It seems that quite a few of us are suffering from a huge comedown after the magnificent London Screenwriters’ Festival at the weekend. I’m only now digesting and dissecting all the emotions I’ve been through and this is my attempt at making sense of it. God help you!

For me, I think it stems from going to last year’s LSWF (2010), still very much living in a non-writing world where I knew very few writers in person and I was still solely working on my own projects. It was something that quite dramatically changed there and then and for good. I think I’m only just realising it now.

Thanks to the delegates I met and the inspiration and encouragement that the festival never fails to supply, I joined a group of delegates that, via twitter, started meeting up monthly for Script Chat drinks. This was incredibly important as it enabled me to maintain and build on a number of relationships I had started at the festival. Soon, these weren’t just other writers but collaborators, friends and some people found love (ahhh). Because twitter was at the core of this, communication with these new-found friends turned quickly from occasional to daily (writers, by definition, have A LOT of opinions and things to share!). Also, I’ve had the pleasure of working with quite a few of them on various projects.

So the difference between attending LSWF 2011 over LSWF 2010 was that I wasn’t just going to it knowing a few people that I had last met 12 months ago. I was going to it with a lot of familiar faces and friends, which is great when you want a balance between meeting new people and kicking back with friends. In fact, it was beneficial to meeting new people as “oh, you should meet…” became a popular phrase over the three days. Most of all, I realised that because I communicate with these people so regularly (and more often than a lot of my own friends) I wasn’t going to LSWF 2011 from a non-writing world any more. The connection was so much stronger and I enjoyed it even more.

So as well as missing being inspired everyday, learning priceless lessons and belonging to the asylum, I miss being around new and old friends. But you know what? I’m taking them with me and so should you.

This is really a message about the power of networking. A case-study, if you like. I hope people don’t fall into that trap of just writing a nice email to all your business card contacts only to exchange shorter and shorter emails until they fizzle out. See if they are on twitter, Skype or live nearby. Getting a group together is even better, there’s less pressure on individual relationships as you can just mingle. I don’t live in London but still come in just for Script Chat. Also, the LSWF Ning network is made for keeping in touch. It’s your delegates-only Facebook.

Whatever the case, try and find an informal way of staying in touch regularly. Make it part of the world you want to live in.

There will be more semi-delusional posts from me in the coming days, so thanks for reading.

To see it all unfold follow/friend here:
https://www.facebook.com/FollowKarenBarley
http://twitter.com/#!/@KarenBarley

Don’t miss it, it will be a unique filmic experience. Be one of the first to embrace it.

BIG NEWS: I’m finally getting some time to write after over a year of upheaval and pretty much abandonment (bringing up my house, redecorating my son). I did some bits and bobs here and there but I feel like a footballer coming back from a long-term injury. It’s good to be back on my feet.

My main focus is to get back onto my comedy scripts but over the past few weeks all attempts of getting myself into that mindset has been thwarted by an idea that came to me about a horror film. Yeah HORROR (?!)

Just to clarify: I’m trying to finish off some sitcom scripts for TV, I have no interest in horror, don’t watch it, don’t want to, yet I have an idea that just won’t go away. I’m being haunted by this horror film idea! Still weeks later, it is dominating my mind. I really like the concept and idea. To my knowledge and research it hasn’t been done but is very relatable (which isn’t word apparently).

So instead of immersing myself in comedy, I’m renting horror movies to research the genre more. I’m going to be terrified for the next few weeks all to feed this beast of an idea. Thanks brain!

But at least I’m writing…

I was meant to do this before the London Comedy Writers’ Festival but a horrible bug struck me down for some weeks, causing me to miss the actual festival itself!

Anyway, here are my notes from Red Dwarf c0-creator (and therefore Legend) Rob Grant…

GENERAL TIPS
It takes 10,000 hours to be excellent at something. You can only get better by writing all the time.

The first joke in a script should come early and set the tone for the rest of the script. It should make ‘the deal’ between you and the audience. ‘This is what to expect.’

The task is to make the person want to read the next page.

Try to get 5 to 6 laughs a page. Tick them if needed.

Avoid clichéd situations. Even better is to twist them.

A scene has to have a point and you should start late and end as soon as that point is made.

An alternative to swearing is to make up a swear word. Such as ‘Smeg head’ in Red Dwarf.

Read a script a day.

