Star Trek Freelance Writer's Tips for Television Pitching

I've written several episodes for the Star Trek TV shows, including "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine". Although the last series, "Enterprise" was cancelled, buzz is being generated again lately by news that power house TV producer, J.J. Abrams will produce and may even direct the next Star Trek feature film. Let me share some tips as a freelance TV writer who successfully wrote for a high profile television franchise.

Spec scripts, or scripts submitted with no formal writing assignment begin the writing process. You're proving to the producers of a specific show you can capture a show's narrative rhythms. In most cases, shows want to see a spec of another series, not the one they produce. Spec scripts serve to showcase the writer's talents, highlighting her literary strengths or his weaknesses. This is particularly true in television, where time constraints and the sheer volume of scripts that are needed per season preclude the common purchase of speculative material. So how do you write for television, if your written material is just used as evidence of your literary capability? Enter the pitch.

The pitch is a pretty straightforward process, but although I have pitched to "Star Trek: Voyager" and "Deep Space Nine" four times, for most writers, including myself it remains something that cannot be overly practiced. Pitching involves sitting down with one or several members of a writing staff either in person or over the telephone and simply telling them some stories. Sounds simple enough, right?

We all tend to approach things in our own unique manner and the way a story formed in a writer's head ends up flashing across our TV screens or downloaded onto our iPod, can be just as individual as the one who wrote it. Our conversational styles differ from person to person and since a pitch is basically a conversation between writer and producer, it can take all manner of execution. For myself, I like to use index cards with a few keywords and descriptions of characters from the storyline. Getting too detailed or formal can work against you, since many people may not be able to follow a set or inflexible description of your episode premise. Be prepared for many questions and not a few interruptions.

The actual session, or more specifically the actual tone varies with whomever is taking the pitch. Some will let you read your full pitch and then ask pointed questions. Others will interrupt occasionally for clarification of things. Still others will cut you off immediately when they think something won't work - a polite way of saying you're wasting their time. One producer I pitched to liked to crack bad jokes during my pitch, another cursed a blue streak. Both personality quirks were surprising and a bit unsettling to say the least. But it gave me insight into them, how they thought and interacted with writers. I took something instructional away from each pitch session. And you will too.

You may be wondering why I haven't listed step-by-step how to formulate and execute the perfect pitch. But there's really no strict format to follow nor clear-cut way to teach someone to pitch. I've looked around for volumes on the subject myself, and have found very little. Most screenwriters and producers advise you to take your story and distill it down to a line or two. Forest Gump might be pitched as, "The story of a man with so little who does so much for so many." But that's pretty vague. A pitch I'd be comfortable with would go something like this.

"Forrest Gump is the story of a man whose limitations provide him with challenges and a unique perspective which helps him interact with everyone from grizzled Army sergeants to the President of the United States. His wild journeys not only expand his own horizons, but everyone around him."

The most important fact about a pitch you must remember is that it must be a fully formed story with a beginning, middle and ending. It does not have to be fully fleshed out to the smallest detail, but the meat of the story must be present. It's the difference between "Kira falls in love with Quark." and "Kira falls in love with Quark after ingesting an ancient Ferengi passion herb. Now, the crew must travel to Ferignar to find the antidote, come back in time to stop a marriage between the two and place a furious Kira in a holding cell to cool off , all to save Quark's life."

Below are some examples of pitch loglines - which detail more of the "shorthand" way a writer may remember their story, thereby making for a clearer and more cohesive pitch.

Pitch Logline Examples

Hollow Pursuits - Lt. Barclay realizes that his holo-addiction is taking away all the real moments of his life and in the end obsessive holograph playing is a 'Hollow Pursuit'

The Loss - Although initially emotionally devastated at losing her empathic sense, in the end Counselor Troi learns that she has many more resources on which to draw from.

Q-Who - The Enterprise crew gets a wake up call whether they like it or not. The mischievous Q delivers them to a place where they receive a necessary kick in their complacent behind by the Borg.

The Drumhead - Clouded by Admiral Satie's reputation and charisma, Worf gladly aids her in a criminal prosecution, in what finally amounts to little more than a witch hunt. In the end, Worf realizes how skillfully he was manipulated.

The Raven - Seven of Nine, believing she is being called back to the collective, starts acting erratically, culminating in an explosive departure from Voyager. After discovering the craft, which was attacked and assimilated by the Borg, Seven comes much closer to her humanity and resolves the symbolic dream of the Raven.