How To Be A Sitcom Writer

There is nothing like hearing your words performed by professional actors or seeing the scene you wrote on a wet Wednesday acted out on camera for the first time.

Sitcom is much loved by the general public and it is endlessly repeatable, which means that the writer will always have their work being broadcast somewhere in the world, and be getting paid for it.

Sitcom is not easy – some would say that it’s the hardest kind of comedy writing – but it is extremely rewarding. Your name on the credits is a huge validation of the months of hard work you have put into a project.

What are your personal top ten? Why? Do you like silliness or smart retorts? Do you prefer US humour to British? Do your favourites contain oodles of visual gags or do they produce a sly grin?

Now think about the sitcoms you don’t like. Some of these may be in the top 40 as well. Try to come up with three. What makes you turn off? Sometimes it’s a good idea to know what you don’t want to do

In this regard, the element of familiarity is important. People need to warm to this strange person in their living room. They need time to learn about their faults and foibles and to love and hate them, which is why it takes time for sitcom to bed in

The fresh idea – the one that elevates him above other more traditional sitcom bosses – is that he so desperately wants to fit in and be one of the lads. Plus he thinks he’s a comedian, or rather a ‘chilled-out entertainer’ – a master stroke of self-delusion. These lead roles are archetypes. Originals. Characters that sear themselves onto our retinas.

Nevertheless, what makes a sitcom great are characters who provoke the phrase ‘I know someone just like that’.

Sitcom writing is a commercial business, so will also offer hints and tips on how to go about getting an agent and how to deal with broadcasters or independent production companies when they show interest in your writing.

I will look at sitcom characters and how to create them, what kinds of relationships work best, plotting and sub-plotting, and how to make it as potentially funny as possible. Included also are script templates and information on how to sell your work and to whom.

In this book I aim to break down exactly how this is done and to provide a number of suggestions and exercises to prompt you into doing it yourself.