Great post, Adam. This kind of writing is new to me. I know of one other person who was writing stories in episodes, but you're the first person I know who has plotted a whole series. I found it fascinating to learn how you used those plot structure techniques to plot out the whole story in advance.
As I mentioned in my intro, I have a lot of box sets and I've often wondered how they plot a whole series. Some series in particular have an overarching theme that carries through a series even though each episode is a story in itself. Now I'm going to be looking out for the plot points you mention.
It must be hard in a TV series when they never know if the show is going to be cancelled. I wonder how many shows have been cancelled halfway through their storylines? (e.g. the TV series for Firefly and Minority Report). I guess that's the good thing about a novella series -- you can keep going until you're finished. You have a long road ahead of you, but I admire the way you've plotted it out. Looking forward to the next episode. Don't make us wait too long :) And thanks for guest blogging for us today. We really appreciate it.
It's definately a lot harder on TV than it is for us prose writers. When JMS wrote Babylon 5 he had to create back-up plans for all the characters, in case an actor got sick or wanted to leave the show.
I was thinking of Babylon 5 too - which had a 6 season story arc, but much of what was in season 6 ended up in 5 when the network threatened to end it at the end of 5 - then they cut the Crusader (the follow-on) after 6 episodes, much to the disappointment of the fans. B5 was one of the first series (if not the first) to have an overarching story arc, which Star Trek took on board with Deep Space Nine (before that series were often much more episodic.
I've never watched Babylon 5. You've tweaked my interest now Jenny and Adam. I can think of other non sci-fi shows that have had story arcs through an entire season, even though the individual episodes are stand-alone. These are often to do with something in the main protagonist's background (e.g. The Mentalist trying to track down his wife's killer Red John; Phrynne Fisher trying to find out what happened to her missing sister when they were children). Will have to keep an eye out now for those plot points in other shows.
Great post, Adam. This kind of writing is new to me. I know of one other person who was writing stories in episodes, but you're the first person I know who has plotted a whole series. I found it fascinating to learn how you used those plot structure techniques to plot out the whole story in advance.
As I mentioned in my intro, I have a lot of box sets and I've often wondered how they plot a whole series. Some series in particular have an overarching theme that carries through a series even though each episode is a story in itself. Now I'm going to be looking out for the plot points you mention.
It must be hard in a TV series when they never know if the show is going to be cancelled. I wonder how many shows have been cancelled halfway through their storylines? (e.g. the TV series for Firefly and Minority Report). I guess that's the good thing about a novella series -- you can keep going until you're finished. You have a long road ahead of you, but I admire the way you've plotted it out. Looking forward to the next episode. Don't make us wait too long :) And thanks for guest blogging for us today. We really appreciate it.
It's definately a lot harder on TV than it is for us prose writers. When JMS wrote Babylon 5 he had to create back-up plans for all the characters, in case an actor got sick or wanted to leave the show.
I was thinking of Babylon 5 too - which had a 6 season story arc, but much of what was in season 6 ended up in 5 when the network threatened to end it at the end of 5 - then they cut the Crusader (the follow-on) after 6 episodes, much to the disappointment of the fans. B5 was one of the first series (if not the first) to have an overarching story arc, which Star Trek took on board with Deep Space Nine (before that series were often much more episodic.
I've never watched Babylon 5. You've tweaked my interest now Jenny and Adam. I can think of other non sci-fi shows that have had story arcs through an entire season, even though the individual episodes are stand-alone. These are often to do with something in the main protagonist's background (e.g. The Mentalist trying to track down his wife's killer Red John; Phrynne Fisher trying to find out what happened to her missing sister when they were children). Will have to keep an eye out now for those plot points in other shows.