10 Easy Steps to Developing Your TV Show Bible

If you’re developing a television series with the hopes of selling it to a network or streamer, writing the pilot script is only the beginning. When you’ve completed that difficult but exciting task, it’s time to shift into pitch mode. 

A TV pilot script proves that your concept works for one episode. But executives and producers need something more than that: they need to know if your concept can sustain an entire series. 

This is where the show bible comes into play. 

A show bible is essentially the blueprint of your series, laying out the world, characters, tone, and long-term storytelling potential of the series. It’s your vision for what the show could become.

There are three general levels, versions, or purposes for a show bible in the television and streaming industry. 

It starts as a development tool to help you organize the elements of the series concept, helping you to better understand the series you’re creating. As you write it (using the steps below), you’ll be able to envision what the show will be on the screen from the pilot episode to multiple season arcs. You’ll discover the genre and find ways to make the world more compelling, the characters more intriguing, and the story more engaging. You can even use the show bible as an outline you write before you write the pilot episode so that you can write towards something much bigger.

Once the pilot episode is written, the show bible switches from being a development tool to becoming a pitch deck that you use as a marketing tool to sell your pilot. You’ll want to go through and make sure that you have a tight and compelling show bible to pitch your series to executives and producers. It needs to offer the best overview of what your series could be. 

This is for when the series is in production. The show bible will grow into more of an archival document for current and incoming series writers assigned to the writers room. The archival side of it will show all of the character and story arcs that have happened, as well as all that have been planned out for future episodes and seasons. This type of show bible also lets incoming writers understand the type of tone, atmosphere, and direction of the series. As you can hopefully see, you don’t need to worry about writing this type of bible yet. That task will usually be managed by various positions within the writers room. 

With all of that in mind, here are ten easy and simple steps to developing your TV show bible. 

As you begin to market your pilot script, your show bible becomes a pitch document. Executives, producers, and other development teams read countless scripts and pitches, so you want to ensure that your show bible stands out for the best of reasons. 

Most show bibles range anywhere from five to twenty pages, depending on the complexity of the series. For beginners, it’s best to fall somewhere in between that range. You need to focus on delivering information clearly and efficiently, while avoiding unnecessary filler and overly specific details that can and should be covered in the pilot script or eventual episode scripts beyond that. And you want that document to be very, very well-organized. 

When readers finish reading your show bible, they should walk away with a strong understanding of the concept, characters, world, and overall story potential and longevity of your series. Any dedicated screenwriter can write a great and compelling pilot episode. But the whole point is to have a series that can last for at least a few seasons without the concept being played out too soon. Truly great TV writers can build a whole compelling series through an excellent accompanying story bible.

Yes, titles of a TV series can change throughout the development process. But series titles are also one of the most underrated elements of selling your series. 

Spend a lot of time coming up with compelling titles for your series. The title is the first element of your series that producers, networks, and streamers will see. How do you create titles that pop off of the page? 

• Focus on the core concept. Being overly specific is always the best way to go. Look no further than an iconic series like ER, or the current string of series like Chicago PD, Chicago FD, and Chicago Med. These titles focus on the core concept of the series, which, in this case, is the world of the series. If your series is driven primarily by the world of it, that’s often the best way to go. They’ll get it from the get go. 
• Using unique characters as titles is often a good way to showcase shows that are more character-driven. The character should be as central to the series as possible to warrant the series being named after them, like The Sopranos, Dexter, Veronica Mars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Barry, etc. 
• Using unique character types can also be a good way to name your series. If you have a character that has a specific power, occupation, or position, you can sell the series on that alone in the title. Look no further than a show like Landman as an example. Other unused titles as examples could be The General, The Soldier, The Lawyer, The Garbage Man, The Mailman, etc. You can also add more descriptive words in the mix to further define them and give them more depth, like The Last Soldier, Lawyer No More, The Missing Child, etc.
• Use genre-based titles that capture the genre of your series.  
• Explore titles with dual meanings. Grey’s Anatomy is a dual meaning title, referring to the Gray’s Anatomy medical book, as well as the title character of Dr. Grey, and the anatomy of her life, psyche, love life, and career. 

The logline is an expansion of your title, detailing the core concept of your series. 

You need to first define the core idea of your show in one to two sentences. A strong logline includes the protagonist (or protagonist type, ala doctor, detective, teacher, etc.), the central conflict, and especially the unique hook of the show. 

It should be clear, concise, and compelling enough to spark immediate interest. 

• Breaking Bad - A struggling high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with terminal cancer turns to manufacturing methamphetamine to secure his family’s financial future.
• Stranger Things - When a young boy mysteriously disappears, a small town uncovers secret experiments, supernatural forces, and a strange girl with powerful abilities.

When they read your logline, they should know exactly what type of show to expect. 