Don’t use exclamation marks to highlight a joke. That’s not the correct use for them! (sorry!)

WRITING PRACTICES
Write something. It’s easier to make crap good than to get something good out of nothing.

Learn how to touch-type. It will save you hours.

FORMATTING
Final Draft is industry standard but Rob uses Word.

Don’t start a scene on a new page for submitting scripts.

Don’t make a sitcom more than 30 pages. 27 pages is ideal.

Send as a PDF.

Go to the BBC Writersroom for script formatting examples.

SITCOM REQUIREMENTS
Keep it to a maximum of 3/4 sets.

It should be about characters who don’t get on but are trapped together.

Studio audience sitcoms are in demand now. (Miranda, IT Crowd)

When writing treatments do it in the genre of the script. So make it funny if it’s a comedy.

The story shouldn’t dominate so much that it doesn’t allow the characters to show themselves.

END

I hope that is useful. For me, it reinforced a lot of ideas that I already had and added quite a few too. Plus this was from someone who has actually been very successful at the subject that he was teaching, which made it pretty valuable.

What type of film are Ealing Studios look for? High-concept and culturally specific films. So films like Full Monty and Four Weddings and a Funeral are prime examples of this.

What are the key components to think about when writing a comedy film? To have an idea that makes you smile when you think about it . To create a world of fun. So Full Monty: ‘five unemployed men become strippers.’, 4o Year-Old Virgin: the title explains everything. Also, to have a simple story that is told in a more complex way or a complex story told in a simple way.

How do you get a script read by Ealing Studios? You do need a agent as its not practical for them to accept unsolicited material, particularly as there are legal issues such as idea-protection etc. But they do accept Spec scripts from agents and these can get writers considered for other in-house productions. They estimate between 300-400 solicited scripts are sent to them in a year.

Top tips on writing comedy:

Challenge every scene – UK writers are too content on what they’ve written. They need to look at every scene and ask what can be funnier, what can be a bigger threat etc. Scripts, in general, need more drafts.

Reveal character through dialogue

Simplify a story and then go off tangents from that spine

Laugh WITH the characters and not at THEM. Warm comedy rather than cynical comedy.

Make sure the ending has enough laughs. Tying up the story shouldn’t completely take over.

These are my personal highlights, a lot more was said and it was recorded so you’ll hopefully be able to watch this session in the future.

AND OF COURSE visit the London Comedy Writer’s Festival for more unmissable advice and networking. (£25 discount with code: NUTS). http://www.londoncomedywritersfestival.com

I was recently asked on twitter (I actually have a human follower?) what comedy writing books I would recommend and thought 140 characters is probably not going to do my answer justice. So you get a wordy blog post instead.

Of course, this is all very personal to me. I’ve bought recommended books that I thought were a bit ‘Meh…’ but also blindly bought other books that were ‘Aha…’

But with comedy it depends on whether you want to learn how to write funny stuff or learn how to turn your funny stuff into a particular format ie. sitcom, sketch, one-liner, film, stand-up.

Now, I’m not going to turn this post into the endless debate about whether you can teach someone to be funny or whether you can learn to write. My view is simply you can learn either just like you can learn how to drive. However, not all drivers are Formula 1 world champions. Talent, hard-work and a whole lot of other things filter us all out.

How to be funny…. one-liners, sketches, puns

When I was writing one-liners and sketches for radio, I felt the most useful book was Melvin Helitzer’s Comedy Writing Secrets. As it has loads of great exercises for writing sketches and jokes, and general ways of squeezing comedy out of anything. It also talks about the different types of jokes: puns, wordplay, visual etc.

In short, this book is a great refresher in how to create jokes.

If you want to know the detailed, and I mean detailed, mechanics of a joke then have a read of The Naked Jape by Jimmy Carr and Lucy Greeves. I found it interesting but a bit on the heavy technical side.

How to write comedy film and sitcom

So this is where it is hard to recommend just one book. First of all, I’ve not read a good book that is specifically about writing comedy film or sitcom. I’ve read some books that made good points here and there but nothing I would say: ‘here you go, that’ll tell you everything.’

For film in particular, I wouldn’t recommend getting a how-to-write-comedy-film book. I think you’d be much better off reading a book about how to write film in general. There are some exceptional books on this topic and nearly all cover comedy as well as show that a lot of the rules/guides apply to all genres anyway. Also a lot of the advice in these books apply to writing sitcom and novels. It’s about getting the story and characters developed, revealed and concluded in some way.

