The Inkwell Group

Writing TV Treatments

Course Duration: 8 weeks recommended for maximum benefit
Start Date: On demand
Tutor(s): Elizabeth Hutcheson*
Course Fee: €120

Do you regularly spot news items and think someone should make a TV series out of it? Do your fingers itch to write storylines for programmes you love? Or does the opposite happen? Are you a writer struggling to find ideas you can work with? If so, then this is the course for you.

For although television a visual medium, it’s still based on the written word and all programmes start out with a single idea first spelt out on paper. But because writers rarely make programmes, they must sell their ideas to the people that do.

One way is to write a script, send it off, and hope for the best. Another is to write a Treatment – essentially a written pitch summarising an idea into a few pages – and then write a dynamite script to complete the submission package. Not only do Treatments aid writers tease out and focus their ideas, they are powerful selling tools for communicating ideas to other people.

In this introductory course, participants will learn where the potential openings are in television and what writers must do in order to break in. By the end, participants who take advantage of all assignments will have created a polished Treatment showcasing their own idea for a series, complete with logline, synopsis, outlines for episodes and a query letter designed to grab the attention of programme makers.

But more than this, participants will learn the process for finding, developing and testing out ideas, from start to finish, that can replicated over and over again, with a view to selling them.

Other techniques such as characterisation and editing for impact will also be covered. A step-by-step research guide along with a comprehensive reading list will also be given.

Each module contains an email lecture, visual aids, links to further study and an assignment to be submitted for constructive review and feedback.

*Elizabeth Hutcheson, writing under the name of Caren Kennedy, is the creator of a television series currently in pre-production with Warner Bros TV  and co-author of Fake Alibis . Her articles and essays have been published in many different countries and beyond. For more information visit: www.carenkennedywrites.com or send Caren an email direct to: carenkennedy@inkwellwriters.ie

To book contact carenkennedy@inkwellwriters.ie.  As soon as Elizabeth receives your e-mail and PayPal notification, she’ll send you the first module.

 Each module contains an email lecture, visual aids, links to further study and an assignment to be submitted for constructive review and feedback.

Module 1: The Basics

1. Course Overview
2. Study Tips
3. Understanding Television
4. Analysing Programmes
5. Strategies for Success
6. Opportunities for Writers
7. Visualisation & Exposition
8. The Synopsis        
9. Assignment: Summarising Stories & Creating New Ones

Module 2: Getting  Started

1. How to Break In
2. Drama Series
3. Comedy Drama Series
4. Situation Comedy
5. Soap Opera
6. What to Write About
7. Television is Character
8. Assignment:  Sourcing Ideas & Drafting Outlines

Module 3: Making Ideas Real

1. The Big Idea
2. The Believability Factor
3. Bringing Characters to Life
4. 13 Hot Tips for Characterisation
5. Character Mix & Numbers
6. The Hook
7. Building Suspense
8. Location and Setting
9. Assignment: Series Synopsis & Character Profiles

Module 4: The Full Treatment              

1. Loglines
2. Episode Postcard Tests and Outlines
3. Presentation - Preparing & Sending Your Pitch
4. What Happens Next?
5. Why Writers Fail
6. Step-by-Step Research Guide
7. Writing Courses and Competitions
8. Recommended Further Reading
9. Assignment:  The Treatment