An independent television screenwriter gives practical suggestions on writing and becoming a professional screenwriter. (PD)

There is a fundamental division of purpose between scholarship and television. Academics deal in nuances, qualifications, and subtle distinctions, while film makers seek broad strokes, drama, and simple, vivid ideas. By accepting that difference, the two can cooperate to make good television that is good history. (MLW)

Most performer-writers accept the writing process simply as a means to an end: the shared performance event with a live audience. While writer-performers regard a script as more important than the performance, a solo performance is, however, a showcase of the artist's talent, and creating one's own text offers the performer artistic control. Some…