Ambitions?

I am new to comedy writing and have quickly become acquainted with what seems to be an occupational hazard - rejection. Sketches and songs not being used and impersonal emails being received from the BBC.

It is clear from the number of applications to The College of Comedy and Talking and Not Talking that this is a highly competitive industry where only a few people are selected.

I enjoy writing, the challenge of improving my material and take pride in the finished result. I submit material more in hope than expectation. It's a great feeling when an item is used, however at the moment I can't see how to make a living from it.

So what are your ambitions? Can comedy writing ever be more than a hobby? Do people write to entertain or to put bread on the table?

Quote: BeefyStu @ May 14 2009, 8:57 AM BST

I am new to comedy writing and have quickly become acquainted with what seems to be an occupational hazard - rejection. Sketches and songs not being used and impersonal emails being received from the BBC.

It is clear from the number of applications to The College of Comedy and Talking and Not Talking that this is a highly competitive industry where only a few people are selected.

I enjoy writing, the challenge of improving my material and take pride in the finished result. I submit material more in hope than expectation. It's a great feeling when an item is used, however at the moment I can't see how to make a living from it.

So what are your ambitions? Can comedy writing ever be more than a hobby? Do people write to entertain or to put bread on the table?

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Comedy writing can provide a living, but only for the relatively-few. Most people have a crack at writing comedy, get knocked back a few times, then give up.

I was at a talk the other day and Jeremy Dyson of the League Of Gents said that a large part of the comedy writer's career is rejection. And Phil Mealey said the difference between successful and unsuccessful writers are the ones who just don't give up.

For me, I've been tempted to give up loads of times. There've been moments when I've had yet another rejection and I've just sat there, sad and disilllusioned, thinking "Why am I doing this to myself?" But I've always been pulled back to it because the end prize is so great. Imagine getting paid to make people laugh. Surely that has to be the best job in the world? (Unless there's a position as Kylie Minogue's Official Bottom-Polisher going).

As for my own personal ambition, my target has been to have a succesful sitcom under my belt by the time I'm 40. I'm 38 now...

Quote: Lee Henman @ May 14 2009, 11:10 AM BST

Comedy writing can provide a living, but only for the relatively-few. Most people have a crack at writing comedy, get knocked back a few times, then give up.

I was at a talk the other day and Jeremy Dyson of the League Of Gents said that a large part of the comedy writer's career is rejection. And Phil Mealey said the difference between successful and unsuccessful writers are the ones who just don't give up.

For me, I've been tempted to give up loads of times. There've been moments when I've had yet another rejection and I've just sat there, sad and disilllusioned, thinking "Why am I doing this to myself?" But I've always been pulled back to it because the end prize is so great. Imagine getting paid to make people laugh. Surely that has to be the best job in the world? (Unless there's a position as Kylie Minogue's Official Bottom-Polisher going).

As for my own personal ambition, my target has been to have a succesful sitcom under my belt by the time I'm 40. I'm 38 now...

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Ages to go Lee. I have yet to finish my first sitcom (working on it now) yet alone send it. I dread to think of the feeling you must feel after countless rejections - it's kind of like when you make a meal that takes 4 hours, and you finish it in 2 minutes. Only you spend months/years writing to wait a further three months to have an impersonal rejection.

My ambition is, write for pleasure, and if anything comes of it, so be it...but if I were writing for a living - it would still have to be a pleasure, if it wasn't, I wouldn't bother doing it.

I definitely want to make a living out of this. I can't imagine a better job than making comedy. Making people laugh is one of the greatest pleasures in life and to get paid to do that for a living would be very satisfying.

Quote: Craig H @ May 14 2009, 11:50 AM BST

My ambition is, write for pleasure

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That's a good ambition. I bloody hate writing a lot of the time.
It's reading the finished product that I like.

It's more of a hobby for me but fair play to those who have the drive and ability to get somewhere with it.

Quote: Lee Henman @ May 14 2009, 12:13 PM BST

That's a good ambition. I bloody hate writing a lot of the time.
It's reading the finished product that I like.

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that's just insanely cruel.

It's kind of like saying - I hate doing this shit but I love what I do

And like with maintaining an erection, as you get older it becomes more difficult. What once seemed to come so easily, now seems far more effort.

Quote: Lee Henman @ May 14 2009, 11:10 AM BST

As for my own personal ambition, my target has been to have a succesful sitcom under my belt by the time I'm 40.

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I think I'll aim for that too; I've got 11 years to make it then!
Personally I want to make a living from writing, I want it to be my full time job.

Echo that.

I think there's max a couple of hundred people in the UK who actually make a living from comedy-writing, without having to do 'other' stuff.

Dan

Quote: Lee Henman @ May 14 2009, 12:13 PM BST

That's a good ambition. I bloody hate writing a lot of the time.
It's reading the finished product that I like.

View original

Hate writing. Hate having to read what I've written.

Enjoy deadlines though. And thinking about the next script idea.

I'm going all out to try and fulfill this writing dream. I'm like an Athlete, who has been training for years, in the hope of getting to the Olympics.

I don't like the actual writing process ether. It's coming up with the ideas and seeing the final product that I like. The thought of seeing it being filmed on front of a studio audience one day really excites me, too.

Sometimes I lose myself in the writing and many typing hours can pass before I realise my eyes have dried out and I've got curvature of the spine.
But most times writing is something to be endured, not savoured. A means to an end.
But the weird thing is that if I go a few days without my fingers touching the QUERTY I start getting twitchy and irritable. So it's like a bad habit to me I suppose. Like trying to give up the ciggies or something. Definitely a love / hate thing going on.

I actually enjoy the whole writing thing, then again I haven't been doing it very long.
I expect rejection, just hoping they don't just say f**k off twat and don't bother us again but write comments on how I can improve my stuff.

Strangely I am kind of afraid of somebody saying great stuff we would like to commission a series. Would probably soil myself and immediately develop writers block.

Just yesterday I watched a repeat of Only Fools and Horses/Yuppies on BBC Prime. At the end of it I was sitting alone in my living room clapping and thinking shit, I could never write something as good as that, not in a million years.