A confused young writer.....

Hi all,

I'm not sure where I'm going with this so bare with me and accept my apologies if I repeat myself or stray from my original point. Basically, for years I've had ideas for sitcoms, and never acted upon it. For years I've been dubbed 'the funny one' and never acted upon it. Until this year..

I'm 29, and have no history or background in writing or comedy. I'm an accountant who works in London, and I spend the majority of my day scribbling ideas down, and going over pieces of dialogue in my head. So finally, I decided it was time to either do something about it or give up on this pipe dream. So I wrote a script for a 'sitcom' idea that had been floating around in my head for quite a while.

I've written it, and re-written it, gone over it, and re-written it some more.

Now what?

I've shown it to several people (none of these people are in the industry, may I add) and they like it. I'm a shy person in real life, and my biggest critic, but I know what I have written down (and the ideas for the whole season) is good. But I'm not sure what to do next. So many companies will only take solicited scripts, and BBC Writers Room aside, I'm not sure who I can show my work to.

Can anyone be so kind as to point me in the right direction? Do I randomly send it off to various publishing houses, do I try and find an agent, or is there another blindingly obvious avenue that I'm failing to see?

By the way, I'd love any feedback I could get on it and am happy to go into further detail about what I've written and give you an idea of what I've done...so you can shoot me down before I go any further.

Thanks.

Put some sections up in critique.

You will get some honest appraisals from some experienced writers.

You might not like em but they will be honest.

Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ April 10 2011, 8:16 AM BST

Put some sections up in critique.

You will get some honest appraisals from some experienced writers.

You might not like em but they will be honest.

View original

Totally agree. Stick something up and you will get honest feedback. If I were you then I would just start with a new poject. Don't just sit on this script because your next piece should be a lot better.

Quote: MrClarke82 Clarke @ April 10 2011, 4:49 AM BST

I'm an accountant who works in London, and I spend the majority of my day scribbling ideas down, and going over pieces of dialogue in my head. So finally, I decided it was time to either do something about it or give up on this pipe dream. So I wrote a script for a 'sitcom' idea that had been floating around in my head for quite .

View original

This sounds familiar. I too am an accountant who spends the majority of my day scribbling down ideas and dialogue. I am hoping it's because there is a writer inside me trying to break out, and not simply because my job sends me to sleep!

As others have said, post an extract in critique. At the very least you should then get an idea of what works and what doesn't. Do have a thick skin though as people tend to be straight forward and honest. Failing that, hang around this site for a bit and you will begin to notice the nice guys, a few of which will happily read your script and offer their feedback on it. Then there is always people who you can pay to read your script and offer their valued opinion and notes if this was something you might find of value.

Def.

Comedians/comedy writers who used to be comedians include the American Bob Newheart, another American Arnold Brown, Paul O'Grady (for an abbatoir) and Stewart Lee.

Quote: Tim Azure @ April 11 2011, 10:16 AM BST

Comedians/comedy writers who used to be comedians include the American Bob Newheart, another American Arnold Brown, Paul O'Grady (for an abbatoir) and Stewart Lee.

View original

Paul O'Grady used to be a comedian for an abbatoir?

Quote: chipolata @ April 11 2011, 2:53 PM BST

Paul O'Grady used to be a comedian for an abbatoir?

View original

Yeah, and he killed (this fulfils my hilarity quotient for the week - see you all next Monday).

Well all new standups need to get blooded

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who's not sure what to do with their work. In the end though, I think you just have to stick your head above the parapet and go for it, and this site is a great place to start

Keep an eye on the opportunites section of the Writers Room and here as there are periodic sitcom competitions.

We had another similar discussion not long ago.

Read this topic: https://www.comedy.co.uk/forums/thread/20621/