How to Write a Sitcom

Series Summary

Good writing is an important skill that can be used in a variety of media. Whether it's writing a meeting agenda, a toast, or a magazine article, the ability to effectively communicate to a large audience stems from knowledge and execution of proper writing techniques. With such knowledge comes an understanding of the distinct differences in writing styles between creative writing, journalism, technical writing and informal writing. In this free video series, a playwright provides tips on both persuasive writing and creative writing, as well as information on ordering books and writing for romantic occasions. Discover how to write a sitcom, a parody poem and a self-appraisal. Learn how to write an agreement, a resume and documentary scripts, all while applying techniques like bubble writing. Become a more well-rounded writer today!

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Laura Turner, and today I'm going to talk with you about how to write a sitcom or a situation comedy. First of all start off with a place and a premise. So this sitcom is about the All-American family and their quirkiness, you know that's probably the most recycled sitcom premise ever on TV. So if we're going to be working with that kind of a sitcom, we need to think about using the archetypes in that particular place and premise to their fullest. So if you're writing about the American family of course you're going to have the archetypal, the father, the wife, the daughter, the son, the next door neighbor. You know the guy, the weird guy down the road, you know stuff like that. So think about using archetypes, and don't be afraid in a sitcom to actually make those characters behave according to their archetypes, because a sitcom is going to be a very formulated type of writing and it's going to actually you know gain ground from using this formula rather than being hindered by it. So play into the archetypes and into what's expected of the genre. For the most part, you'll be probably writing your sitcom with other people. If you're writing for a TV show, you're probably going to be writing a bit of the TV show rather than writing the whole thing yourself, so if you have an idea for a sitcom you might want to present that to a network you know if you've got your foot in the door. And then they can sort of try to assign people who will be good to write on that TV show with you. So writing a sitcom is not necessarily a one man or one woman kind of thing. It's a collaborative sort of around the table event. So think about that also as you're sort of fleshing out your ideas for writing your sitcom."