Working on one such TV pilot this week I've been haunted by our recent discussion on paradigms and a growing rebellion against the dictatorship of plot points in favour of a more character-led credo.
That is, a paradigm which takes the clash of disparate characters as the driving force of plot and not the other way round.
As a self-confessed structure junkie, this is a new reality for me and one which feels 'back asswards', but something I'm trying to force myself to confront.
I don't know whether it's a realisation every screenwriter comes to eventually or a fresh wind of change that is taking place in screenwriting out there in the world.
So anyway, I'm writing a TV pilot and today I had a great big 'Ah ha!' moment.
I was catching up on some of the early Sam & Jim podcasts, listening to the one titled 'It's the Character, stupid' whilst rustling up a chilli, and vaguely thinking about what it was the outline document for my series was lacking, when they said it: 'every TV show and film that works has characters you want to hang out with.'
Of course. That's why I had to watch House every week even though I don't give a damn about medical dramas: he may not be a nice man, but he is a great character, and I want to see what he'll do next.
That's why I love Entourage
That's why Sex & the City is a near-religious experience for most of the women I know: because they identify with Carrie and see their friends in the other three.
That's why even an almost totally plot-driven show like 24 works: because Jack Bauer is a great character and I want to hang out with him (well, I want to watch him from behind a bulletproof screen while he does his thing, but you get the picture).
And this is what, I immediately realised, was wrong with my series outline. It's no good talking about all the great things that can happen in the eight episodes. What I need to get across is the main character, his central conflict, and the world he lives in. Everything that happens in the series springs from that!
This may sound insultingly obvious to you, but I've been structure-obsessed for years and needed to be reminded that character dictates plot, not the other way round.
[You can listen to 'It's the Character, Stupid' here].