How To Write A Sitcom
In this Videojug clip, Maggie Hamand, the author of the book "Creative Writing for Dummies", describes the various stages involved in how to write a sitcom, including the number of people needed to write the sitcom and the gradual progression of the script.
How to write a sitcom? A sitcom is essentially a play that is based on a certain formula. It usually has a limited number of characters. It's usually set in a domestic situation and is usually very funny.
One of the important things to realize about writing a comedy of any kind is that it's almost impossible for one person to do on their own. You need two people. All the great sitcom writers write in pairs.
One of them writes a dialogue for one character. The other one writes the dialogue for the other character and that way, you get a real exchange between different characters who have a different agenda, who misunderstand one another and do completely different things. When you lay out a sitcom, you lay it out as any another script.
You have the names of the characters and then you have the dialogues. You do put in a few stage instructions. But you don't put in many, because that is something for the actors and directors to bring to the script when they film it.
Keep it simple, because somebody might have a very different idea of how to do it from you and might not be much fun. When you are writing a sitcom, it can be really helpful to think about what is the worst possible outcome of whatever the situations that your characters are in. It can start fairly simple.
But in a sitcom, things tend to escalate more and more out of control and something that starts off being trivial can up being pretty earth-shattering conclusions. That's what makes it funny, the sheer horror of seeing things getting worse and worse and worst of your characters. And that's how to write a sitcom. .