So far in this series, we’ve looked at the difference between a TV Series Pitch Bible and a Series Bible, and how to develop the first of these. Now let’s look at how to expand your initial efforts into a broader, more complete bible to serve as a receptacle for all the details and elements contained within the series.
Types of Bibles
There are six main types of bibles used in the industry and by writers of all kinds. They include:
- The Framework Bible works as a glorified outline to define the series and storylines.
- The Pitch Bible, also called the Sales Bible, exists to sell the work to another entity. It is a sales and marketing tool.
- The Commissioned Bible comes after selling the series. It involves more development information and details how the series will be cast, shot, edited, etc.
- The Season Bible digs deeper into the details for a particular season. It serves as a guide for writers, producers, directors, and other interested parties.
- The Production Bible breaks tasks into their component parts. It is more of a working document that guides production. It is the natural progression of the bibles that come before this one. It is often split off into its own book.
- The Rules Bible is a document that outlines the laws or rules for the show itself. How the world works, the characters act and interact, the relationships, and every other detail that needs to be seen as a rule for the story to work. This may include magic systems, future technology, supernatural elements, lore for the story, etc.
- The Pressbook is the final type of bible in the industry and it acts as a press aid. It includes marketing materials, teasers and trailers, bios of the major actors and key players in the production. It contains anything that will help either market or sell the rights to the series for foreign markets, alternate outlets (say cable syndication), and tidbits for the media to promote the series launch. It is a multi-use document tailored to whatever is needed, whether that be sales or press. It also can be called a Sales Bible or Syndication Bible, as needed.
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All of these bibles need four elements to work:
- The Concept
- Location Details—including setting and shooting locations
- Character Arcs and Biographies
- Storylines
- Searchable
- Easy to Use
- Track Tiny Details
- Be Organized
If you are writing a longer bible, then start with the basics the same way you would for a pitch and then expand. Keep in mind that your bible needs to be:
The Point of the Series Bible
Although using the word bible may imply a set of immutable rules, it doesn’t have to be used that way. The bible should be viewed as a set of guidelines that help maintain the story arc and characters’ traits and motivations but allow for growth and new story lines that will enhance what has come before. As long as your new storylines don’t contradict what has happened to date or seem out of character for your characters, then growth and new ideas should be developed. That is what keeps a story alive, especially in a series. The constraints can be helpful in sparking the imagination.
The idea of a series bible is to capture all the details that need to stay the same throughout the series—character details (physical traits), names, locations, layout of homes, towns, world rules, etc. Be as comprehensive as you can be. This may mean tracking many diverse details, such as a character’s favorite pizza toppings or dislikes. But it should not be viewed as restrictive. It’s more of a challenge to maintain continuity while building on characters and story. If you mention that a character dislikes something in book one, you will have to introduce a reason for a change if you want that character to now embrace that item or food. Change is allowed if there is a reason for it. It all goes back to motivation and story logic.
How to Turn Your Pitch Bible Into a Series Bible
An active Series Bible for television includes everything a showrunner will need to produce the show or everything a novelist needs to write a long series that is consistent.
The Series Bible includes all of the details from the TV Pitch Bible and then some.
Here are some other things to include:
Research
What have you learned and where did you learn it? How you are going to keep the series authentic? Are you going to hire expert consultants? What medical professionals will you have on hand to check the details for your medical show, or legal consultants for your legal drama? Where will you go for answers in procedure or equipment? Include your sources and maintain a database or file of any resources you used to write the initial scripts. Add to that library as you go so you have a living resource of information as you move forward. Maintain a running bibliography and list of experts contacted.
Showrunner’s Vision of the Show
A showrunner oversees the writing and production of a series. They have complete managerial and creative control over the show. Their version of a bible goes deep into every detail needed to maintain storylines, production calendars, call sheets, locations, camera setups, etc. Their bible needs every detail related to the show, including the technical stuff and the budget. It is a working document and updated regularly.
Story Drivers
We’re talking throughlines. What drives the story forward? What holds it back? What are the motivations for the characters? It’s all about the throughlines running not only through an episode but the series as a whole.
