Have you ever watched an episode of your favorite TV show, only to say to yourself afterwards, “I could write a better story than that!”  Well, maybe you can!  But you won’t know until you try.
     Before we get down to business, I must warn you:  at this time, Star Trek is the only series that accepts unsolicited material from unagented writers.  So, though I’m going to try to be broad-minded, there will be several references to Roddenberry’s legacy.  If you can’t stand Star Trek, just go straight to the Writer’s Guild of America and dig for your own information.  OK, now let’s get going.  
     There are three main ways to get your ideas made into a TV show.  A pitch session, a treatment, and a spec script.
     A pitch session is an opportunity to share your ideas with one or more of a show’s writing staff.  You, as the prospective writer, share a short version of a story line.  If they like it, they will ask you to go into more detail.  Being able to think on one’s feet is important here.  If they really like an idea, they’ll take it up with the big cheese – whoever’s in charge of giving the go-ahead on buying stories.  You’ll eventually get a call telling you whether or not they are going to buy your idea, and if they want you to write out the first draft of the script.  Another possible outcome of the pitch session is their telling you that if you should work on an idea more, they would be interested in hearing it again.  That’s a good sign.  They have to say if because of WGA rules; if they didn’t, they’d be asking you to work on it, and would have to pay you.
     Another way that TV studios get ideas is through story treatments.  A treatment is a short version of the script, summarizing the story in a couple of pages.  More developed than a pitch, it still leaves out many small details, focusing on broad descriptions of the scenes.  You may include a few lines, just for the feel of things, but it is not a script.
     A spec script is a much bigger deal than the previous two ways of getting your ideas across.  But if you want to get your ideas on TV, at least as far as Star Trek goes, you must first write a spec script, so called because you are speculating if it will be bought.  Even if it isn't, it is still possible that you may be invited to pitch; the problem with your script may be any number of things other than your writing.  Its purpose is to give them a glimpse of your style, and see if you’ve got a grip on the show.  If they should buy an idea from a pitch session later on, they want to know that they can trust you to write the first draft of the script.  Once they have, they must pay you, even if you turn in a script with crazy characters and a $5 million special effects sequence.
     And your writing quality is, of course, important.  Here are a few hints, mostly from the script submission guidelines for Voyager and the homepage of Dean Wesley Smith, the judge of an annual amateur writing contest.  One of the most important things to do is to focus on the main characters. If you introduce a new friend to Friends, or a new Alien of the Week to Star Trek, make sure that the main characters still have stuff to do, and get some character growth.  They are why people are watching the show.  Start the script with something to grab the attention of the audience -- and the writing staff.  Never start a story with a character who is bored, sad, or getting out of bed.  It’s boring.  Make sure that your characters’ lines are…what else, in character!  To use Mr. Smith’s example of a poorly-written line:  Captain Kirk said, "I’m just a little bit uptight today."  Um, yeah.  NOT!  Also, watch for hidden tongue twisters and the like.  Always remember that the characters, no matter how much you love them, must fail.  Watch an episode of that favorite show, and see if this isn’t true.  If they solved their problem right away at the beginning, the show would be over before the first ad break.  Make sure your plot is original, especially if you’re writing for Star Trek:  they’ve had four (live-action) series, ten movies and several seasons of Enterprise at this point, so make sure that your script isn’t a repeat of anything.  (Now that’s doing your homework.)  Actually, the quantity of ideas that they need for original scripts each week is the reason they accept spec scripts from the unagented.  They need all the help they can get.
     As with any writing, two of the best things you can do are these:  PRACTICE! and, set goals for yourself -- for example, writing five pages a day.  Make sure they’re goals you can control.  Having a script bought in a year is not reasonable; not only do these things take time, but your goal depends on others.  Also, make sure you follow the guidelines exactly, whatever they are for the people to whom you are submitting your story.  Once you’ve sent it in, you get the priviledge of waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting some more.  While you wait, try writing another script.  Keep going till you hear back, and remember: never give up!
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