View from a Farley The Current Events and Opinion Weblog of Chris Farley

Writing a Television Show

Hey, everyone.  Remember me?  Yeah, the person that’s supposed to write.  So, I’m back.  There may or may not have been what could be characterized but will not be formally named as time management issues/constraints (Dana Perino wrote that line), but I am now re-incarnated, ready to take on (i.e. write about) the world, including, but not limited to: economic crises, the election, certain comedy shows, and all the other stuff that I manage to cram in.  (By the way, this is a very short post by any standards.  I’ll make up for the extreme shortness within the next week).

Aaron Sorkin is my favorite writer, as I’ve previously stated, but up until now I’ve never wanted his job.  I’ve always appreciated his amazingly fast-paced dialogue and wit, worshipped shows like The West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and I’m looking forward to seeing the results of his recent forays into feature films.

I, on the other hand, have never written anything longer than nine or ten pages.  But I’m intrigued about the idea of writing a television show.  I’m just slightly unsure how to proceed.  So here’s my question to the masses:  How do you write a television script?  What do you do?

Obviously, you need a concept, which I already have, but I’d like to know what format or style is required for scripts.  I’m not intending to shop this when I’m done, but I’d like it to be done right.