Overwhelmingly, advice is given to embrace brevity, to cut and cut again, to shorten and reduce the length of your comedy work. But what if you want to extend it? What if your sketches habitually turn out just a bit shorter than you want, how would you look to extend them?
Quote: Nogget @ 18th October 2015, 6:49 AM BSTOverwhelmingly, advice is given to embrace brevity, to cut and cut again, to shorten and reduce the length of your comedy work. But what if you want to extend it? What if your sketches habitually turn out just a bit shorter than you want, how would you look to extend them?
Brevity is the soul of wit and, if you look at the 'Newsjack rejects' section of this site, you'll see example after example of an essentially good submission that was spoiled by being over-long and/or over-wordy.
Cutting and cutting again is an excellent practice and it should be every writer's aim to use the minimum number of words to achieve his desired result. That does not mean that he should cut out good stuff simply to make a piece shorter. There's nothing wrong with a long joke, a long sketch or a long script as long (see what I did there?) as every word is necessary to make the piece as good as it can be. If cutting improves it, cut. If cutting spoils it, don't.
Sometimes, of course, a script needs lengthening. If you need to fill a 30-min time slot and you have only 25 minutes of material, you have to create another 5 minutes.
Ideally, you need 5 minutes of top-quality material that fits seamlessly into the 25 top-quality minutes you already have. In reality, it isn't always possible to achieve that and, when writing to fill a pre-determined time slot, it's sometimes necessary to 'pad' the script a little simply because it's either that or you've got an unusable script.
With a top-quality sketch, however, there can be no padding. A sketch by its very nature should be solid gold from the first moment to the last. If you have a great 2-minute sketch and you need a 3-minute sketch, you must come up with an additional top-quality minute that fits seamlessly into the original or you should write a new 3-minute sketch.
I would say a sketch that feels too short is likely not escalating enough in the middle, so it's a case of looking at whether you've taken the situation to enough of an extreme, or whether you're getting to that extreme too abruptly and should be building up to it more. Or there might be a further twist or development that needs to be added in the middle to make the whole feel more substantial.
Best thing though is to listen to/watch lots of good sketches, as I think you can develop an 'ear' for good structure.
Quote: Rood Eye @ 18th October 2015, 10:13 AM BSTBrevity is the soul of wit and, if you look at the 'Newsjack rejects' section of this site, you'll see example after example of an essentially good submission that was spoiled by being over-long and/or over-wordy.
Cutting and cutting again is an excellent practice and it should be every writer's aim to use the minimum number of words to achieve his desired result. That does not mean that he should cut out good stuff simply to make a piece shorter. There's nothing wrong with a long joke, a long sketch or a long script as long (see what I did there?) as every word is necessary to make the piece as good as it can be. If cutting improves it, cut. If cutting spoils it, don't.
Sometimes, of course, a script needs lengthening. If you need to fill a 30-min time slot and you have only 25 minutes of material, you have to create another 5 minutes.
Ideally, you need 5 minutes of top-quality material that fits seamlessly into the 25 top-quality minutes you already have. In reality, it isn't always possible to achieve that and, when writing to fill a pre-determined time slot, it's sometimes necessary to 'pad' the script a little simply because it's either that or you've got an unusable script.
With a top-quality sketch, however, there can be no padding. A sketch by its very nature should be solid gold from the first moment to the last. If you have a great 2-minute sketch and you need a 3-minute sketch, you must come up with an additional top-quality minute that fits seamlessly into the original or you should write a new 3-minute sketch.
Couldn't you edit this post down a bit?
AND PLEASE SOMEONE CORRECT THE SPELLING OF THE THREAD'S TITLE!
Quote: Chappers @ 18th October 2015, 7:09 PM BSTCouldn't you edit this post down a bit?
Yes.
A sketch by its very nature should be solid gold from the first moment to the last. If you have a great 2-minute sketch and you need a 3-minute sketch, you must come up with an additional top-quality minute that fits seamlessly into the original or you should write a new 3-minute sketch.
I have the same problem myself. I'm writing funny books so it's slightly different but still the same principle.
Recently I've been going back through and enlarging the characters, maybe giving them a tiny side story that I can call back to in another chapter.
My next, 'to do' is to go through thinking about all the different senses they're experiencing at that point in the story.
Quote: Davey Jay @ 18th October 2015, 9:02 PM BSTI have the same problem myself. I'm writing funny books so it's slightly different but still the same principle.
Recently I've been going back through and enlarging the characters, maybe giving them a tiny side story that I can call back to in another chapter.
My next, 'to do' is to go through thinking about all the different senses they're experiencing at that point in the story.
The important thing is character. Are your characters mouthpieces for lines or people with their own attitudes and stories? Paul Whitehouse said that a sketch should be like a mini-sitcom with characters, attitude, conflict and a structured story, albeit very pared down. So if you need to make something longer, thinking of a sketch in those terms might help.