Young Writer Requesting Tips.

Hi my names Nick im 15 and aspire to become a comedy script writer and get my work on the tv one day I am currently writing a script that i have been planning for a week now it is about a young man who is training to be a priest but he gets moved from the country to the city to continue his training during the transaction from country to city he develops a very bad anger problem and the slightest things can make him go mental with anger.He has a mentor who is quite old and is training him to become a priest his mentor sort of helps him deal with his anger aswell its a comedy and i havent started writing it yet i have spent alot of time planning it though.Anyway sorry to drag that on but my question is how can i stay focused on planning it and how can i come up with ideas for what the character can do in an episode.I have a few good ideas but ive hit a bit of a dry spell on anymore im not asking for ideas im asking how can i come up with ideas.After i have wrote the first episode to this (which by the looks of it will be sometime)i am hoping to send it in to the writers room at the bbc.
Thanks for reading
Nick

Also i have only briefly described the script i am writing and that is a very brief description if anyone wants a full blown out explenation of the script and what i have planned dont hesitate to contact me.

Welcome Nick

Your basic premise sounds good, as there's a fair bit of conflict there - from the conflict will come the comedy!

There are a couple of recent threads on here with useful general tips on how people write and come up with ideas. "Organic v Planned" and "Sitcom Ideas" are worth a look. Other than that, the general advice is usually to get your characters right first, and then everything else will be easier.

My only other tip (please take this the right way) is to start using a few more commas and full stops... please? Here, you can borrow some:

........... ,,,,,,,,,,

Hi Young man. A great age to start out I think. Grow yourself a thick skin, you are going to need it. Good idea by the way & good luck.

I'm 14 so around the same age as you, even though that's not related. If you've got writers block, leave it a bit. I had writers block and came up with the idea for the next bit of my sitcom in the middle of a Shakespeare exam!

Badge has given the best advice, so there is no need for me to add anything.

Thank you for some good comments and about the punctuation thing when i start writing a long topic i end up just going crazy and not putting punctuation in so sorry about that.What i have been doing for a while is watching comedy shows (old and new) like blackadder and Fawlty towers for a bit of inspiartion.I will have a look round previous threads on the forum.
Thanks again
Nick

Write and write and write.

The stuff you write probably won't be any good (sorry) but it'll help you a lot so that when you reach an age where you producing the good stuff, you're already adept at laying out the script, planning and writing good dialogue.

Don't give up either.

Hi Seefacts i see where your coming from but i dont believe age has anything to do with it in a sense.For example if i had started writing at 10 years old and another person starts today,whos the better writer? the 10 year old is. And since i have only just started out my scripts probably arent fantastic but trust me i am a very harsh juge to myself,and i get older people to read my scripts.If i dont like something im writing,i shred it! the other day i sat down and thought about the script im writing now i wrote all my ideas down into a book and thought to myself nows the time it gets serious! i looked at all my other work and shredded every bit of it (it wasnt very good i wasnt pelased with it)i am spending ages planning out this script and i WILL! see this one to the end until i am pleased with it.Sorry if i came over as rather strong there just had to prove a point.
Nick

Hi Nick!

Blackadder and Fawlty Towers are a great start - then watch EVERYTHING that says "comedy" next to it in the tv listings. Even the crap. REALLY watch and REALLY listen and notice how the jokes work. Also look out for the jokes that DON'T work - you'll be wanting to avoid those.

Don't worry about scenes and structure and plot to begin with - the most important thing is jokes. That's why it's called comedy, although you wouldn't think so with some of the shite that's around. Some people will even have you believe that comedy doesn't always have to be funny. Don't believe them. Comedy is there to make us laugh, no other reason. If you can write funny jokes and dialogue, then all the other boring stuff like plotting and subplotting and and all that crap can be taught.

Good luck and enjoy yourself mate!

Quote: Nbrambles @ February 16, 2008, 7:24 PM

i looked at all my other work and shredded every bit of it (it wasnt very good i wasnt pelased with it)

View original

Another tip: don't automatically chuck out your rubbish. Sometimes what looks rubbish today might look quite good in a week, or a month, or a year. Or it might have the germ of a good idea in it that you can develop later.

