If you want to be a TV writer, you need to write a great TV pilot script. You can potentially sell that script, but more likely as a beginning writer you will use that pilot script as a writing sample to get representation and jobs. So how do you write a great tv pilot script?

First you need to write the first draft.

This article will be divided into two parts. In Part I I'll share 7 Tips for getting started on your first draft, and in Part II I’ll share 7 tips for writing great scenes.

Part I: 7 Tips for Getting Started on the Script

Here are 7 tips for getting started on the first draft of your pilot script.

1. Read All the Pilot Scripts You Can

The best way to learn how to write a pilot script is to read a bunch of them first. so before you actually start writing I recommend you read a lot of scripts for pilots that you love or are in the same genre as the one you are writing.

You can find a lot of scripts just by googling for them. Try searching for something like “[show name] script pdf.” It can also help to read scripts of episodes that aren’t pilots, and it can even help to read movie scripts.

Reading scripts is how most writers learn script formatting and what scenes are actually supposed to look like. For a refresher on script formatting, you can also check out this article.

2. Know Who Your Audience Is

Before we get into the how, we need to discuss the who. Who are you writing this script for? It might seem obvious, you’re writing this for the director, actors, and crew who are going to make your pilot, right? Wrong.

Your real audience is comprised of managers, agents, producers, and studio and network executives, plus all of their assistants. They’re who need to love this script. Lets call them The Suits. If The Suits don’t love the script, you’re never going to get to the “making it” part. Your pilot is also a writing sample, and The Suits are the gatekeepers for writing jobs so you want them to love it.

Knowing your audience will answer a lot of questions you have along the way like, “How much detail should I use in this description?” or “How much world building do I need to do?” The answer to both just enough so The Suits understand what’s going on, but not too much that they get bogged down by details they don’t care about or need to know.

Second, knowing your audience will affect the style with which you write. Your script is not a dry technical document or blueprint, which is how I sometimes see scripts described online. Your script should be enjoyable to read. It should showcase your unique voice or style, and it should be so compelling that The Suits feel like they have to make it.

3. Don’t Worry, It Will Be Bad

That might feel intimidating, but I actually want it to encourage you to explore creatively you as you write your first draft. Be expressive. Be cheeky. Let your voice shine through. Because this is just a first draft, and then you’re going to do a lot of revisions. You can always cut, add, and change things later.

In fact, a lot of writers think of their first draft as a “vomit draft."They just want to get something down on paper, and then they can revise it and make it better.

This doesn’t mean you just write anything and shovel slop onto the page, you should still work hard on the first draft, but it means that you shouldn’t get too stressed out about whether it’s good or not. Because, it’s a first draft! It probably will be pretty bad. And that’s okay. Don’t let it stop you. Know that it’s just part of the process.

4. Overcome the Tyranny of the Blank Page

Starting to write you script can feel really exciting, until you’re sitting there staring at the blank page. Then it can feel overwhelming, even if you have a great outline and well-developed characters.

Don’t worry, this is normal. Translating your story and character development work into scenes is hard. This is where that vomit draft idea comes in handy. Just get something down. It doesn’t have to be perfect, you just want to get the ball rolling.

Also, you don’t have to start at the beginning. If there is a scene later in the script that you’re really excited to write or you feel like you have a great handle on, write that scene first to get into your groove. Then you can go back to the beginning and keep moving forward.

5. Don’t Be Afraid to Change Your Story

Speaking of your great outline, think of it as a guide not a mandate. As you write the pilot you’re still getting to know the characters, world, and story. It’s an exploratory process, so don’t be afraid to change things as you go if you think of something better. Just be smart about it. The things you change are going to have ramifications for the rest of your pilot and your series moving forward.

6. Choose a Screenwriting App

To write your script you’ll need a screenwriting app. You can write a script with a basic word processor, but it’s a lot more work because of screenplay formatting. I use and recommend Arc Studio Pro. It’s got the basics like automatic industry standard formatting, but it also has a lot of other Pro features I love, like live collaboration that’s as easy to use as Google Docs, really helpful outlining tools that let you change your structure with drag and drop digital index cards, and a built-in notes app for all your story and character development work.

The interface is designed so you can see all this information at once. I cannot stress how much I love having my outline open on the left and my notes open on the right, all in one view without having to switch tabs or apps.

Everyone I know who uses it loves the Stash where you can store those lines from your script you love but aren’t working, and then you can drag and drop them into another part of your script.

Check it out and see if you like it. You can get started writing your pilot for free at arcstudiopro.com

7. Start Strong

The last tip for beginning to write your script is about… the beginning of your script. Hopefully you already thought about this last lesson when you were coming up with your outline, but you really want to start strong by hooking the audience and establishing the tone of your show.

Remember, you’re writing this for The Suits and they’re assistants. They have a giant stack of scripts to read and are really impatient.