Dynamics Between Characters
Showing how your characters are connected and how they relate is important to many stories. It may not be enough to include character biographies. You might need a family tree or character chart to show relationships. You might need an organizational chart if the show takes place in a business setting. Even in friend groups, you may want to chart relationships both in the present and the past. Who dated? Who has a past fraught with drama? These dynamics inform how the story will unfold and how the actors will need to interpret their lines.
Shooting Schedule
The shooting schedule takes the script and marks it up for maximum efficiency in filming. Directors don’t shoot a script from beginning to end. They break it up by location to take advantage of camera setups. It takes time to change locations and even to change shots within a location. It’s not just moving a camera from one side of the room to another. You have to move all the lighting, sound, cords, crew, etc. That all takes time and time is money. To reduce the burden of moving equipment and crew, directors will group all shots from the same angle together and shoot them back-to-back before moving to another angle in the same room. Then they move locations and do the same thing there. If they can shoot scenes from more than one episode at a time, they will. This rarely happens in a long running show, but it is common in a film. The shooting schedule breaks all of these locations, times, setups and other details down into a schedule. If a scene runs long, the schedule has to be adjusted. If you are going to be part of the production team, the best software to mark up scripts and create call sheets and other production forms can be found at StudioBinder.com.
Ground Rules
This is an important addition for all writers. The ground rules set up how your world will work. It could be a description of a hard or soft magic system, a dystopian government system, a futuristic society, or even how certain characters must operate. Think of the ground rules as defining how your story, world, and characters work. You can go into as much detail as needed.
Maps
This is self-explanatory. If you have a fantasy world, a map is a must. But you may want to add floor plans for sets within your world. It’s best to have sketches of these in mind for popular locations so you can be consistent with the details. For example, where the bed is in relation to the bookcase and door. You don’t want those kind of details changing mid-book. Smaller maps also help for fictional towns or historic settings that used to look different than in modern times. Add whatever is needed to keep things straight in your mind.
Philosophy & Religion
If your world operates according to a specific philosophy or religion, add those details too. What is the crux of the philosophy? How is it reflected in the characters and world? How are the basic tenets of the religion in place? Who practices it and why? Who does not? What are the conflicts that arise from these philosophies and religions? How do they add to the story? How do they create tension or inspire doubt?
Budget
If you are selling or producing a television series or film, budget matters. Everything in film costs more than you would imagine. Each decision in how to shoot a scene carries a cost. Figuring out the practical side of the budget will help in editing a script or screenplay to accommodate producer’s budgets.
Other Details
The Series Bible records everything, no matter how tiny. It tracks those seemingly innocuous things you may have to reference later. You don’t want to say that a character has an allergy to pickles and then have him eat a deep fried pickle in an episode 3 seasons later. Track it all. Refer to it before you write and again in edit. Or hire a continuity expert to review every script or book to catch all those nagging details that will annoy your audience. If you are a novelist, you need to track characters and details across the series too. The use remains the same. It’s all about continuity.
Programs to Use
You can use nearly any software program or templates as long as they work for you. The way you track the details doesn’t matter as much as the information captured.
That being said, there are some programs specifically designed to track these types of details in an organized and searchable fashion, such as Campfire Pro, Scrivener, World Anvil, Notion, and others. Some are easier to set up than others. But once you have the template created, you can replicate it easily enough. This is true for Scrivener and Notion, in particular. You have to design and create the templates and databases you’ll use to track the information, but once you do, you can use them for life.
A program like Campfire Pro comes as an organized system, but can be a bit pricey if you decide to purchase the lifetime license for all the modules. There is a free version you can test to see if it will work for you.
Many writers use a well-organized notebook to track details. If you find a hard copy easier to navigate and use, then use that. It’s easy to get fancy with technology and then lose functionality or spend so much time setting up the system that it becomes more of a hindrance to writing than keeping it simple.
There is also an option of a digital notebook. There are several on the market. Whichever system you choose, make sure it can be replicated for future work and that you can use it without much effort. You want something that will keep you focused on writing and not entering data or learning new software.
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