nbc writers on the verge – week 7

previously on writers on the verge…

we started off the program writing specs. i’ve written many specs before, so there were no surprises and everything went smoothly. jen, karen, and julie ann liked my pitch for happy endings, i wrote the outline, finished the script on time, and i’m happy with how it came out.

then we moved onto pilots. i’ve only written one other pilot, and although it placed in the top 10% in the austin film festival competition, it took me about 6 months to write. in wotv, we have to write our pilots in 6 weeks, not 6 months. i spent 2 weeks working on an idea i didn’t love, so last week, i decided to change course and work on another idea that i’m more passionate about instead.

TUE 11/13

i hate that i’ve been struggling and have fallen behind. i wanted to make sure i was headed in the right direction, so before our session on tuesday, i emailed jen, karen, and julie ann a 2 page synopsis for my office comedy idea. they were kind enough to give me feedback, and based on that, i wrote the outline.

on tuesday, i got notes: it’s starting to come together. the characters are there, but i needed to focus on the main character’s goal and the stakes.

and, i was told it sounded like a regular episode, and not a pilot.

that’s when i realized what the problem was. this whole time, i had been TRYING to make my pilot just seem like a regular episode. i had heard that people didn’t want to read premise pilots, and that a pilot should be written as if it were something like episode 3 of the season. i asked about pilots being premisey vs not, and they said even if it isn’t necessarily a premise pilot, the pilot still needs to set up the characters and story and the world. ok, got it. i seriously don’t know why it took so long for me to realize this, but now that i know what to aim for, i’m hoping the rest of the process goes smoothly.

THU 11/15

we had a wotv reunion with writers from years past. i think there were about 50 people or so who came, including a few executives.

i met writers who worked on community, suits, chicago fire, ant farm, gravity falls, the client list, fairly legal, and warehouse 13.

it was a fun night and i got to meet so many great people! it’s all a big family, and as karen says, once you’re in, you’re in.