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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Not even remotely academic, making it a very quick read. Rabkin relies on examples from his past and draws from other successful shows (this is why ____ was successful/unsuccessful). Interesting but only mildy useful to me in terms of researching methods of character development on television.
Writing the Pilot by William Rabkin
Writing the Pilot is a simple guide on how to write a television pilot. What makes this book good is not just what it covers, but what it doesn't.
Writing the Pilot doesn't tell you how many days to write in. It doesn't tell you about screenplay format. It doesn't tell you what subjects are good. It doesn't tell you what genres are good. It doesn't tell you about agents or managers. It doesn't tell you about act structure and commercial breaks. It doesn't tell you about revision. It doesn't tell you about pitching. It doesn't tell you about networks. It doesn't tell you about studios.
Writing the Pilot doesn't get bogged down in all of this stuff because, I believe, it's a book for writers. If you've written very little, if you've never read a pilot before, if you don't know how one gets an agent, I think you might not be ready for this book.
Writing the Pilot teaches it's readers to think about the pilot as more than a good idea. Ideas are one episode. Franchises are what keeps the show going. The Franchise of a television show is why people keep coming back. It let's the viewer know what they're going to consistently get as the television series continues.
Writing the Pilot covers a few key ingredients for what needs to go into a pilot. Conflict, characters, supporting characters, the world, the tone, and the fun.
This book also covers a few important other things like, "Why This Show, Why Now?", Reasons to write a pilot, and a brief thought on the business.
The value in this book is it's laser focus. I wish I had read it before I had written the however many pilots I've written.
Writing the Pilot is a simple guide on how to write a television pilot. What makes this book good is not just what it covers, but what it doesn't.
Writing the Pilot doesn't tell you how many days to write in. It doesn't tell you about screenplay format. It doesn't tell you what subjects are good. It doesn't tell you what genres are good. It doesn't tell you about agents or managers. It doesn't tell you about act structure and commercial breaks. It doesn't tell you about revision. It doesn't tell you about pitching. It doesn't tell you about networks. It doesn't tell you about studios.
Writing the Pilot doesn't get bogged down in all of this stuff because, I believe, it's a book for writers. If you've written very little, if you've never read a pilot before, if you don't know how one gets an agent, I think you might not be ready for this book.
Writing the Pilot teaches it's readers to think about the pilot as more than a good idea. Ideas are one episode. Franchises are what keeps the show going. The Franchise of a television show is why people keep coming back. It let's the viewer know what they're going to consistently get as the television series continues.
Writing the Pilot covers a few key ingredients for what needs to go into a pilot. Conflict, characters, supporting characters, the world, the tone, and the fun.
This book also covers a few important other things like, "Why This Show, Why Now?", Reasons to write a pilot, and a brief thought on the business.
The value in this book is it's laser focus. I wish I had read it before I had written the however many pilots I've written.
Extremely helpful and succinct. I found a lot of the advice relevant to novel writing as well as television writing. Will definitely be hanging onto and referencing in the future.
This book pointed out a lot of interesting things to think about if you're interested in scripting a pilot for a TV series or even just interested in analysing why a particular television series succeeded or failed. I really enjoyed his points about having a central conflict that can drive the show for seasons and the kinds of pilots there are and how to decide which type to have.
But I feel like he kind of buried the lede: in the first chapter he's basically like, in past books (including his own) people always said it was impossible to get a pilot accepted without extensive experience and connections in the industry. But that's changed! Networks are now buying spec pilots! So I'm writing this book to let you know how to do it. Then in the last chapter, he's like: you still need to either have a really compelling life experience so they contact you, or you have to go film it yourself. Wat.
But I feel like he kind of buried the lede: in the first chapter he's basically like, in past books (including his own) people always said it was impossible to get a pilot accepted without extensive experience and connections in the industry. But that's changed! Networks are now buying spec pilots! So I'm writing this book to let you know how to do it. Then in the last chapter, he's like: you still need to either have a really compelling life experience so they contact you, or you have to go film it yourself. Wat.
This slim volume is packed with great advice that every aspirational TV screenwriter needs to read before writing their pilot script. Just some really good tips about making sure your idea is good for a TV series vs a movie, knowing what your story engine is, understanding character development and making sure you have the central theme and conflict of your series defined.
Rabkin's examples are all good and relevant. His writing style is breezy and enjoyable. 100% recommend.
Rabkin's examples are all good and relevant. His writing style is breezy and enjoyable. 100% recommend.