Help them to understand what your show is and why it’s compelling at the beginning with a scene or sequence of scenes that makes them think they have to keep reading.

If your script is a comedy, make the opening funny. If it’s a thriller, make the opening thrilling. (You get the point.) Don’t wait to get to the good stuff because the reader might not get that far.

And when we meet your protagonist, have them be doing something that reveals a little bit of who they are as a person at the start of their journey.

Part II: Seven Tips for Writing Great Scenes

Your script is made out of scenes, so to write a great script you need to write great scenes. To help you accomplish that, here are seven tips for writing great scenes.

TIP #1: Express Feelings Through Action

One of the most important things to keep in mind as you’re writing your script is that while hopefully The Suits will read it, the eventual viewing audience will not.

The viewers will never know what you wrote in your script. They will only know what they see and hear when they watch what it becomes.

This can be really hard for new screenwriters in particular because in almost every other part of our lives we write things intended for the audience that reads them: Emails, text messages, home work, books, poetry, etc.

But in screenwriting you’re writing something that is going to be filmed and edited and then presented to the audience to the watch.

The implication of this is that as a screenwriter you need to write things that can be seen and heard.

In a book you can have long passages about what characters are feeling, but you can’t have that in a script. That doesn’t mean your characters aren’t feeling things. (They need to feel things.) But what they’re feeling needs to be expressed through actions and dialogue.

So instead of writing in your script, “Becky is restless” you would need to find a way to externalize her feeling of restlessness. Like “Becky fidgets in her seat.”

TIP #2: Add Conflict Through Goals and Obstacles

Scenes aren’t just descriptions of what is happening. They have purpose. They are a tool we use to tell a story, and if you’ve read the other lessons you know by know that stories come from conflicts.

This is true at the scene level as well. Your scenes need conflict.  If you have too many scenes without conflict the script is going to feel very slow and lifeless. This doesn’t mean that everyone is fighting in all your scenes. It means that the characters in your scenes have goals and face obstacles. They come into the scene wanting something but they face an obstacle. Dealing with that obstacle is what the scene is about, and the scene ends with them either getting what they want or failing. That launches them into the next scene.

TIP #3: Reveal More About Characters Through Their Decisions

Your scenes are not just about advancing the plot. Scenes are the windows through which we get to know your characters.

How the characters deal with obstacles in your scenes reveals who they are. It’s much better to show a character being tough or smart or compassionate in how they deal with a problem than it is to have someone say they’re tough or smart or compassionate.

Have them face a problem and then make a decision and take an action based on that decision. This problem can be external something in the world they have to deal with, or an emotional or psychological problem they have to take action over.

TIP #4: Move the Story Forward in Surprising Ways

Your scenes are not just about advancing the plot, but they do need to move the story forward. What your characters do and how they do it in one scene should affect what happens in the next scene. This is how readers are pulled through the story.

But there should be surprises along the way. If every character always reacts exactly how the audience thinks they’re going to react, they’ll lose interest. This doesn’t mean your characters should be completely random, it just means that they’re either revealing new aspects of themselves or are revealing how the story so far has changed them.

TIP #5: Add Stakes

In our very first lesson we talked about stakes. Stakes are what your characters can gain or lose. Having stakes is important in the macro story level, but also on the scene level.

In Tip #2 I talked about needing to have goals for your characters in a scene, and you can amp up the tension in your scene by attaching stakes to those goals. The scene will be more gripping if the characters have something to gain or lose.

TIP #6: Make Them As Short As Possible

Make your scenes as short as possible. I’m not saying make your scenes short, I’m saying make them as short as possible. Start the scene as late as possible, and end it as early as possible. To do this, think about what is actually important in your scene. What needs to happen? You may have a lot of stuff before that or after that, if you do, consider cutting it. It’ll slow your story down.

You can also look at this through your character goal for the scene. Why does your scene start? Because your character wants something. Why does it end? Because they succeeded or failed.

Now, there are exceptions to this tip, particularly when it comes to tone and tension. If you’re writing a scene where someone is alone in a house and they get attacked by an intruder who was hiding inside, I’m not saying you have to start the scene with the attack. The tension leading up to it is part of it, but the tension only starts when the character and/or just the audience learns the intruder is there. So you wouldn’t need a lot of stuff before that moment.

TIP #7 Choose a POV

Think about which character’s point of view we’re experiencing the scene through. In most scenes that POV character will be your protagonist. A shortcut is to think about which character in the scene you want the audience to be identifying with.

Which character’s emotions do you want the audience to be feeling? Tell the story from that POV.  It makes scenes feel more intense because it’s like the audience is there having it happen to them.

For instance, if you’re writing a scene of someone renewing their license in a DMV it could be from the POV of the customer or the worker. And those would be very different scenes. The scene from the POV of the customer might be about how frustrating the DMV is, and the scene from POV of the worker might be about how hard it is to deal with rude customers.

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