14 May 2024
Posted by Harley Truslove
Comedy Writing
Today we were looking at comedy writing. Holly read us an extract of Sayaka Murata’s book Life Ceremony: a story called “A First Rate Material” wherein characters debate the merits of using human in clothing. Our writers were asked to jot down one or two phrases which stood out and write around them. Pieces ranged from diary entries to the absurdities of afternoon tea.
Holly then got our writers list all of the boring things they’ve done this week, then challenged them to think about anything funny or weird stemming from those tasks, going into as much detail as possible. When our writers had completed this, Holly challenged them to talk through their piece through to themselves and then write it down as a monologue, not to worry if it wasn’t funny, but maybe try and up the stakes for the situation. She showed everyone a short clip from James Acaster talking about oven gloves to explain.
Ella wrote about unhinged bus drivers; Eve talked about her old oven and her house burning down; Megan talked about turning your house into a maths problem.
Holly then got us to play a game called “it’s not about that”, where the writers would read their piece to each other in pairs, and the other would interject with “but it’s not about that, is it?” and encourage the speaker to change subject and dive deeper into what the issue might be - for example, discussing rightmove.com being a masterclass in advertising you’re a murderer became it’s actually about the fact that I’m afraid of change, became it’s actually about the passage of time.
When that game was done, our writers rewrote their first monologues but with the subtext of what they uncovered in their game fuelling it, giving them the bones for a stand-up piece.
Archive
Young Writers - Week 10 (The Art of Writing) – Final Week Showcase
Junior Writers - Week 10 (The Art of Writing) – Final Week Showcase
Young Writers – Week 9 (The Art of Writing) – Choose Your Own Adventure
Junior Writers – Week 9 (The Art of Writing) – Choose Your Own Adventure
Young Writers – Week 8 (The Art of Writing) – Sequel Stories
Junior Writers – Week 8 (The Art of Writing) – Sequel Stories
Young Writers – Week 7 (The Art of Writing) – Picture Prompts
Junior Writers – Week 7 (The Art of Writing) – Picture Prompts
Young Writers - Week 6 (The Art of Writing) - Script-writing & Dialogue
Junior Writers - Week 6 (The Art of Writing) - Script-writing & Dialogue
Junior Writers – Week 5 (The Art of Writing) – Poetry
Young Writers - Week 5 (The Art of Writing) - Poetry Potions
Edward The Martyr - A Competition!
Mood Boards and Postcards from Space
Young Writers - Week 3 (The Art of Writing) - PLOT
Junior Writers - Week 3 (The Art of Writing) - PLOT
Moomin Stories and Hollywood Pitches
Young Writers - Week 2 (The Art of Writing) - Genre & Setting
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Prompts, Dialogues, and Cliché
Story Structure Part One: Exposition and Beyond...
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Young Writers - week 4 - Nature Writing [animals & wildlife]
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Young Writers - week 3 - Nature Writing [trees/plants/flowers]
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Young Writers - week 2 - 'fractured fairy tales'
Junior Writers - week 2 - 'fractured fairy tales'
Young Writers - week 1 - 'from deep inside a forest'
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WORDCUP - Hounsdown Session #6
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Stories From Our Streets at the Abbeyfield Wessex Society Reminiscence Session at Poole Library
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Character Building & Murder Mysteries
Going inside – from a spark to a story
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Maybe I Can Be Invisible After All... Monologues
Creative Writing: Fun Facts, Diverse Voices and Different Perspectives
Writing Competition - Stories From Our Streets
Stories From Our Streets Community Activity Pack
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Found Cities, Lost Objects: Women in the City Curated by Lubaina Himid CBE
Ekphrastic Jukebox - Writing to Music
ArtfulScribe LitFest Community Showcase 2023
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Writing to The Sorcerer's Apprentice
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Stories From Our Streets Launch!
Interview: In Conversation with Dr Victoria Leslie
The Missing Farmer/ Blackout Poetry & DADA
Exploring this wonderful World
Using props to create characters/ working as a writing room
Stories of the Dust and Character Questions
Storytelling and Escalation or Rising Action
Junior Writers Club Acrostic Poem
Notes on Intention for MAST Collective - Year 3 - Facilitation Focus
Earthquakes & Dominoes - MAST Collective Blog #4
SUPER MARIO AND POP CULTURE POEMS
Receptionists & Inky Voids - MAST Collective Blog #3
Saying No and saying YES on National Poetry Day!
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House Warming Party (The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known) - MAST Collective Blog #2
Intern Blog 5 - The Publishing Process
POEMS TO SOLVE THE CLIMATE CRISIS
On The Streets With Theresa Lola
Intern Blog 4 - The Internship Journey
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Intern Blog 1 - Finding a Voice
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