)
4) Writing and refining the draft (14:51)
5) FAQs (22:23)
Takeaways and Resources (28:50)

Links

“Scribble version, final version” (John August)
The Wolf of Wall Street
Heat’s diner scene (Video)
Waze

Resources

Hemingway Editor
WordCounter

Special thanks to Jason J. Cohn for helping us edit this episode.

If you enjoyed this episode (and others), please consider leaving us an iTunes review at paperteam.co/itunes! :)

You can find Paper Team on Twitter:
Alex@TVCalling
Nick@_njwatson
If you have any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: [email protected]

Act Breaks (PT15)

Alex and Nick discuss the goal and narrative impact of TV act breaks, also known as the structural core of every television episode ever.

Why do shows have act breaks? What is the difference between an act break in comedy versus drama? What impact has the inflation of act breaks in shows had on TV stories?

The Paper Team smashes to black…

SHOWNOTES

Content

1 – Introduction to act breaks (00:30)
2 – Act breaks and TV narrative (12:29)
3 – Inflation of act breaks and impact on pacing (18:28)
4 – Writing without acts (31:00)
Takeaways & Resources (40:04)

Links

Format of Gunsmoke
Over-the-top Content (OTT)
Smash to Black – TV Tropes
Coup de théâtre
One Mississippi
NBC’s Seeso
Julie Plec on Act Breaks
Tom Fontana

Resources

“Basic TV Act Structure” – Excerpt from “Showrunners” by Tara Bennett
“Cracking the Sitcom Code” – The Atlantic

Special thanks to Jason J. Cohn for helping us edit this episode.

If you enjoyed this episode (and others), please consider leaving us an iTunes review at paperteam.co/itunes! :)

You can find Paper Team on Twitter:
Alex@TVCalling
Nick@_njwatson
If you have any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: [email protected]

Bringing the TV Writers’ Room Process Home (PT06)

NEW: Get the episode cheat sheet on our Patreon!

Alex and Nick dig into why it’s important to maintain a consistent TV writing routine, and how you can mimic the same process from TV writers’ rooms into your own home.

It’s all about working through each individual (but vital) step of television writing, including inception, pitching, outlining, drafting and rewriting.

SHOWNOTES

Content

1 – Why you need to have a TV writing routine (00:27)
2 – Breaking down the TV writers’ room process (04:12)
3 – Inception (05:12)
4 – Background Processing (20:29)
5 – Pitching (21:44)
6 – Outlining (26:07)
7 – Drafting (36:48)
8 – Feedback and Rewriting (44:48)
Takeaways and Resources (53:37)

Links

Revenge and The Count of Monte Cristo
Master Class with Evan Daugherty (Snow White and the Huntsman)
Patent Trolling
Wikipedia’s Random Feature
Anuario Luis Herrera Solís
Apple Notes
Google Keep
Moleskine Notebook
The Man Who Makes Sense of Lost (Gregg Nations)
Interview with Bryan Cogman
Scrivener
Index cards in Final Draft
The TV Writer’s Workbook – Ellen Sandler
Alien shooting script
John Swartzwelder

Resources

Creative Spark with Dustin Lance Black (Video)
Inside the Breaking Bad writers’ room (Article)
Vince Gilligan on breaking a story in a writer’s room (Video)

If you enjoyed this episode (and others), please leave us an iTunes review and/or rating at paperteam.co/itunes! :)

You can find Paper Team on Twitter:
Alex@TVCalling
Nick@_njwatson
If you have any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: [email protected]