Keep reading to find out about some great TV writing advice plus other goodies!

Well, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. In a nutshell, I have officially been substitute teaching for all grades from kindergarten to high school. I teach between my TV staff writing jobs and book sales because a) I love teaching and b) our economy is terrible!

This past week, I taught everything from Earth Science to health to being an aide for a beautiful 3rd grade boy who is blind. As always, I find teaching to be inspirational because it really reminds me of the audience I write for. I also found a note written between two 7th grade girls that cracked me up and reminded me what girls at that age are interested in... boys! I promise future blogs about my subbing adventures soon!

Music wise, I just saw a great performance by a King Crimson tribute band called The Great Deceivers, over the weekend because one day I might play with them. It was a great performance. Definitely check out their website here:

http://www.myspace.com/tgdkingcrimson

And to top off my crazy week, I had burned my wrist on a frying pan while cooking some pasta. It seared the skin off but I just put it under cold running water, threw on some Neosporin and a bandage and thought that was the end of it! Instead, for the next three days, I felt this horrible throbbing pain! By Friday, half my arm was bright red and puffy. I called my doctor who scolded me for not seeing her sooner. I raced over to the doctor's office and it turns out I had a 2nd to 3rd degree burn and it had gotten infected. Yuck! So I'm on these skin infection antibiotics and have to put on this salve every day. Lesson learned: when you burn yourself in the kitchen and it continues to hurt for more than 24 hours... GO SEE YOUR DOCTOR!!! So that was the most exciting thing to happen to me this week. LOL!

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you some notes I took during a lecture given by good friend and TV writer/executive CHAD GERVICH. He gave a lecture on "Seven Steps to Selling Your Show" at The Writers' Store in Westwood.

Chad Gervich is the author of SMALL SCREEN, BIG PICTURE: A WRITER'S GUIDE TO THE TV BUSINESS from Mediabistro.com Books (2008). I wished he had written this book when I first got my start as a TV writer. This book is my new industry bible. It's well written, compelling, and truly explains every single detail into how TV shows are put together and how the business works.

Chad and I met at the Warner Bros. TV Drama Writing Workshop back in 2002 and have stayed in touch ever since. He is a wonderful, very warm and engaging person with a hilarious sense of humor. Our mutual friend and fellow WB Workshop alumni ANUPAM NIGAM (co-producer on USA's hilarious series PSYCH) also attended the lecture. Keep an eye out for An's episodes on PSYCH, they are hilarious! Afterwards, we all met up with friends for some yummy Philly cheesesteaks at the awesome Philly West in Westwood near UCLA.

Pictured above, L-R: Me & Chad, then Chad and An!

Here are the main points Chad brought up in his lecture... and I apologize for not being able to put together a more coherent blog - these are just some main points I had scribbled down in my notebook. If you want more details, you should definitely buy Chad's book which goes into huge detail about the topics below... AND here are some more options:

-- See Chad live again! His events include:

-- WRITING THE TV PILOT (Tues. March 24th, 6:45 to 9:45 PM): Chad will teach this class at Blankspaces (5405 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 9006). The price is $65. Enroll here: http://www.mediabistro.com/courses/cache/crs4434.asp or call 212/547-7890.

-- PITCHING WORKSHOP (Tues. March 31st, 7:30 PM): Chad will conduct a pitching workshop with a panel of industry experts including TV lit APA agent Lindsay Howard and Joke Productions (Beauty & the Geek, Scream Queens) at Barnes & Noble at The Grove (189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90036). The first 25 people to buy Chad's book are guaranteed a pitch! For more info, call 323/525-0270.

-- "The biggest difference between a movie and a TV show: A movie is a finite experience where at the end of two hours, the story is done. A TV show tells a story through episodes that are part of a larger story that goes on for years... or even infinity, like The Simpsons."

-- Elements of a Successful TV Show: Chad then discussed how the TV industry works in terms of seasons...

- Development Season: Lasts from June to October. The networks hear 1,000 pitches from writers for comedy and drama series ideas. They purchase about 120 ideas (comedy and drama) and develop these ideas into scripts with the writer. The first draft is due around Thanksgiving. The production company will give notes to the writer, who then rewrites the script. That revised script is then given to the network, who gives the writer more notes. The writer rewrites the script AGAIN and this time the studio gives their notes. The writer rewrites the script AGAIN. This final draft is then delivered to everyone by Christmas.

