Mapping Out a Multi-Season Story Part 2: Where Do You Get Ideas For This Much Story?

In my previous blog post about mapping out a multi-season story, I talked about how to write up your vision for the future of your series in different ways depending on the format of your show. But a lot of writers struggle with finding ideas for a season arc and ask me if there is a process for that idea generation phase of the process. As a literary manager, part of my job was brainstorming with writers to help them craft the best version of their vision. As a producer, I actually have input into the creative development of season arcs or episode ideas for the shows I am working on. So here are 20 ways I approach developing a season with a writer.

Keep your genre front and center.

I sometimes pin them up on my creative board. You have to meet the expectations of the audience in the kinds of plotlines and scenes they expect to encounter in a show of your genre. If you have a blend of genres, make sure you service each one: in a sci-fi political show with a mystery element, you will need spaceships, alien diplomats, backstabbing schemes, a rogue detective finding evidence of malfeasance, etc. What would you expect to see in a multi-generational family sitcom? In a period drama about complicated romances?

Circle back to your original purpose in writing the show.

What themes did you want to explore? If you’ve been working with me, you have probably been told not to obsess about servicing your themes in writing your pilot, because you want to bury your themes underneath the story and not hammer the audience with them. But now go back to your starting point. Where do you want to go with the series overall?

Tone is your signature way of telling the story.

Things like adult content, visual style, pacing, humor, narrative devices, etc. Find your unique groove and stick with it. Make every story decision also about tone.

Make the most use of the world of the show.

Try to have as much of the season as possible take place using the same locations and sets. But explore all the different types of stories your world can present. What kinds of things can happen in a restaurant or a high school? What are the different aspects of a historical period or different elements of a mythology?

Focus on your main characters so you can make the most use of your main cast.

You are paying your series regulars big money, let’s see them do stuff! In the best shows we don’t really care what happens (of course we do!), we just want to watch great characters do whatever. Do you remember the plotlines of individual episodes of your favorite shows? Probably not. But do you remember the characters?

Don’t forget your key supporting characters.

In your pilot, each of your key supporting characters should have an “audition scene” - a place where they steal the scene, so we really get to know them and how they are integral to the show. Repeat that for the season arc - which episode(s) might earn them that best supporting actor/actress Emmy? Every recurring actor is trying to move up to lead. Make the show feel like it will attract some outstanding supporting cast.

Follow the story threads you set up in the pilot but build increasing layers and complexity.

See if you can juxtapose key turning points for emotional impact. Your audience is investing in these storylines, so make sure the stakes are always rising. But the relative importance of the storylines can change - one storyline may hand off to another at pivotal moments. What new potential story threads might grow out of your existing ones like branches from a tree? What new main / key supporting characters will that necessitate?

Let your characters drive the season.

Their goals should be the key plot thread of the season, even if they change at certain turning points. Their motivations should be the key emotional thread of the season, even if they change as relationships evolve. Characters’ unique strengths should help them through the season, and their flaws, fears, insecurities, grudges should cause setbacks and conflict. As they evolve through the season, the audience will want to see their dilemmas, big choices, lessons learned, accomplishments, change in relationships, physical and emotional transformation.

Use verbs.

Characters have to do things in episodes, and the way to express actions is through verbs. I just looked it up - there are 170,000 verbs in the English language! What do your characters actually DO in your episodes? Just developing a word cloud can help you visualize what an episode of your show looks like. The thesaurus tab is always open on my laptop. Fall in love with the English language and all the places it can take you.

Pin down the key turning points of the season.

Find the big moments when the story takes a new direction. It’s helpful to think of your season as mirroring the structure of your pilot. But you don’t have to map it all out chronologically. You can lay out separate storylines separately. Think about how different main characters “own” their storyline.

The first third of your pilot was spent on introducing characters and world, launching your storylines. Spend the first third of your season nailing down those characters, exploring the world, and moving those storylines forward.

The middle third of your pilot was devoted to a constant, irreversible rise in stakes and complications, punctuated by a midpoint turn. Spend the second third of your season relentlessly increasing stakes, adding layers and layers of complications, and find a similar midpoint turn.

