Whenever I drag myself out for a run, the Dog usually accompanies me. Taking the Dog means having her on the lead, factoring in stops for toileting and meeting other dogs, and waiting for traffic. When it’s a hard run, I welcome each and every excuse to stop. But when it’s a run where I’m in the zone and I do not want to stop, I grit my teeth and wait on the bitch as she wees and poos and smells other dogs’ bottoms.<\/p>\n
Sometimes things have to happen in their own way, no matter how much I want to beat my last time.<\/p>\n
I’ve been gritting my teeth a bit with the television pilot<\/a> lately. I’ve written a couple of pilots before but those were for half-hour shows; this puppy’s an hour-long drama.<\/p>\n I’ve read a heap of hour-long pilots*. I’ve got Jill Golick<\/a>, John August<\/a>, John Rogers<\/a>, and Lisa Klink<\/a> on my RSS feeds. I’ve been perusing my West Wing<\/a>, Shield<\/a>, Law & Order<\/a> and Sports Night<\/a> DVDs. (Yes, Sports Night<\/i> is half-hourly but it’s so freakin’ good!<\/i>)<\/p>\n Unlike a feature script where I can leap in – within reason and\/or time constraints – keyboard blazing tight groups of sluglines and cut-to’s, a television script is much more rigidly structured. For starters, there are ad breaks to take into account. And there’s the (currently imaginary) budget to consider – no CUT-TO’s to the Iraq occupation or Victorian London for this show. And I have to establish some sort of feel or style or look – or all<\/b> of those preceding words – to reinforce the show and concept as being unique and individual.<\/p>\n Right now, feature scripts are looking easy-peasy: I only need to keep the audience nailed to their seats for ninety-plus minutes and then they’re free to go.<\/p>\n The pilot has forty-five or so minutes with which to engage\/enthrall\/hook\/addict the viewer and<\/b> make them look forward to next week’s episode.<\/p>\n I can see<\/b><\/i> the ep doing that – but only in my mind’s eye. In order to get it Out There, I have to write it all up – and to do that<\/i>, I have to break down the ep:<\/p>\n\n