Guest post #3: Paula Finn

This is the third and final post from Paula Finn's tips from her book, " Sitcom Writers Talk Shop: Behind the Scenes with Carl Reiner, Norman Lear, and Other Geniuses of TV Comedy". As a reminder her book is available on Amazon and through Rowman.com. If you haven't read her other tips, be sure to check out the previous posts. You'll like them! So without further ado, this is what she wrote: 

5) The rules aren’t for them: these writers trust their instincts.

When I asked Carl Reiner if he uses any rules or formulas for joke construction, he responded, “No, I think the seat of your pants. If you’re a real writer, you don’t worry about the technique of it; you go by the seat of your pants.”

Leonard Stern spoke of the undefinable: “There’s a formularization for many jokes, but it’s very hard to explain. Suddenly you have that humorous insight into something. I’ve discussed this very often with Larry Gelbart, who is probably the most gifted writer and satirist by nature. He’s extremely articulate, and he couldn’t stop the flow of humor. He often said, “I wish I could just write this straight, I’d like to see how I think” — because his writing always had that surprising twist. And he himself was surprised by the direction his thoughts took him. So it’s always been hard to define that. . . that odd perception or perspective of life . . . the capturing of a moment of absurdity. I never could define it; I just knew it existed.”

Ken Estin agrees: “I’ve read rules but I never worked that way, and I’ve never known anyone who did. We all just go by what our gut tells us. I don’t think you can do it by mechanical means. You have to do it by instinct, and experience, and intuition — and all those kinds of vague feelings you have as a human being. When I write a scene, I have to put myself in the situation. And although I won’t laugh out loud, I can feel the difference between something that’s funny and something that doesn’t sound quite right. The formulas don’t really work because comedy is based so much on rhythms. Sometimes just the right word is funny, and you’re not sure why.”

And Arnie Kogen surprised with this comment: “The set-up comes before the punch line. That's the rule I use. And you can take that to the bank…whatever banks are left!” 

So there you have it! Some great comedy people with great ideas. Do you follow your gut instinct? Does it work for you? I think I'm more of a rule follower but I can say sometimes I follow my gut too. So maybe I do a little of each. 

Well, hope you've enjoyed learning Paula's tips. And if you have, be sure to buy her book and let her know. 

Sample scripts - always a good time to write more

I heard from a female actress/producer this weekend who needs a writer to help her and some friends who look like they'll be getting funding for a sitcom they're writing. From what I can tell they're more like comicedians and need a sitcom writer who gets the ins and outs of writing an entire sitcom, along with a series. They wanted to see samples that represented their idea to find the right writer.

As I was gathering samples to show I could write what would fit their show, I realized, I actually had a lot of samples with female comedy leads. Who knew! It's funny when you write piece after piece that eventually you actually have a lot of things that fit in the same category. I think because I wrote so many guy pieces at times, I didn't realize how many female pieces I really had.

So I sent them along to her and her partners and now I wait. But it just goes to show, keep writing. Because you never know when those things you're writing can actually turn into a gig!

Whenever I see a contest that asks for a certain sample piece, if I don't have it, I try to write it, especially if it's for a short film. It doesn't take much time to write something that if it doesn't win you the contest, could at least be a sample piece later on. So, compile those samples! You never know when you'll use them next.

And maybe, just maybe, you'll get hired from them. Fingers crossed!

Well that was a good meeting

So I've been creating a show with another writer I've been recently working with. I met him through my neighbor who was a director on a family sitcom. My friend said hey, you need to partner up with this guy who works as hard as you to become a full-time writer, see if you guys want to work together! So we met, we clicked, and thought, okay let's try to write together! We wrote, liked each others' style of writing, had fun working together - this team was working! We had different styles of approaching the writing, but like any good partnership, you allow the other writer to do what they need to, if in the end, you wind up with something good. And, we thought we just might have that!

So today, the director and writer met with their executive producer friend to get notes back from him. (I couldn't make it as I was on another gig). We had already heard that the exec prod. really liked it too! So we knew it would be at least a fun lunch, not painful with, "This sucks!" kind of lunch. So they got notes and they were all very positive and helpful. And now looks like he might be interested in partnering with us! So, he's going to let us know for sure in a week! We're all overjoyed. This is someone with lots of connections and really could make this happen. We're going to tackle his notes in this week and plan to have it rewritten to him before he makes his decision. We're thinking maybe it will help him say yes to us! We sure hope so!

On a side note, the reason this is even happening is the director is my neighbor I've known for years, just as a nice neighbor. He hasn't always been a director but I knew he produced different shows, not sitcoms but more event shows. We've always chatted about what we were working on, but really never thought I'd be pitching a show with him! Till one day he suggested I team up with him and the other writer. And here we are! So it just goes to show, you never know where a friendship will lead to. So make friends in LA! It can't hurt.