11 PLOT-DRIVEN DRAMA
I like to put television drama into two distinctive categories: plot-driven and character-driven. Plot-driven dramas—which are usually more along the lines of procedurals—like True Detective and Hawaii-Five-O—concentrate heavily on story. Character-driven dramas like This is Us and The Good Doctor focus more on character. There are, of course, a few hybrids like The Ozarks, which straddle both. But, for the most part, most shows tend to be either plotdriven or character-driven. For you to have the strongest portfolio possible, I would suggest you write one drama in each of these categories. This may sound easier to pull off than it actually is. As you will soon see, both plot-driven dramas and character-driven dramas come ...