Now, the books that helped me the most in the beginning were definitely read in the wrong order. I started with Robert McKee’s Story. I even went to his seminar and somehow didn’t stay brainwashed. It’s very prescriptive, heavy and long. But it covers everything and you do learn a lot that you can apply and ignore at your will. This should have been the last book I read.

The second book I read was Blake Synder’s Save The Cat, which couldn’t be any more different in user-friendliness. In fact, whilst reading it I felt insulted by its brevity and simplicity, clearly still carrying some McKee demons with me. It really is a blueprint to how you can literally write a script-by-numbers. Fantastic for getting a first draft down. This should have been the first book I read.

Thirdly, I read Christopher Vogler’s The Writers Journey. If I was being a bit over-simplistic about this (and I am) then this would be somewhere between McKee’s and Snyder’s books. It helps you map out a story but is a lot more flexible and in-depth about how you should do it. I particularly like the sections on the different types of character.

And there are a whole load of other books out there that I haven’t read as I’m happy with those three, although I’m also reading and enjoying Yves Lavandier’s Writing Drama. Which is somewhere between Vogler and McKee at the moment.

My biggest tip for reading about comedy film and sitcom, and I can’t stress this enough, is to READ SCRIPTS of comedy films and sitcoms. That’s how you will learn the most. Particularly if you have read some of the aforementioned books and so know the rules/patterns. All the secrets and lessons are in these scripts as they got made. Try and read them everyday, momentum is everything. Make sure you read bad scripts too so you can spot the same mistakes in your own scripts.

Film scripts are usually available online, whilst Amazon sell cheap second-hand script books for The Office, Extras, Royle Family, Porridge, Pheonix Nights, Blackadder and Fawlty Towers. All of which I have. Plus the latest Fawlty Towers box set has commentary from co-writer and star John Cleese who talks about the writing blueprint throughout. A real masterclass.

AND OF COURSE visit the London Comedy Writers Festival for unmissable advise and networking. (£25 discount with code: NUTS).
http://www.londoncomedywritersfestival.com

So there we have it, I hope that was useful. And good luck!

You want proof? You can’t handle the proof!

Yes, that’s me on the show that’s made by film-makers for film-makers. I reckon Chris and Judy will have something red and wearable, (literally) on their minds today. Tune in: http://www.productionoffice.org/

I have no real excuse, I knew about it from late last year. I had three pilots in various states of completion and I chose one early. I started working on it and then I allowed myself to get absorbed by other things instead of working my socks off. Even going into last weekend I had a plan to get it done but a bout of flu and a family visit put paid to that. But it shouldn’t have because I should have done the work earlier. I really let myself done.

However, it’s taught me a BIG lesson. My perception of time and balance of work and writing is way out of sync. I used to be able to do a full day of work and a couple of hours writing in the evening but not any more. Age and the energies of being a new Dad have seen the back of that.

So I’m making big changes. I found I can do a few hours of work in the evenings no problem, so I’m going to swap a couple of hours of writing into my working day. And my punishment is to finish all three pilots before working on any new specs. Two of them have to be done by the end of March.

I will allow myself to work on a radio play that might suit the stage having had a very positive discussion about it. I’ll also try and get something on BBC Radio’s Newsjack to get some credits for 2011.

This failure has hit home more than any other. I don’t want to be seven years down the line and still making the same mistakes and excuses. I don’t even want to be seven days down the line and feeling that. So this post is also a statement of intent.

I believe anyone can change. Just don’t say ‘starting from tomorrow/next week etc.’ Start from NOW. Now I am an organised writer. It’s up to me to keep that title.

Yes, a NEW festival and ALL about COMEDY. I can here the ticks being made now!

So who’s coming? Well I can tell you who will be:

Victoria Pile (‘Green Wing’, ‘Smack The Pony’, ‘Spitting Image’), legendary BBC Commissioner and Producer Jon Plowman (simply too many credits, here’s his IMDB) , Jessica Hynes (co-writer of Spaced) and Doug Naylor (‘Red Dwarf’ creator). Plus more…

Don’t miss out: http://www.londoncomedywritersfestival.com/

It’s the best online live show for film makers on the planet! I’m the podcast producer. That first sentence is in no way influenced by the second!

Watch it tonight: 7:30pm:
http://www.productionoffice.org/