The good news has come! The cockamamie producer of that series you pitched your ideas at three weeks ago loves one of them and wants you to start writing immediately! See, you knew he was really a great guy. Time to dig and...and what?

Here's the step by step breakdown of what you can expect and what you should do now that you've got your first assignment. Most of it has to do with writing. After all, now that you've been given a chance, you have to deliver--or you won't get another shot. But there's also business to take care of.

First, you have to make a deal. If you've got an agent, call the producer's assistant (the one you made your good pal back at that hellish pitch meeting) and tell him or her who represents you so that the production company's Business Affairs Person can call. Then also call your agent, so when the overworked Business Affairs Person doesn't call, your agent can make the first move. If you don't have an agent, you can make the deal yourself. Just get the name and phone number of the Business Affairs Person from the assistant and make the call. (Chances are the BAP won't have the slightest idea what you're talking about because the authorization to make the deal hasn't gone through yet. Don't get paranoid. That's par for the course. Now the BAP knows who to bug on his or her end to get the ball rolling.

The deal itself is usually pretty straightforward, with virtually no negotiation involved. If it's a Writers Guild Show, WGA minimum is what you'll get. That's what everyone gets except the creator-executive producer who probably gets twice as much per script because he was able to hold the company up for that kind of deal. For most of us mere mortals, minimum is plenty. For an hour show it's well over $20,000 and will qualify you for a year's worth of free health insurance (and it's the best insurance package around) and an employer contribution to the WGA Pension Plan. Plus the odds are very good that you'll get at least one residual out of your episode, which gives you another 50% of the original fee, with more to come at a steadily decreasing rate each time the episode is rerun.

If it isn't a series covered by the Minimum Basic Agreement of the Writers Guild and you're a member of the WGA (which you can't be until you do a prescribed amount of work on WGA shows) the situation is still straightforward: You can't do the job and shouldn't even have had the pitch meeting. On the other hand, if you aren't WGA and you do a non-WGA show and then later want to join the Guild that's no problem. (Animation is a different animal. The WGA has jurisdiction over only a handful of animated shows which voluntarily joined up, which means that any WGA member can write for those that haven't without breaking any rules.)

On a non-Guild or animated show there's still almost nothing to negotiate. They all have standard take-it-or-leave-it deals, usually set at about half of Guild minimum and with no insurance or other benefits. Disappointed? Look at the bright side: It beats not working. And, frankly, it beats doing most other work as well.

Whether the show is WGA or not, the deal you will be offered will be "story with option for teleplay." This means that the company is employing you to write an outline-treatment-whatever-you-want-to-call-it. Then, once that has been completed to the producer's satisfaction, your option to write the teleplay will be picked up. (Or not, if it isn't completed to the producer's satisfaction.) The good news is that as long as you write the outline in good faith you'll be paid for it, no matter what happens next. The bad news is that even if your option isn't picked up the production company now owns the idea and can assign another writer to do the script. Don't be insulted by the "story with option." Everyone except that creator-executive producer gets that deal. But it doesn't hurt to try and get the teleplay guaranteed. Who knows? You might get lucky.

Regardless of whether you're using an agent or not, you'll probably find that whoever you're working with on the series--producer, story editor, what all--will want you to start working immediately, before the deal is made. Now, in most businesses that's a no-no, but this is showbiz. If they want you to work, do it. It's common for the first stage of a script deal (and sometimes the whole script) to be finished before the contracts are signed. Don't worry, with the exception of a handful of companies that would sue me for libel if I mentioned their names, no one's trying to cheat you. You'll get paid for what you do.

And just what, exactly, will you do? Well, first you'll probably have another meeting with the writing staff of the series, where they tell you exactly what your story idea has become since you pitched it. And believe me, it'll have become something quite different. Take notes. Ask questions. Don't say you understand if you don't. Whoever's in charge usually has a very precise idea of what the episode should be--specific scenes, plot twists, character arcs--and if you don't put that into your outline you will, quite simply, have failed in your assignment. Instead of your option being picked up, you'll be CUT OFF.

