Specs - Serialized Blues?

So we all know that as a writer trying to break in your time is going to be spent doing a set number of things.

You're going to rail against the unfairness of the world and wonder why your genius is being overlooked while Joe Schmo sells a million dollar script about a redneck hamster with herpes.

You're going to spend a lot of time procrastinating (but blogging is sort of like writing!).

You're going to get depressed and wonder what the hell you were smoking when you dropped out of law school to write movies (okay, I never went to law school, but my parents sure wanted me to).

Oh, and if you're really, really good you might even do some writing.

Imagine that.

So what are you going to be writing? Well, if you're like me and looking to break into the wonderful world of television you're going to spend your time writing specs. But what if the only shows you like are heavily serialized shows like Lost and 24? Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty?

How do you shoehorn a episode into what's already an extremely tightly plotted show?

It's something that I've wrestled with a lot in the past. And it's something that's just been asked again over at Lisa's great blog, What It's Like.

Now I'm sure that Lisa's going to answer the question, cause she's just that kind of awesome, but I thought I'd throw my thoughts up here as well. A blog's a ravenous beast, have to keep shoveling something down its maw.

So. How does one write a spec for a super serialized show?

Start at the beginning.

At least that's what I did with one of my first specs. It was a spec episode of 24. Rather than try to shoehorn a story into the middle of season 3 (which is when I was writing), I decided that I'd just write the first episode of the next season.

Now, I'm sure that's not a wildly original idea, but it's what worked for me, and what worked for that show. At the end of the day though it became one of my "bottom drawer" scripts. I filed it away never to look at it again (the fate of many a first script).

That approach wouldn't work for every show though. Shows like Lost or Heroes have such defined beginnings and storylines that carry over from one season to the next that it would be difficult to spin off in a completely new direction.

They do offer different opportunities though. Heroes has multiple timelines that you could explore. In its season finale Lost introduced flash forwards to go with the show defining flash backs. That offers up a whole new ball of yarn for us writers to play with.

Things get a lot harder when it comes to serialized shows that don't have time travel and flashback/forwards, but whose plots aren't limited to a season (unlike say 24 or The Wire). Shows like Battlestar Galactica can be tough to do without a convenient time bending out.

I wish I could speak more to Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty, but unfortunately they're two of the shows that I just don't follow at all (and let's face it...to spec a serialized show you HAVE to follow it). I'm sure someone else will be able to speak to those shows though.

At the end of the day always remember that the most important thing about writing a spec episode of ANYTHING is that you have to nail the template. You have to get the voices right. You have to get the tone right. You have to make it as close as possible to something that would actually happen on the show.

Anyone else have any suggestions on how to spec a heavily serialized show? If so please share. I'm sure there are lots of us dying to hear what yall have to say...