Making the Most of the Situation

And doing what Cal says

My new live stand-up theology show, God, the Bible and Everything (in 60 mins) is launching this week in West London. In fact, by the time you read this, the first show will have been done. The period of preparation is over. The season of performance begins. I’ll be visiting places all over the UK in 2025. You can find them here - and new dates are being added all the time.

But there is still a lot to do. I’ve promised myself I’m going to keep writing new material for the show all year, adding new bits and trying new routines. I’m also writing a new book, possibly entitled A Game of Snakes and Ladders, to go with the show. That way, I’ll have something I’ve published myself to sell at the end of the show, rather than books published by SPCK (which I have to purchase for £5 a time, plus book advances are abysmal.).

Making the Most of It

One thing I’ve learned is that it’s really important to maximise your advantages. Ask what you do well, and then figure out how you can make the most of it to make other things possible. I can be funny in person, and I know the Bible really well. I can be funny in church in a way that very few others can. I should make the most of that.

According to Cal

I also need to heed the advice of Cal Newport who is really good at helping people who do knowledge work. I recommend his latest book, Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout.

He says “Do fewer things. Work at a natural pace. Obsess over quality.”

Yup.

So I want to give all of the above my slightly-less-divided attention so I can make it as good as it can be. I should do that at a natural pace. Which means doing fewer things.

This means I won’t be posting here until after Easter. I’m pressing pause.

Part of me wonders if I want to keep dispensing advice on how to write sitcoms. But most of me realises that I adore sitcoms, and find the process of writing them endlessly fascinating. And I love writing about writing. So the odds are that I’ll be back on here before too long with some fresh thinking and, frankly, repackaged old thinking.

Business As Usual

However, if you want me to read your script and give you notes, I can still do that:

If you’d like to do my Rolls-Royce course on how to write a sitcom, that is still available:

If you’d like a shorter course that’s designed to supercharge you, your script and your process, that’s also still available:

You could also send me an email by ‘replying to’ this newletter, if you receive it as an email. Ask me a question! I’ll probably answer. Or tell you where you can find one. You can also get in touch via my website:

Until I post again, go well. You could come and see God, the Bible and Everything (in 60 minutes). You may need to venture into a church to do that, but it’s okay. Church folk don’t bite. They just make terrible coffee (which is almost as bad). Do come and say hello in the interval or afterwards.