And as Perry says, watching lots of comedy is essential, and you can learn loads from watching bad comedy. Try reading some comedy scripts as well, as the transition from page to screen can be quite illuminating.

Quote: Nbrambles @ February 16, 2008, 7:24 PM

Hi Seefacts i see where your coming from but i dont believe age has anything to do with it in a sense.For example if i had started writing at 10 years old and another person starts today,whos the better writer? the 10 year old is. And since i have only just started out my scripts probably arent fantastic but trust me i am a very harsh juge to myself,and i get older people to read my scripts.If i dont like something im writing,i shred it! the other day i sat down and thought about the script im writing now i wrote all my ideas down into a book and thought to myself nows the time it gets serious! i looked at all my other work and shredded every bit of it (it wasnt very good i wasnt pelased with it)i am spending ages planning out this script and i WILL! see this one to the end until i am pleased with it.Sorry if i came over as rather strong there just had to prove a point.
Nick

View original

Susan Nickson won the Lloyds Bank Film Challenge at the age of fourteen with a ten-minute short called Buddha's Legs. 7 years later she wrote 2 Pints Of Lager, and is now VERY successful and wealthy. So you don't have to be 50 before you make it.

Thanks Perry! i have been watching alot of comedy,infact thats prtty much all i do haha.And to reply to you badge i looked through it and found any good bits that i could adapt into what im writing now and wrote them in the book.Sorry i forgot to put that down.

Quote: Badge @ February 16, 2008, 7:28 PM

Another tip: don't automatically chuck out your rubbish. Sometimes what looks rubbish today might look quite good in a week, or a month, or a year. Or it might have the germ of a good idea in it that you can develop later.

And as Perry says, watching lots of comedy is essential, and you can learn loads from watching bad comedy. Try reading some comedy scripts as well, as the transition from page to screen can be quite illuminating.

View original

Yes, absolutely good advice. Keep EVERYTHING you write. Another tip - carry a notepad and pencil with you wherever you go. You'll be amazed at how many funny things go on around you that you just take for granted normally. Start writing them down and put them in a folder marked "Comedy Seeds". Check in on them occasionally and see if anything's growing.

I've kept everything (virtually) that I've written since I was 16.

I'm 23 now so I have a 325+ page file on my PC of jokes, plots and ideas. Most are so shit it hurts, but I'm lumbered with it now so anything good is lost in a sea of crap.

And I can't be arsed to go through it.

Quote: Nbrambles @ February 16, 2008, 7:24 PM

Hi Seefacts i see where your coming from but i dont believe age has anything to do with it in a sense.For example if i had started writing at 10 years old and another person starts today,whos the better writer? the 10 year old is. And since i have only just started out my scripts probably arent fantastic but trust me i am a very harsh juge to myself,and i get older people to read my scripts.If i dont like something im writing,i shred it! the other day i sat down and thought about the script im writing now i wrote all my ideas down into a book and thought to myself nows the time it gets serious! i looked at all my other work and shredded every bit of it (it wasnt very good i wasnt pelased with it)i am spending ages planning out this script and i WILL! see this one to the end until i am pleased with it.Sorry if i came over as rather strong there just had to prove a point.
Nick

View original

That's great, commitment is the obviously vital.

But don't be dismayed if in a years time you look back at what you thought was good, and think it now isn't.

That'll probably happen a few times. It takes a few years to find your own style for one.

1) Belief in yourself that borders on blind and fanatical.

2) Perseverance even when you want to give up after rejection upon rejection

3) A writing partner or someone else who writes and who you can bounce ideas off

4) Write, write, write. Every day even if it's shite, you're practicing placing words in the right order and using punctuation to guide the reader the best way through the gags.

5) Cram in the jokes, let a script editor worry about the 2 minute overrun

6) Learn techniques, learn how to tell a story and what makes people empathise with your creations to want to know what happens next to them

The first two will ensure you survive long enough to have a chance. The third will develop your abilities to make someone laugh faster than if you go solo. The last 3 will get you through the dry periods and make people want to watch / read your output.

But most of all have FUN.