When I talk about writing I\u2019m mainly talking about books and movie scripts \u2013 movie scripts even more so than books. I think movie scripts are a bit easier to write because they are much shorter and to the point. Books are a lot of words. I think it would be easier for me to write non-fiction books than it would be for me to write fiction books. However I plan to write both. Oh, and I can\u2019t forget about articles, like journalism writing. I\u2019m fine with doing that, but I\u2019ve never really been interested in writing for TV. This, by the way, is interesting, because I\u2019ve watched more TV in my life than I have watched movies, read books or journalism articles, probably put together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps I\u2019ve shied away from TV because it keeps going. I realize that anyone who writes on a TV show that lasts for more than a season and keeps their job there the whole time or a good chunk of that time is quite fortunate. And perhaps I\u2019m just speaking out of my ignorance of how writing for a TV show works, but I think I would just be afraid that I would run out of ideas for a show to go on for more than two seasons, hell even more than one season. Just thinking about it now \u2013 to make a show interesting for that long, to make people want to tune in episode after episode, year after year, is some feat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then network TV, which I grew up watching, is so formulaic, especially having to write for commercial breaks and all. I think I would find that to be a bit of a challenge, and a bit stifling to my creativity. Thankfully HBO came along and changed the game on how a TV show could be produced. I think HBO was the first to have TV shows on cable channels that typically were known for showing movies.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I went on a bit of a tangent there. But I said all that to say, I would like to be in somebody\u2019s writer\u2019s room. And now that I\u2019m thinking about it, I guess I\u2019ve had that desire for longer than I care to acknowledge to myself, because now I recall wanting to create a Christian version of \u201cSex in the City\u201d when I was in my 20s living in New York. My show had three characters not four and they were in their 20s, not 30s (it\u2019s funny, looking back, how old the thirties seemed when I was in my twenties, even when I was staring 30 down at 26, 27). I don\u2019t know if I ever wrote that show idea down. If so, probably on paper. Now, like Jack to Rose in the movie \u201cTitanic\u201d, it exists only in my memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But yeah, I would love to be in a writer\u2019s room, if for nothing else just to experience it. I think working on a mini-series would be ideal. That way, I\u2019d get the writer\u2019s room experience without the long-term commitment. Or on the other end of the continuum, wondering if they are going to bring me back next year. That would be eliminated because there would be no next year. It would be a time where I could hunker down and give my all to the five, six or however many episodes the series would have and then be done with it. I think that would be cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I went to this writer\u2019s conference, last year in April, where this woman who used to be a writer for a popular sit-com was lamenting about her terrible experience in that show\u2019s writers\u2019 room. One of the things she bemoaned was how the powers-that-be would change what she wrote. Like she would write a whole script and the final product would vaguely if at all resemble what she originally created. According to her, such changes could be implemented for a number of reasons \u2013 maybe the showrunner, who\u2019s the boss of the room, didn\u2019t like it, or a main actor from the show who has some pull would say something like, \u201cI don\u2019t think my character would do that,\u201d and so it would be changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever the reason for the change, she didn\u2019t like it. She was highly annoyed by the fact that she put so much time and effort into a script just for it to be changed. While I understand how she could feel that way, when it comes to stuff like that, I personally wouldn\u2019t care. If I\u2019m writing on someone else\u2019s show you can change what I write all you want. You can have me rewrite it a thousand times, I don\u2019t care, as long as the check clears. Plus I get the experience of being in a writer\u2019s room and contributing to the process. Now don\u2019t get me wrong, it would be great if they liked what I wrote and used it, but if not, I\u2019d be fine because the show isn\u2019t mine. You do what you want with your show. I\u2019m there to serve your vision, not impose my own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If, however, it\u2019s my show, and I\u2019m being told to change things, then I would have a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But anyway, I don\u2019t know if, when or how I would get an opportunity to write on a show \u2013 and perhaps that\u2019s not the attitude to have if that\u2019s a goal of mine, though it\u2019s not a big goal, it\u2019s a tiny goal. However just in case. I\u2019m writing a spec script. I\u2019ve read that you need to have a spec script if you want to write for a TV show. A spec script is basically a sample script you\u2019ve written for an original show idea you have. I\u2019ve also read that in addition to that spec script you should also have a spec script that features an original idea for an existing show. Those two scripts are the least you should have. Though I hear most people who get these writer\u2019s room jobs have many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just for fun, I decided I would write an original spec script. I did a little research, then came up with an idea that I ended up liking so much I would actually like to see it as a show. As soon as it came (I felt like God downloaded it in my brain, leaving it for me to flesh out) to me I wrote the whole story idea out, but I haven\u2019t turned it into a script with dialogue and such yet. I imagine it wouldn\u2019t take too long to write given it\u2019s only going to be 30 mins.That shouldn\u2019t be too hard\u2026I think. Maybe I\u2019ll try to write it before January\u2026we\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Continuing in the spirit of \u201cjust for fun,\u201d here\u2019s a list of existing shows I wouldn\u2019t mind writing on for a season:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, there is a show that doesn\u2019t exist, but I would love to speak it into existence and that I would love to work on \u2013 nay, not just work on, but create and be the showrunner of and that is a \u201cSister, Sister\u201d sequel. I must admit I wasn\u2019t a huge fan of the show back in the 90s. I mean I watched it, but it wasn\u2019t must-see TV for me. I\u2019ve seen reruns of it and really like the last episode. I was a much bigger fan of Tia and Tamera\u2019s reality show they had on the Style Network, back when they (and I) were in their thirties. If I were to take charge of this show, I would watch all the episodes of the original season, then create a storyline for their age now. That I think would be so much fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, for someone who doesn\u2019t really want to write for TV, I sure have put a lot of thought into this. Maybe that\u2019s because I really do want to write for TV as well. Maybe I\u2019ve been slow to admit it because I\u2019ve just been scared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I talk about writing I\u2019m mainly talking about books and movie scripts \u2013 movie scripts even more so than books. I think movie scripts are a bit easier to write because they are much shorter and to the point….<\/p>\n\n