Carefully choosing the shows you want to spec will help you make the most of the process. Bottom line, you need to spec shows that are current (still on air) and in the right category (one-hour drama or half-hour comedy).

Beyond that, here are some key considerations.

Goldilocks decisions: Finding shows that are juuuust right!

What category is that again?

Let’s say you decide to write for one-hour drama shows. Series on air include The Vampire Diaries, Smash, Game of Thrones, The Good Wife, Walking Dead, In Plain Sight …Not a lot in common, is there? You need to narrow your focus to shows in a given genre within your chosen category.

Let’s say police procedurals. Now we’re looking at NCIS, CSI, Blue Bloods, Criminal Minds, The Mentalist, Castle … Those are all cop shows, but there’s a lot of drift there, with shows ranging from decidedly dark to rom-com-dramedy.

Let’s say you’re into romantic/comedic cops. Okay, enough. I could keep going with this overly detailed example, but you get the point. Narrow down the shows you could spec down by category, genre and style/tone until you have a short list of series that mirror the kind of TV writing you want to do.

Once you pick some shows, look closely at each and ask yourself …

How long has it been on air?

A popular, long-running show will be familiar to agents and showrunners, but your spec script will be a long, long way from their first bite of that particular apple.

A newer series could help your spec script stand out — 1,000 others won’t already have written for it — but agents and showrunners may not be familiar enough with the series’ characters, style, etc. to fairly judge your script.

Traditional rule of thumb: Give any series at least one season before putting it on your short list.

What about the season’s hottest, newest show?

Yes, it’s a big hit — or will be after it premieres next month — and you’re dying to be the first person ever to spec it. But you won’t be the first person to think of that. And shows take a while to settle in.

You’re going to put a lot of time and energy into writing your script and don’t need to waste that effort on characters that disappeared three shows in or locations that have apparently fallen off the map.

Revised rule of thumb: For your own sake, at least let the show find its legs. Watching six eps before going forward with a spec script won’t kill you.

Do you love it? Do others?

Pick a show you love and know well. Your script has to capture the feeling of the show, the style of the action, each characters’ unique mind-set and speaking style. You’re going to spend a lot of time with your head in the show and the show in your head. You’d better like the scenery or you, and the script, will suffer.

Pick a show that other people know and follow. It won’t help to write for a show the showrunner has never seen watched because he/she won’t be able to judge your spec work properly. Increase the odds in your favor by picking a show that showrunners will already know.

Dying to write for a particular show? Do not spec it. Here’s why.

Showrunners typically don’t read spec scripts for their own series.

Doing so can put them at risk of nuisance lawsuits. Plus they have big egos, generally speaking, and don’t believe anyone outside of their chosen writing team can really capture their show correctly.

Even if they did, the chances of impressing them are way small.

Showrunners know every everything about their series. Every character nuance, every road not taken, every past creative decision. Planned story arcs, upcoming twists, crazy-ass season finales no one saw coming. etc. The odds of you managing to write a script that is both perfectly aligned with the showrunner’s vision and fresh/new enough to capture his/her attention are astronomically low.

The way to impress a showrunner is to write a fantastic script for someone else’s show.

A show they like and respect. That’s in the same category and genre as theirs. One that’s similar enough to show you’ve got the chops to write for their series.

And finally … Lessons from the Fringe.

Know when to let a show go.

Fringe is on the bubble. It might be granted one more season, or half a season, or no season at all after it wraps up Season Four on May 11. Whatever happens, it’s too late to spec it.

Know the mythology. And leave it the hell alone.

Fringe is highly mythologized with a long, involved narrative arc. Even though most of the first-season episodes appeared to be monster-of-the-week standalones, the writers were setting up the characters and laying the groundwork for future events. Plus, while there have been seasonal reboots, the overall mythology is essentially one long storyline.

When writing a spec script for any show with a dense mythology and/or long-running story lines, focus on creating a one-off/standalone episode. Do not attempt to write changes, developments, twists or revelations of the mythology. Never mess with the mythology. Even if you’re absolutely convinced that Nina is Olivia’s real birthmother and you’ve kept a detailed log of 109 secret messages embedded in the show that prove it, just don’t go there. That’s fanfic territory, not spec writing.

(But you’re not writing a Fringe spec script anyway, are you? Of course you’re not. Because it’s too damned late.)

Know the characters. Don’t mess with them, either.

In your spec script, be sure to keep the focus on the main characters — and introduce a one-time guest character along a really interesting plot. Do not attempt to introduce a new main character. Do not attempt to introduce a long-running side character. Remember: Your job is to prove that you can write for an existing show. So do that, and only that. Trying to shake things up because you’re a fan and you’d like the see the show shaken up — or because you fall in love with your guest character and can’t keep him/her under control — will do you no good.

(So, that Fringe spec script that you’re not writing will not have Olivia hooking up with Lincoln, or Nina moving to Paris, or Walter taking up the banjo … Okay, maybe there could a little banjo, but only if it helps the plot. And Walter’s high. Got it? Good.)

Previously in this series:

Part One: Why write for free? What spec work can do — and can’t do — for you.

Coming up

Part Three: A from-the-files case study. Download a real spec script and learn from my mistakes.

Part Four: Formatting your script. One-hour drama versus half-hour comedy show. Freebie download to help you do it right.