How to Write for Television

by Madeline Di Maggio

How to Write for Television [Paperback] by DiMaggio, Madeline

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 1990

Reviews

[Christina]

Skimmed this while going through my books on the craft of writing. As implied by the cover, the references are dated to the 1980s (pub date 1990). The author draws a lot on personal experience—per the bio she wrote 30 hours of episodic television, som TV pilots and a few Movies of the Week (remember those?) and feature films. She shares lengthy and detailed examples throughout, including sample scripts with notes.

There did seem to be some timeless storytelling advice, such as on developing characters and plotting, though nothing that isn’t covered in most books on writing fiction. I imagine many of the basic principles of writing for television remain the same, though there are likely more commercial breaks that would impact storytelling (her simplistic half hour plot outline includes one commercial break at the midpoint.)

Over a third of the book is devoted to writing movies, specifically television movies which seem increasingly obsolete in the age of streaming services. Although also slightly dated, I think Blake Snyder’s book Save the Cat! is stronger on screenwriting for movies. It’s more concise and thorough, and offers more specific advice on structure and plotting.

[Andrew]

Madeline DiMaggio's book offers a healthy balance between craft guidance and trade advice in her book on writing for TV. She explains the unique particulars of writing for the TV medium while also devoting later chapters to the subject of breaking into the business.

[John Bond]

Obviously dated at this point, but there is some good info if you sift throught it.

[Kathey Norton]

Great book. I found myself taking a lot of notes. Would love to see an updated version of this book be published at some point.

[Mike]

The sample material may be dated (1990), and cable opportunities were just taking off, but the structures discussed, and real-world advice is current. Madeline takes you through sit-coms, dramas, two-hour movies, and all of the steps before you write your script. She offers her personal story of how she got into writing, when things worked well and when they didn't, and things to consider before collaborating. She also uses real scripts, as well as her own two-hour movie script, for an in-depth discussion of the story structure.

There is lots of good reference information, a list of the top marketing questions she's received through the years (and the answers to them), and two great interviews with writer Mitchell Stein and cable content developer Alene Terasaki.

I enjoyed this book and found the information very useful.

[Allie]

It's probably best to learn contemporary things from books with contemporary computers on the cover...

[William Visher]

Very useful information.

[Asungushe B.]

I enjoyed this book. I wanted to learn something on writing but the scoop on television was very insightful. Very easy to read, funny as hell, and lots of worldly advice.