Quote: Fred Sunshine @ August 9 2009, 10:49 PM BSTI think Griffs bang on.
It's never a bad idea to sit & write, but it's going to be very hard getting an episode on an established sitcom.
So it's probably wiser to use the time on your own projects.
Yeah Griff's right again, again, never mind my detailed analysis of the situation.
Quote: Marc P @ August 9 2009, 10:55 PM BSTYeah Griff's right again, again, never mind my detailed analysis of the situation.
And Marc is right as well.
I hadn't read the whole thread, sorry.
Nobody takes spec scripts in the UK anyway do they? So you'll be writing stuff that at best proves you can write for characters created by someone else, but never get your stuff used. Okay, writing for other people's creations is a talent but in such a competitive market the powers that be are surely more interested in people who can do that AND create their own characters/situations.
Not sure there's much benefit in sending a spec script for a sitcom that is defunct either.
If there's a self-improvement thing going on, do it, but I think if you are aiming to send stuff out you would be much better off working on your own original ideas.
Quote: Marc P @ August 9 2009, 8:39 PM BSTNone.
And pro writers never waste words.
Quote: Griff @ August 9 2009, 10:58 PM BSTMarc have you ever heard of spec scripts of existing shows being successful over here in the same way they are in the US? I was tempted to try writing a Moving Wallpaper episode and sending it in to the Red Planet gang but like so many things in life, I didn't bother.
My take you did the right thing in so many ways.
But.. the last RP competition had a prize with a commission. The prize though seemed to turn out - that you had to be welsh to win though... although that wasn't in the details originally though was it?? Did we all miss somethimg?
Didn't 'some people' have to write in the style of Doctors though?
So it can come in useful!
Doctors write terribly apparently.
Agree with Griff and Marc. Unless it's simply for your own amusement then writing an episode of an existing show is fairly pointless. It will lend little to your knowledge of how to create your own sitcom, as you're just using characters and settings which another writer has created. Writing an original pilot really is a completely different challenge.
Quote: Tim Walker @ August 10 2009, 12:11 AM BSTAgree with Marc.
You agree with Marc that doctors write terribly?
Absalutely.
Quote: Tim Walker @ August 10 2009, 12:33 AM BSTAbsalutely.
Bloody hell I need my prescription glasses to read that...oh, the optician couldn't read the prescription so I don't have any. Grrrrr!
Not so sure about all this. Writing fan scripts is a diversion of energy better used elsewhere, but being able to write for existing characters is a skill worth acquiring, perhaps more now than ever. The BBC have been fairly explicit in their intention to create a career path for writers, whereby instead of picking up on promising scripts, the scripts are seen as calling cards to identify promising writers, who are then encouraged to cut their teeth working on existing shows, before, in the fullness of time, being let lose on their own projects.
Quote: Timbo @ August 10 2009, 12:43 AM BSTNot so sure about all this. Writing fan scripts is a diversion of energy better used elsewhere, but being able to write for existing characters is a skill worth acquiring, perhaps more now than ever. The BBC have been fairly explicit in their intention to create a career path for writers, whereby instead of picking up on promising scripts, the scripts are seen as calling cards to identify promising writers, who are then encouraged to cut their teeth working on existing shows, before, in the fullness of time, being let lose on their own projects.
But the thing is (like you've kind of said yourself), you still have to produce an original script with characters of your own to catch their eye. So the skill you need first and foremost is the ability to develop/produce your 'calling card' script.
Quote: The Giggle-o @ August 10 2009, 12:46 AM BSTBut the thing is (like you've kind of said yourself), you still have to produce an original script with characters of your own to catch their eye. So the skill you need first and foremost is the ability to develop/produce your 'calling card' script.
That.
Quote: Timbo @ August 10 2009, 12:43 AM BSTThe BBC have been fairly explicit in their intention to create a career path for writers, whereby instead of picking up on promising scripts, the scripts are seen as calling cards to identify promising writers, who are then encouraged to cut their teeth working on existing shows, before, in the fullness of time, being let lose on their own projects.
But they want people who prove their worth by writing new ideas, hence this from BBC Writersroom:
"What we don't accept:
Spec scripts for existing shows – we want to see your original work."
I think if you're good enough to write an original script, then it should be a piece of urine to then move on to an existing show.