My experience of screenwriting in the past has been feature-length film. I've written a romantic comedy (a "rom-com" in the biz), a police-thriller, and an action-thriller--but these are apples, and television might as well be oranges. Though the fundamentals of storytelling are the same (character, conflict, all is lost, rebirth, final battle, resolution), writing for television is MUCH more difficult (in my opinion).
MORE difficult? I'm sure that most people reading this would think the reverse to be true. With movies typically being about two hours long, and most TV shows at a slim half-hour, or hour, wouldn't THAT difference alone place cinema in the "More Difficult" category?
(Incidentally, the proper word is "more" and not "most"...as the mother of a good friend of mine is always quick to point out. If there are only TWO things in comparison, one of them can be "more" of something, but not "most" of something. For example, I have three children, a boy and two girls. I have an OLDER daughter, and a YOUNGER daughter, but I do not have an ELDEST (oldest) daughter, or a YOUNGEST daughter). Anyway, I digress...)
Let me repeat, writing for TV, in my opinion, is a much greater challenge, and there is one fundamental difference between TV and the cinema. Do you know what it is? It's so simple, yet often overlooked.
COMMERCIALS.
The theater experience is basically this:
lights go down, movie comes on, movie finishes, lights come back up.
Television is a bit more frenetic:
show starts, commercial, continues, commercial, continues further, commercial, a continuation of the continuation, commercial, even more continuation, commercial, closing (or some variation depending on the length of the show, or what network).
To help me "deal with the differences" between writing for TV and film, I enlisted the literary help of author
Alex Epstein (OK, that sounds way too formal and professional, actually, I just bought and read his book
Crafty TV Writing: Thinking Inside the Box).
I cannot overstate the importance of his advice to a young screenwriter, those hoping to get into television writing. He points out those fundamental differences, demonstrates the importance of writing in four, five, or even six act structure, and how to actually USE commercial breaks to make better television.
He discusses how movies FLOW but television PULSES. It's a not-so-subtle difference that makes all the difference for a writer.
He points out the absolute necessity of creating a BEAT SHEET from a TV show outline, and that cliff-hangers (pre-commercial and end-of-show) are non-negotiable...they WILL be there, or, as a writer, you WON'T be.
To order a copy of his book from Amazon CLICK HERE.
To learn more about Alex Epstein, CLICK HERE.
