Get in the Room

And why we should be sick of screens

Sick of screens? If you’re not, you should be.

Writers need screens to write. The days of typewriters are over. There were still a few scattered about BBC Radio Light Entertainment when I started out in the very late 1990s. There were a few desktop computers. Laptops became affordable. Then tablets and phones and everything is on a screen now. Everything is a screen now.

Screens are brilliant and getting better. As is the internet, which is getting faster. And that’s the problem. You can have everything on your screen and convince yourself that you don’t need anything else. If you’re learning to write situation comedy, or anything, you can assume that you can learn everything on your own. On a screen.

Then came the pandemic and we all realised that we could lounge around in our pyjamas and get work done at home.

And you know what? That’s not terrible. I love lounging around at home. In fact, I’m lounging around my lounge right now typing this. I’m pleased to say I’m not in pyjamas but fully dressed, having dropped off my kids at school and gone for a walk. (That’s partly why I’m currently writing a book called Field Notes from a Sitcom Writer. I love to get away from screens and go out for a walk in fields. I’ll tell you more about it in a few weeks.)

All these screens kids us into believe we can do everything from home. That could include learning how to write a sitcom. But that ain’t so.

You can try and gather all the information online. But how do you know you’re gathering the right information? The algorithm is showing you what you like and what you tend to watch. It will decide what to show you when you search. But does it show you what you need?

I’m very fortunate that I started out in my career before the internet was a thing. I had to figure it out in person, in front of people. I had to literally move to London in order to become a comedy writer, because that’s where comedy writing happened. I spent a month in Edinburgh putting a show on at the Fringe, because that’s where you got noticed. (In fact, I’ve spent at least six months of my life in Edinburgh over the years!)

As a result, I met people in person that I would never have met otherwise. These people could help me in ways that I hadn’t expected and didn’t know I needed help with.

These moves to London and Edinburgh helped me get my first serious break with a sitcom called Think the Unthinkable for BBC Radio 4. And I worked with a producer and was mentored by Paul Mayhew Archew. He taught me what I didn’t know I needed to know. I learned loads, including how to work with people in a room.

If you are preparing yourself to work in situation comedy, you’re going to need to learn how to work in a room with other writers and producers, aren’t you? This is something for which you need to prepare.

Cancellations

The real evidence of this came yesterday. I was sitting in a railway station, on my way to London for a meeting. Then all of the trains were cancelled. All of them. What was I going to do? Contact him and offer some dates on Zoom?

I got in my car and drove, wasting hours of writing time since you cannot drive and write at the same time. It was probably a five-hour round trip. And it was worth it. We had a great warm, friendly meeting that was far more effective than a Zoom call wedged in between cooking lunch and picking the kids up from school.

That’s what happens when you take the plunge and leave the house rather than stay home. Maybe you’re scared. Maybe you just can’t bear the hassle. Maybe you think you’ve got nothing to learn. Maybe you think you can do it all on your own.

You can’t. You need to learn from people. In person. What you need to learn, I don’t know. But I do know you don’t know either.

That’s why I urge you to go out of your way to come to the Situation Room workshop Building a Sitcom: From Premise to Pilot at MediaCityUK in Manchester on 11^th April 26. We’ll be plotting stories, breaking them down, turning them into a pilot episode and learning from each other. You’ll never learn to read the room if you’re never in the room. That’s why you need to get in the room.

Building a Sitcom: From Premise to Pilot on Saturday 11th April from 10.30-5pm at MediaCityUK in Manchester is now open for booking.

Places are LIMITED to 12. THREE PLACE have GONE. There are NINE places left. So book now if you want to make sure of getting a seat around the writers’ room table. More information HERE.