Correct me if I'm wrong but were there plots in The Young Ones and Bottom?I'm knocking on a bit so maybe there were and I've forgotten.There are no rules except people should laugh.
Writing exercise Page 3
Quote: Jaicee @ July 12 2013, 5:33 PM BSTCorrect me if I'm wrong but were there plots in The Young Ones and Bottom?I'm knocking on a bit so maybe there were and I've forgotten.There are no rules except people should laugh.
Both were hugely plot-driven.
Quote: Lazzard @ July 12 2013, 5:51 PM BSTBoth were hugely pot-driven.
Dude don't let the squares hear
This is not a really good way to improve your sitcom writing skills.
It'll give you a drama plus jokes a kind of dramedy not sitcom.
In sitcom the characters and situations generate the humour, the jokes and funny are inherent to them.
I was thinking it's a bit like Ghostbusters v The Exorcist. Roughly the same story a bunch of guys help a woman possessed by evil.
But the energy and characters are totally different.
Quote: sootyj @ July 12 2013, 8:06 PM BSTThis is not a really good way to improve your sitcom writing skills.
That's quite a sweeping statement..it may not help you, but it definitely helped me. Different strokes.
Quote: sootyj @ July 12 2013, 8:06 PM BSTIt'll give you a drama plus jokes a kind of dramedy not sitcom.
No, it has given me a sitcom with a tight, truthful, satisfying plot. Well, in comparison to the previous draft, anyway.
Quote: sootyj @ July 12 2013, 8:06 PM BSTIn sitcom the characters and situations generate the humour, the jokes and funny are inherent to them.
I agree. The 'situations' are the plot.
Quote: sootyj @ July 12 2013, 8:06 PM BSTI was thinking it's a bit like Ghostbusters v The Exorcist. Roughly the same story a bunch of guys help a woman possessed by evil.
But the energy and characters are totally different.
True. But Ghostbusters could still be written in story format. You cannot divorce the comic situations completely, but you can isolate the story. To make sure it is doing what it is supposed to do.
Well good luck I used to GOTO lcw most weeks where some poor sod had their sitcom read
Drama + jokes stood out each time, as the jokes used to come over like pots dropped in kitchen
Organic scripts with inherently funny relationships between characters got the laughs.
Certainly it forced me to focus character and setting, jokes as an afterthought
Jennie, you seem confident with your writing, but has an impartial critic looked at your work yet? This forum provides a valuable service in that respect, and I know many of us have been grateful for it.
Indeed critique is helpful, its not a panacea but more like an oil test for ones writing
Quote: Nogget @ July 13 2013, 7:12 AM BSTJennie, you seem confident with your writing, but has an impartial critic looked at your work yet? This forum provides a valuable service in that respect, and I know many of us have been grateful for it.
Completely agree - critique is invaluable. I started writing on a whim and entered the Sitcom Mission. Getting my script savaged by Declan and Simon was really helpful. I posted a couple of scenes in critique when I first joined and got some useful feedback. Have changed it quite a lot since then, but may well post another scene soon as I desperately need some help with it.
Not sure I'm confident in my writing - I have lots if self-doubt. I just don't let it cripple me anymore. This is my first script and I don't expect miracles. Just need to keep working hard.
Is there an impartial critic?I don't think so.We all have axes to grind and I'm busy sharpening mine as we speak.Maybe Declan and Simon are eejits who don't like women or anybody who has a better command of written English like what we have.
Declan and simon seem fair enough
You need to think hard before rejecting critique unless you're really sure the critic is malicious or deluded
The greatest critic is time, rereading something a year later and thinking did I really write that shit?
You're right about time.If you're in a good mood any old mince seems good.If you're a bit sour everything seems crap.A few months later you're more objective.
It's why I find writing is alot like crop rotation.
Quote: Jaicee @ July 13 2013, 10:12 AM BSTIs there an impartial critic?I don't think so.We all have axes to grind ...
I'm more concerned with someone giving over-favourable criticism because they like you.
Quote: sootyj @ July 13 2013, 12:53 PM BSTIt's why I find writing is alot like crop rotation.
It was considerably more widespread in the 14th century?