STORY MAPS: TV Drama: The Structure of the One-Hour Television Pilot

This book proved to be invaluable to me. It struck a perfect balance between brevity and depth, while equipping me with a solid grasp of TV pilot writing. I know there’s tons to learn but this made for a wonderful primer.

As part of a recent research project on predicting Nielsen ratings, I had to read up on the art and craft of writing for television, particularly writingfor 1-hour dramatic series.The first titles that I read were those by William Rabkin.. After that, Kindle's recommendation algorithm kicked in and suggested one book after another--about a dozen in all. I came across "Story Maps" about midway through the lot.With no disrespect intended to any of the other authors, "Story Maps" is, by far, the best of the bunch. Before I explain why, let me give a few thoughts on this genre of books as a whole.First, it is my very distinct impression that these titles are intended for the aspiring and enthusiastic amateur writer--perhaps recent film school grads and/or writers in other genres, e.g. short stories, film, comedy, or journalism who are looking to break into TV writing. Put another way, such books are probably NOT written for people already working as writers for dramatic series--the assumption being that these folks already (should/do) know most of what is contained in such books.With that having been said, a somewhat a philosophical/pedagogical question arises: what kind of book on the subject of writing 1-hour TV dramas would best serve the aforementioned enthusiastic amateurs? Based on my many years of teaching graduate and undergraduate students--albeit in very different topics--one important criteria is brevity.I say this because of one well-known drawback of learning from experts: they have so much too say and often want to teach all that they know. Dan's book doesn't fall preyto this problem. I didn't do a page count but I'm pretty sure that it's the shortest of all books that I read on the topic. And to be clear: it's brief because it's focused on the essentials--the structure of the 1-hour pilot, just like it says in the subtitle.A second all-too-common problem of learning from experts is that they rely too much on war stories and colorful anecdotes. It's easy to understand why: war stories--especially those told by professional story tellers--are fun to listen to. And they are no doubt instructive. But they are no substitute for spelling out the conceptual vocabulary of the field and the analytical framework needed to apply the concepts to realistic, instructive examples. And it is here that Story Maps really, really shines. (Would it be too redundant if I said "really" one more time?)As the title suggests, the books give a a concise description of what the structure of a 1-hour Drama is. That discussion begins in earnest about 35-40% of the way through the book. Leading up to that, a number of important distinctions and definitions are provided--what the core formats are (comedy, dramedy, drama, etc.), the differentkinds of pilot episodes (e.g. premise vs. 3rd episode), and the meaning/ importance of setting, theme, crisis, teaser, arcs, A/B/C stories, etc.All of the definitions are supported by examples from highly popular and successful shows in very different genres, all created by writers at the top of their respective games. But the listing and defining of the key terms is only the set-up for the real important contribution of this book--the beat sheet that links the terms together and shows how they unfold in a sequence of 4-6 acts over 54-60 pages.In short, the beat sheet takes the reader step-by-step, from teaser/act one through the finale, showing how the many parts combine to make a "engine" that drives the story forward. Each of several shows is analyzed and used as an example in each section of the beat sheet. This is smart teaching. It allows one to see how the same elements combined in different stories but all to the same effect--a compelling pilot that launched a popular and highly acclaimed series.It's hard for me to overstate just how well-organized and useful this part of the book is. If you're like me, you'll need to read and study the beat sheet, and practice diligently at the examples. But should you persist, you'll end up with an excellent command of the structure of the TV drama pilot that will serve you very well going forward.Starling Hunter, Ph.D.(starling@almuni.duke.edu)

What a great guide to writing drama television pilots! I loved this book because it offers a clear guide to structuring a tv pilot. Essentially, it breaks down “the magic” of what happens onscreen during your favorite tv shows, and shows the you the keys to applying that to your own writing. To me, it felt like it was revealing the foundation of what makes a script work, which I find extraordinarily helpful. It opened my eyes to how the actual structure of a show works. And shows follow a similar pattern because it allows the drama and excitement and suspense to unfold in the most satisfying way possible. I’m definitely going to be using this book as I work on my own scripts. Plus, the writing is super clear and organized. I breezed through the book quickly. Definitely recommend!!

