Writing Test Scripts

The Idea

A television test script starts with an idea. It's the dream of many to have a TV network turn your test script into a reality. It's sometimes easier to get a writing gig with a network if you send a script about an existing show.

Catch Their Attention

Script readers spend hours looking over scripts. Make an impression from the first sentence of the first page. Make the opening dialogue catch the reader off-guard a little so he'll focus on what's going to be said next. Write a 10-line conversation between two characters, then cut the first three lines and start there.

Formatting, Spelling, Grammar

Don't make simple errors. It makes you look sloppy. Make the script double-spaced, make character names in all caps and get a list of script formatting before you write it. If the format is hard to read, the network will pass it over. Many scripts submitted to studios are overlooked because of formatting errors. Show initiative and that you did your homework.

Length: 45 Minute Max

Don't write a novel. They don't have time to read it, and script reviewers and professional script writers for television networks think in 45-minute segments for hourlong programing and 18-minute segments for 30-minute programming. If your script is extremely long, they won't even pick it up.

Intrique Them

You have to hook people on your characters. Expand them only enough to want to know more about the characters. Don't spell out the whole story or plot in the first page. Don't spell out the whole plot in the first episode script. End the script with a little secret; make it almost as though you told the reader something you should not have said. Make the script reader want more.