Writing Advice

Hi All
Sure what about to ask is listed on here somewhere but here it is anyway.

I have lots of ideas for sketch shows but was put off sending them out because most places seem to say they read unsolicited scripts for sketches, so I thought I'll try working on a sitcom but think this is a big ask and very very slim change of getting used,

what is easiest to get your foot in the door and get read by companies Sitcoms ro Sketches
Any help or advice would be great.

Thanks
Lee

Keep an eye on the Writing Opportunities section of this forum.

https://www.comedy.co.uk/forums/writing_opportunities/

Things pop up from time to time. It's a bit quiet at the moment.

If you submit work for something and it's liked, chances are it will lead to other opportunities that are not open to the publc.

My advice would be to pay more attention to proof reading, if this post is any indicator of your writing.

Punctuation, spelling and grammar are the building blocks of all writing, ignore them at your peril.

Agreed.
(Unless English isn't your first language, in which case I'll just about let you off.)

I do have a habbit of scribbling things down quickly and missing parts out, I will admit my english is not the best, but surely if you have good ideas that's what counts.

Thanks
Lee

Well, that depends. If you want your work read you have to make it easily understandable or busy people will chuck it in the bin.

But yes, ideas are good too!

Sorry Lee, didn't mean to come across as arsey but if you send in sketches or sitcom proposals full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors (in your post you've put a positive statement where I think you wanted a negative one completely changing the meaning of the sentence) then, like zooo says, most of your writing will end up in the bin or the trash file.

Whenever you send off material you are, in effect, applying for a job. You wouldn't (or I hope you wouldn't) send off a CV full of mistakes, so make sure you take the same care over your scripts and covering letters/emails.

This is a bit of a bugbear of mine, if you want people to take the time and effort to read your stuff then you need to show that you've taken time and effort in writing it.

Tony
You are correct I should read it before sending, I know I have a problem with going to fast and missing words out, I was put into a high group in english at school and it was to hard for me so I struggled with it when I should of been in a group that was more inline with my capability.

Thanks

Anyway back to the question what's best?

Lee

Can't really give more advice than Kevin has suggested up the thread, keep an eye on these forums for opportunities, write as much as you can and maximize your opportunities to have your work seen by the right people.

It's a hard, hard slog, but the more you get "out there" the better the chance that you'll get somewhere with it.

Quote: Lee Morris @ February 28 2010, 12:49 PM GMT

Tony
You are correct I should read it before sending, I know I have a problem with going to fast and missing words out, I was put into a high group in english at school and it was to hard for me so I struggled with it when I should of been in a group that was more inline with my capability.

Thanks

Anyway back to the question what's best?

Lee

View original

Read more BOOKS, (instead of the Internet perhaps?), grammar tend to be more correct in books, because of the many phases of proof reading that they go through.

Among other things, you are consistently using "to" instead of "too".
"going to fast" should be "going too fast".
"it was to hard for me" should be "it was too hard for me"

Learn to PROOF READ what you have written, before you press the POST/SUBMIT button. There again, on this board and many others you are able to edit your posting to correct spelling & grammar etc. Even well seasoned discussion-board writers don't spot spelling and grammar errors until viewing the resulting posting.

Unless it's for a specific show, you're a live act, or you have good quality material shot to back up the script, I think it's tricky to get producers interested in sketches. There are always exceptions of course, but I would advise trying to write other things as well as your sketches, such as a few sitcom pilots.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ February 28 2010, 8:07 PM GMT

I think it's tricky to get producers interested in sketches. There are always exceptions of course

View original

Oh yeah? Like who?

Well, lots of people. All depends on circumstances and so on, don't it, guv?

Quote: Lee Morris @ February 28 2010, 10:15 AM GMT

I have lots of ideas for sketch shows but was put off sending them out because most places seem to say they read unsolicited scripts for sketches,

View original

I don't think people were being petty but what you have written seems to contradict what you meant.

I presume you meant "most places seem to say they DON'T read unsolicited sketches".

However this is the grammatical error that always gets me.

Quote: Lee Morris @ February 28 2010, 12:49 PM GMT

I should of been in a group that was more inline with my capability.

View original

"I should HAVE been..."

yes 'should of' really bugs me too but I guess it is bad teaching initially. Also 'it's hard for me'......[wish it was] should be ...'it's difficult for me'