Advice — gene perret

Whenever I do interviews or seminars concerning my book, The New Comedy Writing Step by Step, interviewers and writers invariably ask "What's the first thing a person should do if he or she wants to become a comedy writer?" My response is a two-parter and although it's aimed primarily at comedy writing, it applies equally as well to all writing. It might seem that the first part of the response is so obvious that it shouldn't even have to be said. It is: If you want to become a comedy writer, start writing comedy. Yet, it does have to be...

Archangel Shecky makes an arrogant pronouncement that he can teach infallible, irrefutable, unassailable, one-size-fits-all formula for success. "Who is this blowhard who makes such an astounding claim?" you ask. I'm glad you did. He's the lead character in my most recent book, and instructional novel called Breakfasts with Archangel Shecky. He claims to be an angel, but if he is, he's different than most angels you and I have ever known (not that we've known that many). He likes his scotch and since the story takes place in Philadelphia, he likes all the foods that Philly is famous for -...

In a previous column, I noted that the magic bullet for writing success is to Be Good At What You Do. If you want to be a writer, learn to write. That earlier article practically guaranteed that if you became a good writer and continued to become a better writer that the profession could not ignore you. The question you might be asking, then, is 'How do I become a good writer?' It sounds simple on paper, but in reality, is it? How do we learn? How do we improve? How do we learn to do what we don't know...