53-372 Writing for Television
9 units, Carnegie Mellon University
This class is suited for students who have some background in dramatic writing and wish to delve into writing specifically for television. We begin by examining the fundamental building blocks of television writing, reading scripts, writing scenes, and watching the best of the medium. We proceed on to choosing a show for which each student writes a 'spec script' by the end of the semester. The class is a combination of lecture and writing exercises. Topics include: how one-hour television works, how it emotionally manipulates the audience, how genre functions in television, why certain genres dominate, how a full length story is created from small two-page building blocks of scenes. This course functions as a workshop; we don't talk about writing but rather, we write. Assignments are frequent and pointed. Writing exercises are assigned to stretch the students writing muscles as they work towards completing their final script. Entrance into the course is by permission of the instructor only. Students desiring entry should register for the class and all will initially be placed on the wait list. At the end of the registration week the Instructor will interview the wait list and select those who will gain entry.
Prerequisites: none listed
Offered: Spring 2026
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