In addition to committing to a continuous writing, feedback gathering, and revision cycle, the best way to improve your chops is to study great television scripts. The Writers Guild Foundation offers some great advice on where to find TV scripts online.

Here are some TV scripts that we highly recommend seeking out:

• Dead to Me for brevity on the page while still conveying necessary information. It’s also a great example of genre/tone combining comedy and grief.
• The Last of Us (ep 103) for its exploration of character
• Severance for its world-building.
• The West Wing pilot for dialogue and character
• The Euphoria pilot for a great example of technical writing ability
• True Detective for voice
• Lost (ep 103) for readability/pace
• Insecure for character specificity and originality
• The Sex Education pilot for dialogue, readability, and its promise of stories to come
• Beef for character, tension, ratcheting the stakes, plus just sucking you in

Here are some questions to ask yourself, and to ask of readers able to give you feedback:

• Does the main character feel authentic and are they compelling?

• Does the character go through a journey in the pilot episode?
• Is the protagonist active in their own story?
• Does the pilot feel like it launches further stories for the characters?
• Is the world authentic and does it feel fresh?
• Does this feel like it ‘could be a TV show’? (Is it filmable within a TV show structure and budget?)
• Is the story propulsive and well-paced?
• Is it clear what the series is about thematically?

PSP programs like the Scripted Series Lab are for writers who are serious about a career in writing for television. You will need to have some writing experience, either through post-secondary training, or work experience, and a strong working knowledge of television structure demonstrated in your sample script.

Many of the writers who get into the program have studied writing or film at UBC, CapU, Vancouver Film School, InFocus Film School and many other institutions. Some are self-taught. There are no education prerequisites, but your scripts will need to be high calibre and will need to demonstrate a level of skill which is only attained through formal or informal study.

You can contact agents and ask if they are accepting submissions. The Writers Guild of Canada has an agents directory, although it is not an exhaustive list.

Please note: this advice assumes that you have undertaken post-secondary training or study and that scripts you’re writing demonstrate originality and voice, well-developed characters, strong dialogue and story structure, and technical writing ability (script formatting, grammar and punctuation, readability).

If you have an agent, they will put you forward for projects. In addition (or if you do not yet have an agent) you should build your network and profile by:

• attending industry events, panels, conferences etc to meet new people
• joining the inkcanada Facebook group and attending inkdrinks events
• entering reputable screenwriting competitions
• participating in reputable pre-professional training programs

Working as a television writer means learning how to put yourself out there and creating connections with people throughout your career. In addition to being a skilled writer, people need to want to have you in the writers room, to want to spend time with you because you have interesting ideas and you are collaborative. How you do this should be authentic to your personality but you need to demonstrate that you are interested in and can build rapport with other people. Never try to pitch your projects uninvited.

You should also pay attention to what’s being filmed locally and who the writers are. Some people work in other jobs in film and tv, on set or in the production office, in order to get to know the business and build relationships. 

As you build your network, you can request informal “informational interviews” with industry people, i.e. politely ask potential industry contacts if they could spare 30 minutes for you to buy them a coffee and ask a few questions. Just bear in mind that not everyone is up for this, but many people love to give advice!

Whatever you do, you need to keep writing (and re-writing) and make sure you have a range of strong writing samples available when you are invited to share them. If someone takes the time to read your material and give you notes, receive those notes like a pro, whether they are things you want to hear or not. If you make a career as a writer, you will constantly be getting notes from people no matter how successful you become, and you need to get used to handling that process professionally.