STORY MAPS: TV Drama: The Structure of the One-Hour Television Pilot

This is a really superb book that gives a basic structure that the new TV screenwriter can use to generate an good quality script. TV drama spec scripts have specific structure and format requirements that are not obvious to the new writer. Is this the ONLY way to write a salable drama? Of course not--and Dan Calvisi says that up front. But it is a terrific format that lets writers focus on telling their stories and generating acceptably formatted and structured scripts. Once you learn the trade, and know the rules, you'll be able to bend this structure if you want--as long as you're doing so in service to the story itself and not to break them just to break them. Highest recommendation.

As a novice in this genre, Calvisti's book was exactly what I had been looking for. My writing over the past few decades has been exclusively non-fiction, so the gnawing question for me in tackling a TV pilot project was: how do I structure the fictional tale that has been stewing in my imagination since the 1980's?

I had not found a clear, usable answer until now. "Story Maps" solved my problem and iIt did so using as examples work with which I was already quite familiar, "Breaking Bad", "Mad Men", "TWD" etc. (The only two pilot examples I had to seek out for a first look were "Scandal" and "Mr Robot").

Using his methods I was able to quickly structure the existing elements of my story into a framework I am not fleshing out with dialogue, etc. and I did so within just a few hours after first opening his book.

I concur with many of the other points being made here by other 5-star reviewers, so I won't repeat those. "Story Maps" is a concise, inexpensive, highly effective solution to a significant challenge. Calvisi delivers exactly what he promises.

Who ARE these people who publish stuff like this? This author has zero produced credits, is not a member of The Writers Guild of America (which means he has NEVER sold a single teleplay or treatment), and yet he puts out a book based upon his "expertise"?
Laughable.
There is nothing in this book that isn't common sense available for free on any one of 10,000 websites thrown up by people just like him.
That said, the book has nice cover art, which must be the only reason anyone buys it.

There are very few books on writing that can keep my attention and I have read them all. However, I was kept engaged throughout the read. If you are a new writer trying to pick-up the basics of what it is to tell story in the correct form and what the companies are looking for at any given time; you will find this as a great read with a ton of info about plotting and developing your next script.

This book will provide you clarity on TV Pilot structure, break down popular shows Act by Act and will help you understand your own story by asking the right questions. It educates, which is something other books on the subject promise to do, but they don't. I had borrowed it from a friend at first, but then realized that I need to have my own copy so here I am leaving an Amazon review on the purchase..:-)

Skip all the other books. If you are looking for a how to guide for writing a one hour TV drama, this is it. It is short, concise and to the point. It gives you exactly what you need. No more, no less.

Thanks to Daniel P. Calvisi, I am madly working on my one hour TV drama pilot. Thanks for the inside scoop. This was VERY informative for the newbie!

This book was a great. I don't have formal training and I needed something to explain the structure of an episode. This book points out the general structure of a story as it relates to television, then breaks down how to map the story and the characters. The author breaks down popular television shows to drive home his points. I found that to be incredibly effective. Learning is most effective when it can be related to something the student is already familiar with. I'm sure I'll be using this as a reference in the future.

If you're looking for help in writing your teleplay, look no further. Although there isn't much out there about television writing, there's still a considerable amount of material out there on television writing that gets it wrong or is too difficult to understand. Daniel Calvisi provides a thorough and easy to digest read of structuring a one-hour television pilot, with tons of great story maps to use along the way! Alongside the story map worksheet provided at the end of the book that is a really phenomenal tool in mapping out a pilot episode, there's tons of building blocks that Calvisi provides along the way to help with writing along the way. I've been using the chapters daily for "A Fascinating Protagonist" and "The Basic Story Map" to help with shows that I've already watched dozens of times before to see how they stack up next to my own ideas. Overall, a 5 star read and incredible tool that every budding television writer should have.

Daniel takes the aspiring television writer through the important steps for specifically creating a television pilot by examining several popular television shows of the last few years. Daniel explains the difference between procedurals and serial TV shows and how each pilot should be laid out. How premise pilots and 3rd episode pilots are set up. No matter what kind of show being created the pilot should focus heavily on the main character, because stories are character driven. Next, he asks questions like what kind of character is going to drive the television show. He then gives us a character sheet defining their skills, misbehaviors, internal goals, and a list of other important characteristics. This sheet is not necessarily as detailed as a book author might use to fully flush out a character. Daniel then uses this sheet to point out major traits found in characters from like Walter White from Breaking Bad, Frank from House of Cards, and Rick from The Walking Dead. The second most important aspect to a show, after the characters is the theme and how theme drives the show. Daniel then moves into the basic story map used by all television shows and examines the A, B, and C story act by act. He shows this over and over again in many different television pilots. Most of these shows are currently streaming so the reader could watch the pilot and follow along and see how the important story beats are and keep the viewer returning. He lays out the story maps uses in such television shows as True Detective, The Walking Dead, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, and Breaking Bad ending with a blank story map for an aspiring writer to use as a model.