Sitcom Writing

Part 1

This is the most difficult area for a new writer to break into. Writing sitcoms is a highly specialised craft: plots need to be watertight, well structured and unpredictable, characters believable, appealing and contemporary and the dialogue funny and original. So don't expect immediate success - even established writers have difficulty placing projects.

If you've never written a sitcom before, it might help you to tape episodes of your favourite series and watch them a few times, noting the scene structure, story development, frequency of laughs and the balance of verbal and visual jokes. Force yourself to watch sitcoms you don't like and note why you don't like them and ensure you don't make the same mistakes.

I would also recommend reading sitcom scripts and going to see an episode being recorded. The BBC Ticket Unit is one source. Also there are now courses and books on writing sitcoms. 

Audience and transmission time

Before you start you may want to have in your mind what time slot and channel you're aiming at. A pre-watershed show for BBC1 is invariably going to have a different style and tone to a post-watershed show for Channel 4. 

Theme

Every sitcom should have a theme. It doesn't have to be a large theme like the "futility of existence";  it can be much smaller. With the Vicar of Dibley the theme is "a person can make a difference". It could be a personally observed relationship type theme.  The theme of the Cosby show is "family life is great". The theme of Married..with Children (working title: Not the Cosbys) is  "family life is hell".  It's important that your show is consistent and the audience is clear what it's about. I like Father Ted and I like dinnerladies but I wouldn't watch a show that mixed those styles. Inconsistency of style is a common reason for the rejection of scripts.

Character

Situation comedy should really be called 'character comedy': the laughs come from the reaction of your characters to that situation. It's not about one-liners and gags strung together. Neil Simon, one of the funniest writers ever, claims to have never written a joke.

Good writing, whether it is for comedy or drama is reliant on strong character outlines. Use characters that you know you can sustain and who are believable and  interesting. Then make sure that those characters have an identity of their own. 

A common misconception is that character comedy equals subtle shows like The Royle Family not something like Bottom. But even in Bottom Ade and Rich have clearly delineated characterisations which act as a springboard for the story and gags.

Another common misconception is that it's the actors who create characters and simply adding "to be played by David Jason" next to a name is all a writer has to do. It can be helpful to write a rôle with an actor in mind but creating characters is the writer's job. A script with under developed characters wouldn't even get as far as David Jason's agent.

Some writers feel they have to base their characters on real life and experience but comedy isn't real life. A real person can inspire you, as a Torquay hotel manager inspired John Cleese and Connie Booth to create Basil Fawlty, but you have to be true to your show and not true to life. All because a character really exists it doesn't make them funny.

I like to do a full character breakdown. I make a grid with all the names of the characters at the top and a list of physical, sociological and psychological attributes (taken from Linda Segar's book Creating Unforgettable Characters). As I fill in the grid I can ensure that the people will contrast sufficiently to show up each other's traits and attitudes clearly. 

There has to be conflict between the characters.  If one character is stupid enough to support Aston Villa then the other character should support Birmingham City.  But the set up of the conflict has to be believable.  I can believe a Villa fan and a Blues fan sharing a flat but I would have difficulty believing God and Satan sharing a flat. 

Try to keep the number of characters in your script to a sensible number. Most sitcoms succeed because they focus on no more than four central characters with a small supporting cast. Whilst it is important for you to know your characters and their world inside and out, there is no need to send in detailed character descriptions along with your script.  What your character is like should come out in the dialogue and the story.

I think it's more important to have interesting characters we haven't seen before than it is to have a premise we haven't seen before. I would recommend working through Matthew Carless' guide to Creating Comedy Characters before going any further with your script.

Part 1
Part 2: Subject / Longevity / Copyright / Location
Part 3: Story / Structure / Dialogue
Part 4: Duration / Format / Submissions / Checklist
Part 5: BBC & C4 / Prodco / Next / Rejection / Acceptance / Agents