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Introduction | |
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Writing Premise-Driven Comedy | |
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The Game Plan | |
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Career Paths | |
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Getting Started | |
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First, Some Theory | |
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The Mechanics of Laughter | |
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Characteristics of Comedy | |
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The importance of Tension | |
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Putting Theory into Practice | |
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Seamless Humor | |
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Consistency | |
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Comedy Output | |
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The Traditional Approach to Sitcom Writing | |
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Level One: Premise-Driven Comedy | |
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A Different Approach: Comedy in the Story Premise | |
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Predicaments | |
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Character Mix | |
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Style of Comedy | |
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Casting | |
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Level Two: Comedy in Sequences and Scenes | |
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Compound Story Predicaments | |
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Stir Up the Character Mix | |
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Mix and Match | |
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Three Things to Remember | |
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Level Three: Comedy in Dialogue and Actions | |
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Building Jokes | |
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Setups | |
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Punchlines | |
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Funny Actions | |
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Miscellaneous Comedy Tips | |
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About All of These Labels | |
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Finding Your Comedic Voice | |
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Writing a Professional Script | |
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Doing Your Homework | |
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Which Series to Pick | |
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Researching the Series | |
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Studying the Premise | |
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Developing an Episode Premise | |
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Advice from Our Producers | |
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Dreaming Up Stories | |
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Picking Your Best Ideas | |
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Turning Ideas into Springboards | |
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High-Concept Stories | |
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Developing the Story | |
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Creating a Beat Sheet | |
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Story Structure: Linear vs. Thread | |
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Story Threads vs. Subplots vs. Ensemble Stories | |
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Stories Without Endings | |
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Serialized Stories (Story Arcs) | |
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Dramatic Structure vs. Broadcast Format | |
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Story Tips | |
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Comedy's Impact on Story | |
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How the Production Process Affects Your Script | |
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Nail the Story, the Rest is Easy | |
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Creating Funny Characters | |
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Remember the Mix | |
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Character Arcs | |
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Character Types | |
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Visiting Characters | |
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Writing An Outline | |
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Writing to Sell, Not Educate | |
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Building an Outline | |
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How it Should Look on Paper | |
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Stylistic Tips | |
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Rewriting an Outline | |
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Advice from Our Producers | |
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Writing the First Draft | |
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Just Do It | |
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Writing Scenes | |
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Harvesting Comedy Built into the Premise and Scene Levels | |
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Professional Script Format | |
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Writing Scene Descriptions | |
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Writing Dialogue | |
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Miscellaneous Tips | |
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Planting Exposition | |
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Advice from Our Producers | |
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When That First Draft is Finished | |
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Rewriting the Script | |
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When Rewriting by Yourself | |
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Advice from Our Producers | |
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Once the Script is Finished | |
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A Battle Plan for Launching Your Career | |
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Step One: Developing a Strategy | |
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The Job Market | |
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How the Writer Fits In | |
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A Writer's Workweek | |
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Writing is a Business | |
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Ageism | |
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Putting Food on the Table | |
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Must You Live in Los Angeles? | |
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Step Two: Landing an Agent and/Or Manager | |
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Developing a Hit List | |
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Before Picking Up the Phone | |
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Prepare a Phone Spiel | |
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Making the Call | |
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Submitting Your Material | |
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Testing the Waters if You Don't Live in LA. | |
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Following Up on Submissions | |
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If you Fail to Land Representation | |
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You Get an Offer! | |
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Signing the Contract | |
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Once You've Signed with Someone | |
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Step Three: Getting Your Work Out There | |
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Scouting the Market | |
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Hiring Windows | |
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Working with Your Rep | |
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Which Scripts to Send | |
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Being Picky about Jobs | |
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Cold-Calling Producers | |
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Other Strategies for Reaching Producers | |
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Keep Writing | |
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Writing in Teams | |
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Rejection | |
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Dealing with Writer's Block | |
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Protecting Your Work | |
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Who Keeps the Copyright? | |
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The Writers Guild of America | |
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Step Four: Pitching for Assignments | |
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The Call Comes In! | |
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Preparing for the Pitch | |
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The Pitch | |
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Advice from Our Producers | |
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What Might Happen | |
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The Contract | |
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The Money | |
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Step Five: Landing a Staff Job | |
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Becoming a Staff Writer | |
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Office Politics | |
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Roundtable Writing | |
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Advice from Our Producers | |
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Staff Job Contracts and Compensation | |
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Step Six: Climbing the Ladder | |
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The Care and Feeding of Reps | |
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Taking a Development Deal | |
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Creating A New Series | |
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Creating a Series Format | |
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Writing a Pilot Script | |
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Selling a Pilot | |
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Going in to Pitch | |
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Producing a Homegrown Pilot | |
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The Money | |
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Time to Wrap Up! | |
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Script Format Guidelines | |
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Additional Resources | |
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Endnotes | |
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Index | |