1. ILaughAtTrailers

    ILaughAtTrailers Active Member

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    I'm trying to plot out a 13-episode series

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by ILaughAtTrailers, Mar 29, 2017.

    So I have this idea for a story and while I know it's not going to be made into a television series (because I don't have the connections or the near enough talent) I want to outline/plot it into a 13-episode season of television just like how real television shows work.

    Shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad, the Sopranos and all of the Netflix series seem to have 13-episode seasons and they all seem to always be perfectly executed and have a satisfying finale despite having a limited number of episodes to work with and not having the story grow organically or have it see where it takes them and the possibility of having to go under or over 13 episodes to satisfy how they want the series to actually end; in other words, they make the 13 episodes always seem to work with the story. I don't know how to do that but want to.

    I've tried starting from the end and working my backwards, to satisfy the finale I want in the limited number of episodes to work with, and I've started from the beginning. The problem with starting from the beginning is that my characters tend to always want to go on a different path than what I want them to (because I follow their motivations and not force them to do something they don't want to do) and the story ends up all over the place and it risks the story not ending in a perfectly executed finale at the 13th episode, which I'm finding is really hard to do. Starting from the end seems to be working because then I can follow and create the plot strictly to move towards the ending and create scenarios that allow them to keep going there. But I always just run out of gas and lose motivations or ideas.

    Does anyone know how to do this or have suggestions for how the pros do this? I can't seem to figure it out. Do I just have to write the story completely episodic or is there a way to make it with the serialized version?
     
  2. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

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    Haven't you posted this thread a couple times before?
     
    Homer Potvin and Spencer1990 like this.
  3. Spencer1990

    Spencer1990 Contributor Contributor

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    Is this story about Roger and Karen and some kind of jewel?
     
  4. ILaughAtTrailers

    ILaughAtTrailers Active Member

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    I wish it wasn't.

    It's just this story is really personal and I just want to write it out. I'm not event that good of a writer and I know it's not that interesting of a story. I just want to get a decent outline so I can start to write the thing. I don't even know how the stupid story ends.

    If someone could just really help me out with this.

    I'm so stupid and pathetic. I wish I could start a new story but I can't. I'm not smart enough. Maybe I should just give up writing?
     
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2017
  5. MusingWordsmith

    MusingWordsmith Shenanigan Master Contributor

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    Just go write it. You may mess it up, may not do it how you want to, but that's what editing is for. If I got hung up on making sure my first draft was perfect, I'd end up quitting in frustration- and so would a lot of others on this forum I'm guessing. Write the story, figure it out, and then go back and clean it up into the version you want it to be.
     

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