In the past four years, I have rated 300 overnight drafting packages for important networks. As a writer, I know how difficult it is to write a strong comedy package. I have spent a lot of sleepless nights sweating because of topical jokes when I got up between feeling proud, hate myself and fearing that no one would read my work.
I understand that. And as a reader (even though it's one of many), let me assure you: I really read. After years of reading your package, I kept seeing the same mistakes and bad habits over and over again, so I decided to take note of the general problem of package writing. Consider some of them while sitting with the big Red Bull to undergo the new program.
Package Write Package
1. Desktop bits must be done on the desktop. Not on the road. Not at the carnival. Not in Cuba. On the table
2. The desktop bit must be able to be refilled. That does not mean that it can be refilled for the holiday season, or it can only be refilled with government closure. I think Jimmy Fallon's thank you can be refilled.
3. Don't trust members of the audience to make the event fun. You cannot bring someone out of the audience at random and expect them to inject comedy that you cannot think of yourself.
4. A long monologue joke is a detour. Short shortcut! I don't think they should have more than four lines, and even that might be wide.
5. Related: When I opened the presentation, it hurt my soul to see the ugly package. Think about your package like the way participants think about their food on Chopped: part of the sale is a presentation. Do you want to read monologue jokes in the Courier font? Do you want to read a lot of messy text, with random underlines that stand out from the text and some fonts on the same page? Do you want to read sketches written in Word documents? If the package seems careless, it's literally harder to read and frustrates me from the start.
6. Also related: if you want to write for that night, you must learn to format sketches. This does not mean that the Final Project is discarded. There are many script and website writing programs that you can use, such as the WriterDuet, which allows you to work alone or with a remote partner. Watch the YouTube tutorial to learn how to format your script correctly.
7. Grammar problems. When I see a sentence without punctuation, it distracts me from jokes. This simple error made me wonder how much time this writer spent in the package.
8. If Trump will appear in your sketch, it's better to be a very good sketch. Everyone is sketching Trump at the moment (which I got), and most of them describe it as one-dimensional fool (which I also get). But I want to read the funny and smart version of the president. The fact that our president is stupid doesn't mean the sketch should be. I know that this one is easier said than done, and personally I will not try Trump's sketch immediately. ☺
"The fact that our president is stupid doesn't mean the sketch should be like that."
9. Appreciate my time. They pay me per package, not per word you write. I would rather read a powerful monologue joke page than two pages which is a mixture of strong and mediocre jokes. Don't skimp on requirements, but this is not a good place to impress readers with lots of extras. This is also not a good place to "throw spaghetti on the wall and see what stick". Edit, even heal, your material. I want to see the narrow, not a pack of 20 pages with a little genius. A well-edited package makes the reader happy and the best for you in the end.
Shark Tank10. There is an extraordinary tendency to sexually engage political women in sketches. It hurts In a perfect world, I will never be forced to read another sketch of Nancy Pelosi's love life.
11. Anyone who writes a joke "borrowing Netflix passwords" in 2019 must be excluded from comedy. I know this is difficult, but the joke has been made for years in special comedy shows and on Twitter. It is over. Please don't joke about stealing your uncle's password! His job as a comedian is to find new and creative ways to talk about Netflix.
12. This is not a criticism, just an observation: there are many parody sketches of the current Shark Tank. Only FYI. You always want your package to stand out!
Writing package tip: Tank less shark
13. Similarly, there are many desktop fragments of children reading the news. So much, in fact, that I have taken "my children reading the news" from my own desktop bit list. (Yes, I'm guilty!)
14. Ends for the funniest. In many monologue sketches and jokes, writers tend to speak out of punch. This shows a lack of trust in the auction line, and that will happen sometimes, but it is not useful to disburse it.
15. For that, make sure your sketch increases. Many of the sketches I read used the same auction line repeatedly, except that the character changed from whispering to shouting. It doesn't increase. A sketch must have a lot of jokes, not a joke that gets louder. And it always ends with laughter.
16. Play with your monologue joke format. There is a certain rhythm for monologue jokes and it reads like this: "A new study shows FACT, who is crazy because of TWIST". The format is not bad, but if you can slip a joke against the format, it will surprise the reader and make us laugh. That's why "Take my wife, please" is very funny. You think it will be a longer joke, but eventually drill in a place you didn't expect. Usually, this is an incredible madness that makes me laugh out loud, and I always record and recommend packages that really make me LOL.
Sending writing packages makes you stronger
The punctuation package has helped me unexpectedly as a writer, and I hope this list will also help you. Even though topical packages can be frustrating and unsuccessful, remember that each one that completes makes you a stronger and better candidate, even if you don't immediately provide a dream job. Happy writing