Ah, I just nipped back to see where NJ was, and lo - turns out I've missed the whole series (bar my obligatory rejections for episode one).
Never listened to it. Not out of malice, just never got round to it. Now it's done and dusted, what did the panel think of the series / new presenter? I'll go get today's podcast and see what it was all about.
Quote: Gerry McDonnell @ October 20 2011, 5:56 PM BST
Damn - one final strike out for me.
Just a recorded-but-didn't-make-edit this series, so I leave (I think) just Dan in the BCG "Got something in every series" club. A doubly sad day for me as the end of my run in BBC Radio open door shows going back to Tilt, boo hoo.
Congrats to all those who succeeded and good luck to us all next series
Quote: David Salisbury @ October 20 2011, 7:01 PM BSTOnly one near-miss for me this series, despite my three sketches a week.
Still I found it a useful experience. Defiinitely learnt a lot. Now I just need to put it into practice.
A few of the things I learned:
1. Write more sketches than you need. Write 6 sketches, submit three.
2. Discard the first thing you thought of. Everyone else will have thought of it too.
3. Keep pushing every joke, and every punchline to be funnier and tighter.
3a. To do this come up with lots of options, then pick the best. Don't try and think of the "best joke" out of thin air.
4. Sleep is optional.
5. Most importantly - write things to your own high standards. Never think "It'll do".Comedy is subjective and to get on you need to tickle that particular script ed's funnybone enough, but also it is possible to get better, get funnier and get on. At least I hope so.
Any one else want to share what you got out of it?
Now on to the cofilmic subs....
I agree with pretty much all of this except the first point. (Full disclosure: I haven't yet got a sketch on Newsjack either) The idea of writing six sketches in a weekend makes my dick itch. This could be due to family commitments, laziness, lack of talent, untreated gonorrhea or a combination of all four but I think there's a danger of writing too much and then not spending enough time on any of them to do them justice.
At least that's my excuse for only sending a maximum of one sketch per week!
I'm sure we're all going to keep writing at least 3 sketches a week so our skills are well-honed by the time February rolls around and we can knock out 6 pearlers in an afternoon and only have the problem of deciding which three to submit...right? 
I agree with pretty much all of this except the first point. (Full disclosure: I haven't yet got a sketch on Newsjack either) The idea of writing six sketches in a weekend makes my dick itch. This could be due to family commitments, laziness, lack of talent, untreated gonorrhea or a combination of all four but I think there's a danger of writing too much and then not spending enough time on any of them to do them justice.
How do you mean, do them justice? If you want to be a pro writer you're going to occasionally have to write more than one sketch a week. 
I think there is a danger of nodding too sympathetically to ourselves about our unwillingness to go the extra mile - but we can't complain about how properly hard it is to break into the business unless we're prepared to make serious effort. Or everyone's time just gets wasted.
Riiiiiiiiiight 
Quote: Mr Writer Like In The Song @ October 20 2011, 8:52 PM BSTHow do you mean, do them justice? If you want to be a pro writer you're going to occasionally have to write more than one sketch a week.
I think there is a danger of nodding too sympathetically to ourselves about our unwillingness to go the extra mile - but we can't complain about how properly hard it is to break into the business unless we're prepared to make serious effort. Or everyone's time just gets wasted.
Okay, so I may have been guilty of being a bit flippant but I think my basic point stands - is it possible to write too much at the expense of the overall quality you submit? And to be honest, if we were at the pro writer stage and able to crack off six top quality sketches in a weekend, would we really be chatting here now?
I take your point Humberfloob, but I look at the one time I got something on, and that was the week I wrote the most sketches. One anecote (and a very dull one, at that) doesn't prove anything, but I have heard the same advice from a few more experienced writers.
What I want to aim for is to write 6 sketches, get them all to the best I can make them and then pick the best 3. Not just knock off six sketches as quickly as possible.
This is linked to my lesson 4. 
There aren't enough hours in the day. That's what the night is for.
For those who got a recorded but not in the show - what did you write? There were a lot of one-liners...
My pilot sketch (heavily cut back) made it to the edit - watch out for it. It was quite early - so I just booed everything else to increase my chances...
Quote: David Salisbury @ October 20 2011, 9:05 PM BSTI take your point Humberfloob, but I look at the one time I got something on, and that was the week I wrote the most sketches. One anecote (and a very dull one, at that) doesn't prove anything, but I have heard the same advice from a few more experienced writers.
What I want to aim for is to write 6 sketches, get them all to the best I can make them and then pick the best 3. Not just knock off six sketches as quickly as possible.
This is linked to my lesson 4.
Can't argue with any of that, David. I'd like to, but I can't!
Thanks for feedback, will listen to show and hope for more detail tomorrow.
With respect to all opinions and all that, but I'm sure Newsjack and the BBC in general would like to receive 3 excellent sketches off everyone each week. Dictating how that is achieved is a bit presumptuous of anyone, especially when people writing for NJ are by definition NOT professional writers and therefore might find it difficult to complete 6, 3 or even 1 high-enough quality sketch in the allotted window. If the message is, writing more is good for your writing then of course. That's not arguable. If it's that you should attempt to write more sketches in the time span that you really have time to make them decent in, then I am 100% behind writing fewer sketches but making them better. And my hunch is NJ end up with better material to work with as a result.
Honestly, I'm just trying to be helpful. Hard work's horrible. I'm personally very lazy. But you're more likely to get stuff on Newsjack if you write more and throw more away.
It's a tricky one, but I would say I nearly discarded the sketch I got on in week 3. Thank God I didn't because it's the only full sketch I've had on Newsjack. That said, I did throw away a couple of one-liners this week.
More importantly - well done Jack!
Quote: Mr Writer Like In The Song @ October 20 2011, 11:19 PM BSTHonestly, I'm just trying to be helpful. Hard work's horrible. I'm personally very lazy. But you're more likely to get stuff on Newsjack if you write more and throw more away.
I am sure you are being helpful, and I am sure nobody is arguing with what you say here.
All I'm asking is, if on a given weekend someone only has a short window to write in (for whatever reason - they have a day job, family commitments, wedding to go to, etc) would they be better off writing a small amount of sketches well, or trying to write lots of sketches and keeping the best three? What do you think?
