Can good spelling and grammar help you sell your show? Mmm…probably not. On the other hand, can bad spelling and grammar hinder selling your show? I say yes.
I like to spend some time cruising TV forums to see what people are talking about and there’s a common theme going on out there, and it’s not the content, it’s the format.
When you are writing on a forum, or sending an email, or in any way communicating to anyone regarding your show you are representing the type of work you do. You are issuing an example of your level of professionalism, or lack thereof.
I’ve pulled an example from a forum conversation I was involved in:
Well i think im passed the idea stage of cause more then half of them have synopsis and comeplete character list. So what stoping me from writing a full television script is the fact i don’t know how to write one. Now i can tell you this is I had a someone who could help me write what i see in my head and make into a script i could write the pilot and maybe two more epiosodes for all eight of my tv show ideas. So i would say there more then just ideas, there in the development stages.
I want to be clear: I’m not talking about the content of this conversation; I’m talking about the way it’s written.
The fact that the writer of the paragraph isn’t willing to take the time to follow simple rules like capitalizing “i”, or spell simple words correctly, or in some cases above even construct an actual sentence makes me think they also aren’t willing to take the time to write a proper show synopsis.
It’s very simple. If you have a show to sell you should ALWAYS be selling.
There is a basic rule in sales called The ABC Rule. Always Be Closing. This means that in your journey through the sales process everything you are doing is focused on bringing your target around to buying your product. It doesn’t matter if you are selling a TV show or shoes in a dept. store.
If we apply that rule to writing emails or contributing to forums you need to always be putting your best foot forward, and that means taking some time to learn the basics of communicating, no matter what language you typically use.
If you find spelling and grammar particularly challenging write out your forum response in a Word program. It has spell check and I believe they all check for grammar as well. Once it’s done you can copy and paste it into the body of the forum.
It might seem like overkill, but if your writing seems like it’s coming from a lazy 5th grader that probably isn’t going to help you sell your show. And isn’t selling your show the whole point of writing it?
Agreed, agreed, agreed!
Spelling and grammar is very important and say a lot about you: attention to detail, quality, intelligence. It all matters! The write impression is paramount (and yes I meant to do that!).