How long and detailed this meeting is depends on the individual series. Many shows literally keep you coming back for days, working out the precise "beats" or scenes that will make up your script. Eventually, though, everyone will run dry, and then you'll be sent home to "write." At this point you should ask if the staff wants a treatment (for an hour show that's a 10 page or so doubles-paced story told in the first person with each scene taking up a couple of paragraphs) or an outline (also called a "beatsheet" or "stepsheet" (a 4 page single-spaced and numbered list of scenes, each described in 1 to 3 sentences). Then, just to make sure you're all on the same wave-length, ask for copies of some other treatments or outlines so you can see how this show likes them. While you're at it, also ask for some finished scripts to read, even if you already were given some before the pitch meeting. Say that you want to read some that everyone especially liked, so you know what to aim for. And don't be surprised when all the scripts you get are those written by--yep--the creator-executive producer.

Now go home and write the story you've been told, point by point, changing things only if they absolutely don't make sense to you. (Before I changed too much, though, I'd call whoever on the staff I felt closest to and ask his or her opinion...and then do what he or she says. It shows you're thinking of the good of the series and not just your own creative needs. You will probably have been given a target date for delivery of this opus. Get it in a couple of days early and you'll be a hero. But not too early because that will mean you didn't give the piece enough thought.

After you've delivered the outline or treatment (probably by e-mail or fax), sit back and wait. No matter what terrible time crunch you were told existed, it'll probably take a couple of weeks before anyone gets back to you with a verdict. In most cases the verdict will be that it's good but some changes need to be made--by you. So in you come for another meeting, where whoever on the staff shows up will give you "notes" on each scene, each beat, each move of the story. Don't be surprised if the things they want you to change are things they told you to put in. Don't be surprised if characters are added or taken out. And above all don't be surprised if you're told to completely change the entire story so that it bears no relation to what you started out with. The name of the game is hindsight. It always has been.

Although the odds are good that piecing together the various and often conflicting changes everyone wants is actually a more difficult job than the original writing was, you'll find that you will be given only about half the time in which to do it. Don't complain, just get to work. Your entire future on this series hinges on doing a rewrite that everyone loves, which means that you have to figure out what basic need underlies all the changes and make certain you satisfy that. Then, once again, you deliver (on schedule this time; no one expects you to be able to come in ahead).

On a WGA series you can only be asked to do two versions of the story, so this is when the decision will be made regarding whether you'll get to write the teleplay. On non-Guild and animated shows, you can still be asked to rewrite your ouline. And asked again, and again...until you get it right or the staff gives up...or both. For our purposes here, let's say that you've finally done the last possible version of the story. Now what? Aw, you guessed it--you wait.

After a wait so long that you're absolutely convinced that the producers have hated your story so much they've hired a hitman to keep you from inflicting your writing on anyone else ever again, the call finally will come. Even if it's bad news and you've been cut off, try not to scream and threaten the relatives of the caller. Every writer's been cut off at one time or another. And certain shows always cut off outside writers. The only reason they hire them is to fulfill their quota with the WGA, but the Guild can't dictate what happens after that.

For now, let's assume that the news is good. You're going forward, into teleplay. After you've gone out on the town to celebrate (you'll probably have been paid for the story by now so you can afford it), it's time to get to work on the first draft. Many shows will want you to come in for another meeting where they give you the changes they want to incorporate into the script. Others will just talk you through them over the phone or e-mail you the notes. This is another very important turning point, and once again you have to listen carefully and make sure you understand not only the specifics but the thought behind the specifics. Remember, it's the other guy's show: If you want to work there again you have to give him what he wants.

