How NOT to Write a Sitcom

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How NOT to Write a Sitcom

100 mistakes to avoid if you ever want to get produced

Screenwriting techniques Writing and editing guides

Author: Marc Blake

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Collection: Writing Handbooks

Language: English

Published by: A&C Black Academic and Professional

Published on: 23rd September 2011

Format: LCP-protected ePub

Size: 272 pages

ISBN: 9781408130896


The craft of sitcom

is possibly the hardest of all screenwriting genres, demanding a complex set of skills.

How NOT to Write a Sitcom

is a troubleshooting guide aimed at both the novice and the practising sitcom writer. It illustrates and explains the many pitfalls in concept, characterisation, plotting and dramatic/comedic writing, which pepper the hundreds of scripts submitted every year. Each point is illustrated with an example of the error and each section contains practical suggestions and exercises for the writer to apply to their own writing. The book makes no assumption of the reader other than an interest in the form. It contains interviews with current producers as well as interviews with successful practitioners of the craft.

Marc Blake is a script consultant, writer and teacher of writing for sitcom. In this book he acts as a script mechanic for writers - stripping a sitcom down to its component parts, isolating the faults and fixing them. What script editors and producers are looking for are scripts that work. Naturally they want a genius in embryo, but above all they first want to see something that is roadworthy.

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