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What We Look For in a Spec

Here are the elements that we look for in a spec script:

• Start fast! Let them know where the story is going as soon as possible. If the reader isn’t hooked by page 10, they usually put the script down and move onto the next submission.
• You can’t play it safe. Remember, we only chose the top one percent of the scripts submitted. Your story has to take chances to stand out. We get almost a thousand submissions a year. Typical plots usually get lost.
• Smart with heart. Characters who use their heads and hearts reflect well on the writer.
• Say something. Stories that reflect on life and the human condition will stay with the reader.
• Set up your episode. If you are writing a serialized show (e.g. Gossip Girl or Grey's Anatomy) please include a "Previously On" page that lists where your main characters are within the series when we come across them in your spec. This page should come after your title page and before your teaser.
• Proofread it again. And then again. Typos take the reader out of the story and reflect poorly on the writer.

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