The last third of your pilot drove to a climax and a series launch. Find the climactic point of your season and build to it. Make sure it’s earned. Figure out how your season ends with a launch into season two. For an ongoing series, how will the characters get out of the frying pan but into the fire, finding solutions that only lead to more problems and (or) finding problems that offer hopes of miraculous success - later. For a limited series, find a “soft close” where the climax resolves more than it starts, but leaves the audience wanting more.

Your pilot should end with a resolution that offers a glimpse into episode two and the rest of the season, so your audience knows what they are coming back for. You need this at the end of your season too. Cliffhangers are a bit overrated. The audience needs to know what to expect in season two to actually come back for season two - often a year later!

Don’t start at the start and end at the end.

It’s usually easier to know where you are starting (after the pilot), then figure out where the season ends. What are the “keys” to the doors you have opened? Then find the midpoint turn that will push your season from first half to second half, and finally fill in the threads that take you from one big turning point to the next. Incidentally, this is a pretty good way to construct a pilot outline too.

Get messy!

Put characters together who don’t belong together. Have characters make contradictory choices to reveal their layers. Let them become entangled in complicated relationships they can’t define. Take them out of their comfort zone. Upend their roles and relationships. This means doing all the same to yourself! Challenge yourself to discard your first, second and third ideas. Force yourself to abandon the obvious, the good but not great, the great but not wow. I love working with writers who are inspired and pushed by notes and always willing to go reach higher. I routinely veto their first ideas, even - especially! - when they are serviceable. “That line works, but it’s not enough.” I routinely veto their second ideas which are often really good. “Yeah, that line is better, it does what it needs to for plot and character, but it doesn’t really nail the nuance of the tone or doesn’t plant a seed for the season.” I veto their third ideas which are often truly great - because then they just get mad, are willing to go balls to the walls, and come up with a real gem that neither of us expected or saw but was there all along.

For episodic series…

For episodic series, chances are you are working with some source material for episodes, be that your own experiences or your research. You probably have a stack of index cards or “case files.” If not, it’s time to dig into those experiences or research and generate a list of potential storylines. Come up with way more than you could possibly fit into one season. Think about what the episodic nature of the show is. In each episode we___. Think about single verbs that define each episode. What are the mini-goals in each episode and what actions do the characters take to achieve them? What are the barriers to their success? Come up with as many permutations as possible. Keep in mind, you are not selling these specific stories, but a format and approach for as many stories as the network wants. Make them feel like there are plenty more where these came from - because there are.

For episodic series make sure you also have a serialized element that involves the characters’ emotional journey and relationships. Dig deep into your character descriptions. Look at your episode ideas and find the personal stakes for your characters.

Once you have a pile of potential episodes, narrow it down to the golden few that are the most eye-opening and engaging.

They should all be similar in that the main characters are active, drive the episode, have personal stakes and complex relationships. They should all be similar in tone. But they should be different from each other in showing a variety of aspects of the world with different set pieces, having different plot threads, and addressing your themes in a variety of ways. Try not to repeat types of problems or how the characters solve them.

Don’t sweat seasons two and three too much!

Just play. Allow yourself to imagine. You can be meticulous about continuing your storylines and do all of the above again, if you want. But don’t forget to take your show into a new phase. A different view of the world, different goals for the characters, major shifts in relationships, exploring previously secondary themes. Now you can lean into a different aspect of your genre. Change your tone slightly. Slightly! Your audience doesn’t want to come back for seconds only to find you’re not serving a similar meal.

I will end this post the same way I ended the last one, by encouraging you to enjoy the process. You have to keep your season arcs / episode ideas brief, because buyers will likely end up skimming them. They want to see that there is a vision, not have a plan set in stone. More than the specifics of any particular plot point in your season, they want to see your passion for the development process itself. When things get tough in the writers’ room - and they will! - when you’re staring at that board of story ideas completely stuck - and you will! - will you crumple or rise?

You can read part 1 of this blog series by clicking HERE!

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