Story Maps: TV Drama: The Structure of the One-Hour Television Pilot

Express Theme: Show us why you’re writing this story, what it is about, in action.

it begins by showing us the result of the dramatic turn that came at the end of Act One.

Story Map Worksheet (email me and I’ll send it; see the second to last chapter for my email address)

Keep in mind that a “premise pilot” may not utilize the Week-to-Week engine of subsequent episodes.

Misbehavior: It’s fun to give your protagonist a trait that consistently creates problems for them.

You can only reinvent the form once you know the form. Once you know the past, you can create the future:

Ideally, each story has at least three beats: a beginning, middle and end.

strong sense of place, time and tone, and an expression of the central theme of the series.

Theme can act as a “control” to focus your stories.