You'll be given another due date, probably in two or three weeks, and this time you'll want to come in a little early, the way you did with the outline. Find out what the preferred script format and program are and use them. It's your job to make things as convenient as possible for those on the show, not vice versa, no matter how unjust that may seem. As you write, you'll find things that seem fine in the story that really don't work when you try to make them into scenes, or changes from the story that now seem awkward and weak. Again, pick up the phone and call for advice. Explain your problem, and then follow whatever's suggested. (Just don't do this too often, or you become an annoying writer...and annoying writers don't get asked back to the show. Your best bet is to call once, with a couple of these issues. Then, using the way your staff contact handled those problems, figure out what he or she would do the next time you have one and do it on your own.)

Try to pace your writing so that after you're done you have a couple of days to go over what you've written and revise it until it feels perfect. That way your oficial first draft is actually the second draft you've written and will be more polished. And the more polilshed the better.

After you've delivered the first draft it'll be time to play the waiting game again, but you're on the payroll now and have even passed the first hurdle, so everyone will be friendlier in general and they'll get back to you more quickly. (Unless they hate what you've written. Then whoever was your main backer for the assignment will be busy trying to figure out how to justify your hiring so he can keep his office and title.) When the call comes be prepared for one of two possibilities: The first and most likely is the usual, "C'mon in and we'll give you notes on the changes." You'll notice that in this example no one has told you that what you did was good, and in the meeting that follows you probably won't hear about one element in the script that anyone liked. Sometimes this is because everyone's so busy rewriting that they don't have time for praise. All they can do is point to the script's shortcomings and then get back to work. Other times it's because those you're dealing with just plain have no social grace. And still other times it's because they're complete sons of bitches deliberately trying to keep you on the defensive so you don't get too cocky and try to take away their jobs. Just smile and take it. Your check for delivering the first draft is in the mail.

The second and less likely call is the one that says that the staff doesn't need you to rewrite your script. You're finished and will be paid in full. Sometimes this is because you really did one hell of a job. You'll know that's the case because in the same phone call you'll be asked if you want to write another one, usually from a story idea they already have...no pitching needed. Or you may even be asked if you want to be on staff. (This is called the GIFT FROM GOD call and is very, very unusual...although I've both gotten it and made it.) Other times, the reason you aren't needed to rewrite the script is because the time crunch that everyone's always talking about is real now, and it's quicker and easier to have a staff person make the changes. This still means that what you wrote was Pretty Damn Good. Still other times, the reason no one wants you to rewrite the script is because you've done such a bad job that the executive producer is calling that hitman we talked about earlier. You'll know this is the case because in the same phone call when you ask if they have another assignment for you the phone will go dead.

Writing the second draft is a lot like rewriting the story. You have less time in which to do it, and trying to get in all the changes (which can be as significant as changing the story completely again) will at times be maddening. Just do your best and keep in touch with the staff. Go over all the material before you start and at that time call in with any questions or concerns. Then you can call again once more if you need to. Then deliver on time.

If this is a WGA series, the show is entitled to ask for one more version of the script, a "polish," but in practice they almost never do, because someone on the staff, who knows all the nuances and all the desires of the network and the stars and, of course, the creator-executive producer, will do the polish instead. If this is non-Guild or animation, you can go back through the rewrite process ad infinitum. It can get very tedious--even more so than rewriting the story--but remember: You're being graded on congeniality. A getalong guy is an accomodating guy. And getalong guys work again and again.

When you're finally done, give everyone a week to read your last version and then call to see how it went over...and to volunteer your services again. The reaction you get now will be honest, and the degree of success you will have achieved on this assignment will be in inverse proportion to how much the staff has to rewrite you. What everyone wants is to have to put in minimal writing time, and if minimal is what the staff gets, you'll be high on the show's list.

That's it. In television today, an outside, or freelance, writer who does one good script for a show will be asked to write another one for that show. If he or she writes two good scripts, the writer will be asked to be on staff. If the show stays on the air long enough, when it's over that writer--you--could be executive producer.

And when that happens, please don't forget how you got there--and let me come in and pitch!