One of the few good books on TV pilots out there! I would recommend this book to anyone just starting out trying to map their pilot like I am.

I bought this book because I’ve never written TV pilot. It was clear, concise, and extremely helpful. I’m basically used it as a guide and was able to complete the pilot.

The author breaks down the 1 hour TV Pilot in a clear, useful and easy to comprehend ways, using examples. Easy to read, especially for those transitioning from feature films to TV. My only suggestion, the examples are all using TV shows with male leads. For the next draft, I hope he can include a 1 hour TV Pilot starring females... so many shows on the streamers do star females - lots to choose from. The author will also send a Story Map work sheet upon request, which he does and he does it promptly. I recommend this book. As helpful in TV as Syd Field is to feature films.

I got this book because I just started working with OpenGate to develop my pilot, and it is required reading. Looking forward to putting all of this into practice as I take my first steps in this field of creative awesome. Dan does a great job of walking the reader through the story maps structure using really great examples of hit shows, detailing how they follow the structure and how they sometimes break from it in effective ways that alter the landscape of this industry.

If you're looking for help in writing your teleplay, look no further. Although there isn't much out there about television writing, there's still a considerable amount of material out there on television writing that gets it wrong or is too difficult to understand. Daniel Calvisi provides a thorough and easy to digest read of structuring a one-hour television pilot, with tons of great story maps to use along the way! Alongside the story map worksheet provided at the end of the book that is a really phenomenal tool in mapping out a pilot episode, there's tons of building blocks that Calvisi provides along the way to help with writing along the way. I've been using the chapters daily for "A Fascinating Protagonist" and "The Basic Story Map" to help with shows that I've already watched dozens of times before to see how they stack up next to my own ideas. Overall, a 5 star read and incredible tool that every budding television writer should have.

I decided to revamp a pilot of an idea I had in 2015 and have been recreating and rewriting it since then. I wrote the first draft of the revamped version and then decided to read Dan's book before starting the second draft - I'm so glad I did! It helped better shape the protagonist and the concept, and the worksheet - which I recommend everyone to get it - helped me to really dig into the core of the series, which led to create more and more legs for it. This has given me a lot more confidence in the quality of my pilot and my series and also in my ability to pitch it. Thank you, Dan Calvisi!

I found this book (and story mapping) a very effective and productive tool for plotting out and structuring the story of a hour pilot.Focusing on an adaptable template rather specific page numbers; and on real characters with depth, the idea behind the series and the engine to keep producing episodes, it gives lots of essential tools rather than trying to prove specific things happen on specific pages, like some other books on structure. Refreshing.This book and the story map helped me get from an idea for a series to focusing everything down to what goes in a tight pilot, and why. I thoroughly recommend it

As a guide to writing a pilot it was a great tool. Easy to read and follow. A reference I found extremely useful and worth the purchase.

At the end point of the book, you'll feel like it's not finished yet. There is something to do after reading this book: do it right now! Write! Hurry up!

I read Calvisi's STORY MAPS: HOW TO WRITE A GREAT SCREENPLAY and it was a very helpful book, on par with classics like Paul Gulino's SEQUENCE APPROACH or COWGILL's SECRETS OF SCREENPLAY STRUCTURE.But when I started my career in the realm of TV series, I looked around for something insightful on this special topic - and Calvisi's Story Maps are extremely helpful:Not at all baking recipes, although he believes in a basic pattern. But this pattern raises such an amount of very good questions, that it helps me a lot as soon as I developed my ideas to a certain point - and then use the Story Maps as a litmus test.Very good book!(Calvisi also offers coachings, consultations and Master Classes... so he doesn't shy away when you want to test his theories on your own pilot.)