You hopefully see how a bible is built with these steps. We started with a title, which led to a logline, and now it’s time to offer more with a full series overview. This overview expands on the premise displayed in the logline, and explains the storytelling engine of your series. The overview really showcases what kind of stories the show will offer week to week. 

Television thrives on repeatable story structures that audiences can expect with each episode. Audiences want something familiar, but different. They get the familiar with the repeatable story structure, and then they get the different with the various subplots and subconflicts the characters deal with each episode. 

• Procedurals offer a new case with each episode. 
• Character-driven dramas evolve through different emotional concepts. 
• Sitcoms revolve around different situations the characters deal with, and the hijinks that ensue. 

Your overview section should explain the central premise, the narrative engine, and offer a general overview of the characters, world, and genre. 

Tone and atmosphere are so important. Your tone and atmosphere section should communicate and express the tone and style of your series. 

• Is the series gritty and dark?
• Is it fast-paced and action-driven?
• Is it lighthearted and funny?
• Is it creepy and suspenseful?  

The Office is a mockumentary-style sitcom that follows the everyday lives of employees working at a mundane paper company, while True Detective is a haunting anthology crime drama exploring the psychological toll of violent investigations.

Both of these shows take place in a workplace environment, but the tone and atmosphere are very, very different, offering very different types of shows. Defining the tone will help people understand the creative identity of your series.

Comps are comparisons of two or more produced shows (you can even throw in movies) that  can instantly sell the reader on the tone and style of your series. It’s this meets that. It’s Stranger Things meets True Detective.  

Television is predominantly driven by the worlds TV shows presents:

• Male-dominated ad agencies in the 1960s (Mad Men)
• Mob life (The Sopranos, Tulsa King)
• 1980s-era sci-fi horror in the suburbs (Stranger Things)
• A near-future world where office workers’ memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives (Severence)
• The daily lives of healthcare professionals in a Pittsburgh hospital (The Pitt)

The environment of a show plays a major role in the shaping of its characters and stories. Your show bible should introduce the world of your series and attempt to explain why it’s unique compared to other shows out there. 

The world of your series is more than just a location. It’s an ecosystem that drives the conflict the characters must face each and every episode. The stronger and more defined your world is, the easier it is for the powers that be to visualize the potential of your show. 

While having a compelling and unique world is great, that world has to be populated by equally compelling characters. Unlike feature films, where the arc of main protagonists or supporting characters needs to be wrapped up within a two-hour film, TV characters must sustain interest throughout multiple episodes and seasons. 

Your show bible needs a section where you introduce the main characters of your show, detailing what their evolving arcs are going to be. 

For each main character, briefly describe:

• Their personality
• Their background
• Their strengths
• Their flaws
• Their relationships with other characters
• Their motivations

The goal is to help the readers to quickly understand who these people are and why they matter within your story and the world you’ve created. 

Always remember that conflict is key to every series and episode, so you always want to make sure that you share how your characters cause each other conflict in any given situation. 

The pilot episode of your series serves as the launching point by introducing the world, the characters, and the conflict that will drive the show forward with multiple episodes and seasons. 

Your show bible should include a summary of the pilot so readers understand how the story begins, focusing on key elements like:

• Inciting incident
• The introduction of the main characters
• The central conflict
• The hook that will pull viewers past the pilot and into the next episode

By the end of the pilot summary (usually told in a brief synopsis), readers should understand both the immediate story, and the larger narrative engine of the series. 

There’s no need to write multiple episodes of your series. You only need the pilot episode written. Why? Because if a network or streamer is going to take on a show, they’re going to want to bring in their own producers, showrunners, and other writers room talent. 

However, it’s vital to showcase the first full season in summary form by mapping out the episodes and character/story arcs within. You need to prove that your series has staying power. 

You don’t need full episode script outlines - just short one paragraph summaries that demonstrate the types of stories that could be expected. 

Mapping out the first season is about showing the trajectory of where the show can go. 

• How does the story begin?
• How does the conflict and tension escalate?
• What major conflicts emerge?
• What climactic event closes out the season? 

Showing this progression can prove that the concept can sustain multiple episodes. 

Television is long-term storytelling. From a business perspective, networks and streamers need shows that can last multiple seasons. Why? Because ongoing and faithful viewership means better ad revenue and more streaming subscriptions. 

This section of your show bible can briefly showcase where the series can go, and what the possibilities are. 

• What bigger conflicts may emerge?
• How could characters continue to evolve?
• Where could the narrative go after the first season?

It’s all about showing the potential longevity of your show. 

Remember, show bibles are a helpful tool for you. Writing a show bible helps you in the development phase, as well as the marketing phase. It will make things easy for you as you write your pilot, and as you try to sell your show. 

While it may seem intimidating to write, a show bible will not only make you a better writer and help make your TV pilot the best it can be - it will show network and streamer execs and producers that you’ve done your homework and know what is expected of you. You’ll look like a pro, and the odds of selling your pilot increase tenfold when you have a great TV show bible.  

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