By Myia Hamed<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UNIVERSITY CITY, SHARJAH \u2014 The Department of English and the Department of Media Communication at the American University of Sharjah hosted an author talk featuring TV writer and novelist Matt Witten, who shared firsthand insights into the realities of writing for television.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event, held in partnership with the Sharjah International Book Fair, took place Nov. 10 in HSB 1018 and featured the talk \u201cThe Life of a TV Writer: Stories from Pitch to Page to Screen,\u201d which explored Witten\u2019s career writing for major network shows including \u201cSupernatural,\u201d \u201cPretty Little Liars,\u201d \u201cHouse\u201d and \u201cLaw & Order.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Witten explained that his break into the industry came through theater. \u201cA head writer saw one of my stage plays and hired me for a freelance episode,\u201d he said. He added that the same play later led to work on \u201cLaw & Order,\u201d where he eventually joined the writing staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He emphasized that aspiring writers today need persistence and continuous output. \u201cWrite a spec pilot, then another one and then another one until you write something good enough to share,\u201d Witten said. He noted that reputable writing competitions, networking and production roles can also help writers begin establishing themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Witten also reflected on early pitching challenges, describing his first experience as a lesson in industry expectations. \u201cI stopped after two minutes and waited for questions,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize you were supposed to pitch for fifteen to twenty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said collaboration is central to television writing, where aligning with a showrunner\u2019s creative direction is essential. \u201cYour job is to find where your instincts meet theirs,\u201d Witten said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that rejection is an inevitable part of the process. \u201cI get depressed, decide I\u2019m the worst writer who ever lived and then the next day start writing again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Witten\u2019s talk drew students, aspiring writers and storytelling enthusiasts, offering a practical look at the discipline, adaptability and teamwork that shape a writing career in Hollywood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Myia Hamed UNIVERSITY CITY, SHARJAH \u2014 The Department of English and the Department of Media Communication at the American University of Sharjah hosted an author talk featuring TV writer and novelist Matt Witten, who shared firsthand insights into the realities of writing for television. The event, held in partnership with the Sharjah International Book […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5442,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,79],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-campus-news","8":"category-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}