The Series Inside Your Novel
Which book has a show in it
  1. 1Which book has a show in itUp to three books, four tests
  2. 2The series insidePilot, promotion, invention, comp
  3. 3A story, B story, the buyerThe no-B-story test
  4. 4Where the show goesFive seasons, the season-three test
  5. 5The verdict and the pageTwo sheets, letter
Smarter Artist
This tool needs JavaScript. It reads your book, so the readings, saving and the printed page all run in the browser. Every question it asks is below so you can read them first. The pack does the same reading in your own AI, with no JavaScript at all: the pack.

Which book has a show in it?

Bring up to three novels. Either the reader scores each one on engine, world and ensemble and quotes your synopsis to say why, or you score them yourself against the rubric. You answer ownership, and you make the pick.

four on engine beats five on world

How do you want to work?

New to TV? The words, in plain English
Engine
The situation that keeps handing the show new stories without anyone forcing them. A motel where every guest lies about their name has one built in.
Pilot
The first episode, the one that sells the show. It often starts later in the story than chapter one, wherever the engine starts running.
A story and B story
The A story drives the season. The B story is a second story that belongs to someone other than your lead, has its own trouble, and gets in the A story’s way.
Ensemble
The cast beyond your lead. A show needs several people who could each carry part of an episode.
Promoted
A minor character who gets a much bigger part in the show than they had in the book.
Comp
Short for comparison: a show already on the air that shares something with yours. It tells people in one breath what kind of show you mean.
Buyer
Who would make it: a network, a cable channel or a streaming service. Each runs a different number of episodes and allows different things.
Logline
The whole show in one sentence a stranger could repeat.
The season-three test
Whether the show could still be running in its third year without turning into a different show.
Series Architecture
The one-page plan of the show this tool prints: the engine, the pilot, the stories, the buyer and five seasons at a glance.

Engine

The rubric

Whether the situation makes new story without the author pushing

5
A job, a place or an arrangement that brings a new problem through the door every week
3
A long quest with episodic stops
1
One event, resolved, and then it is over

World

The rubric

Whether the place has rules that make trouble, and room to come back to

5
Rules the audience learns, that characters break at a cost
3
A vivid place with no rules that bite
1
Scenery

Ensemble

The rubric

Whether anyone besides the protagonist could carry an episode

5
Three or more people with wants of their own
3
One strong second
1
A single point of view and a cast of functions

Ownership

The rubric

Whether the screen rights are clean

5
Yours alone, nothing signed
3
A co-author, both willing
1
A publisher holds film and TV, or a prior option exists

Book one

Sharper reads (optional)

Your score, test by test

Engine
World
Ensemble

Open the rubric above any test to see what a five, a three and a one look like. Ownership comes from your answer about the rights.

Three things only you know

Who else holds rights to this book?
Add a second book
Sharper reads (optional)

Your score, test by test

Engine
World
Ensemble

Open the rubric above any test to see what a five, a three and a one look like. Ownership comes from your answer about the rights.

Three things only you know

Who else holds rights to this book?
Add a third book
Sharper reads (optional)

Your score, test by test

Engine
World
Ensemble

Open the rubric above any test to see what a five, a three and a one look like. Ownership comes from your answer about the rights.

Three things only you know

Who else holds rights to this book?
Which book do you want to take forward?

Next: the series inside

The series inside

Chapter one is rarely the pilot. Four findings, three readings each. Every reading quotes your synopsis or names the chapter. Pick one, or write your own.

Where the pilot starts

Find the chapter where the engine starts running, where next week’s story first walks in on its own. It’s rarely chapter one.

Who gets promoted

The book had one point of view; the show needs five. Look for the character with the most going on of their own and the least page time. The one readers mention most is a good place to start.

What has to be invented

What the novel never had that a show needs: a workplace, a weekly antagonist, a second location, someone who can say no to your lead.

The comp on the air

A show running now or recently, and the one thing yours borrows. A lane, never a lookalike.

Where the pilot starts

The pilot is the first episode. It starts where the engine starts running, which is rarely chapter one.

The three readings land here.

Who gets promoted

A minor character who gets a much bigger part in the show than in the book.

The three readings land here.

What has to be invented

What a show needs that your book never had, like a place to come back to every week.

The three readings land here.

The comp on the air

A show running now or recently, and the one thing yours borrows. A lane, never a lookalike.

The three readings land here.

Next: A story and B story

A story, B story, and the buyer

The A story drives the season. The B story belongs to someone other than your lead, has a complication of its own, and makes the A story harder in at least one scene you can name.

no b story, until it proves otherwise

The no-B-story test

Answer straight. A novel’s subplots are rarely B stories, and this is where you find out.

Whose story is it?
The buyer
A story

The main story of the season, the one your lead drives.

The three readings land here.

B story

A second story that belongs to someone else and gets in the main story’s way.

The three readings land here.

The no-B-story test

  1. Whose story is it?Fails if it’s the protagonist’s. Then it’s the A story wearing a hat.
  2. What goes wrong in it if the A story stood completely still?Fails if nothing does. Then it’s a subplot.
  3. Name one scene where the B story makes the A story harder.Fails if there isn’t one. Then they don’t braid.
The buyer

Where it airs changes how many episodes it runs, how dark it may go, and where the breaks fall. The reader says which suits this book and why.

The three readings land here.

Next: where the show goes

The book ended. The show cannot.

Five seasons in five sentences, drafted by the reader and edited by you. If season three needs a new premise, the engine has failed, however strong the rest is.

Five seasons

The season-three test

Draft the seasons and the test runs on season three.

Does season three still run on the same engine, with no new premise?
Seeds the pilot plants

Small things in the first episode that pay off seasons later.

The three readings land here.

What the book must change

A show has to keep going after your book ends, so some endings have to open up.

The three readings land here.

Next: the verdict and the page

The verdict, and the page a manager reads first

The verdict comes from the tests in modules one to four. Pick a logline, sign it, and save both sheets as a PDF.

Logline

One sentence a stranger could repeat.

The three readings land here.

Opens your browser’s print window. Choose “Save as PDF” and letter paper.
Keep a copy of your work

Your work lives in this browser. A backup is one file you can keep and load back here, or on another computer. It holds your books, answers and readings, never your link.

Paste findings from the pack

Ran the pack in your own AI? Its last answer ends with a block of findings in braces. Paste the whole block here and the tool draws both sheets from it.

Your work saves in this browser only, and the pilot stays yours to write.