- Pilot Season: Lasts from January to May. The executives read and discuss the final revised scripts they received around the holidays. They narrow these 120 scripts down to about 20 to 30 scripts per network (both comedy and drama) that they want to be casted and filmed into actual pilots. The finished filmed pilots are then watched by the network execs in April and May, and by mid May, the networks have decided which pilots will be picked up for the fall season. Out of the 20 to 30 filmed pilots, they usually select about four to eight shows to air per network. Out of those shows, about 3 to 4 actually make it through their first season and are not cancelled. Out of those 3 to 4 successful pilots, maybe ONE show is a hit and will be renewed for a second season.

So you go from 1000 ideas in June to ONE show being successful by the following year. Wow!

- Chad said a TV show needs to have five elements. They are: GENRE, PREMISE, STRUCTURE, CHARACTERS... AND "CHAD'S MYSTERY ELEMENT."

Genre: Chad says your show should be defined as a procedural (straightforward mystery show with clues that lead the characters to solve the mystery at the end of each episode), a character-driven show where it's about the relationship between the characters that create stories, soaps (like character shows but have a more serialized element where you must see every single episode in order to understand the storylines), and "event" dramas like "Lost" where there is one major event that defines the series' main storyline.

Premise: Chad says you should be able to describe the main idea of your series in one sentence. This premise should articulate the story at its simplest level, show where the conflict is coming from within that world, and articulate how the show functions emotionally and thematically. All in one sentence!

Structure: Is your show a stand-alone series where each episode has a solid beginning, middle and end, and you don't have to watch all the episodes in order to understand what's going on? Or is your show a serialized series where if you miss one episode, you're screwed because you need to see every single episode to know what's going on?

Characters: Is it a Single Lede or Ensemble driven show? How do your character see the world and how do they interact with each other? Chad discussed the characters of Friends, saying that Ross sees the world through the ordered lens of math and science, where everything made sense logically, and the minute something went emotionally wrong, he would "go bonkers." And then Rachel was impulsive and flighty and she saw the world as hers, she was a spoiled rich girl who always relied on her gut instinct. And these two polar opposites fall in love. These two will never see eye to eye but they will never be torn apart.

Chad's Mystery element: Voice. Chad gave a beautiful speech about how voice is how you see the world - and how that perspective is what gives your writing and your show its "voice." For example, he said Marc Cherry's "voice" comes from his point of view that "the world is a beautiful place but if you pull back the curtain, all the beautiful people want something and they will do whatever it takes to protect what they want... it's a dog eat dog world where people will do anything to get ahead and protect their own. But even in this dog eat dog world, our friends are on the one thing we can count on to get through this gorgeous, vicious world. And that is how Marc Cherry created his voice for the show Desperate Housewives."

-- Chad's Seven Steps to Selling Your Show:

1. Logline (one line description of the show)
2. Synopsis (one paragraph expanding upon the logline)
3. Summary (one page description)
4. Character Descriptions (how they see the world an dhow they relate and interact with each other)
5. Pilot outline (outline the main beats for each act of the script)
6. Sample episodes (be prepared to have a half dozen ideas for future storylines)
7. Emotional intro (come up with your opening "pitch" that is chockfull of emotion)

I highly recommend you check out Chad's book to find out the details behind these seven steps, but I leave you with his "emotional intro" for the show FRIENDS. He the way that show was pitched was to hit the universal truth behind these six characters ... "Friends is about six best friends navigating the waters of life after college. They're trying to figure out who they are, what their career is versus their job, what they want in love and relationships. At the end of the day, after they've had a bad date or gotten rejected or had a really bad day at work where their boss yelled at them, they return home to their best  life support system... their friends..."

For more information on CHAD GERVICH and to check out his fantastic "SCRIPT NOTES" blog on writing and the TV industry, please go here (and check out his blog dated Feb. 28th to see the photos I took during his lecture!):

http://blog.writersdigest.com/scriptnotes/

To order his book, go here:

http://www.amazon.com/Mediabistro-com-Presents-Small-Screen-Picture/dp/0307395316/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235967283&sr=8-1

For those of you who are aspiring children's book writers, I would still recommend checking out Chad's books because a lot of what he says is quite beneficial for all storytellers interested in all genres. Thanks again, Chad, for a great Saturday lecture!

Now I'm back to the writing batcave... and I'm staying away from hot frying pans!