Simon Dunn

Scriptwriter and Comedian

About Writing: Line?

This is a quick, but very effective tip I think.

Sometimes you’re writing along, and it’s all flowing very nicely indeed. Then you get to a line which you just can’t compose. So you sit there, staring at the annoying blinking cursor, and soon your flow dissipates and you’re stuck. Much coffee is imbibed, and pretty soon bad TV hollers its alluring siren call.

The think, it burns
The think, it burns

I’ve found that the best way to stop this is to not write the offending line. The moment it feels like I’m about to get bogged down, I type JOKE, or LINE, or WORD, and carry on. By the time I come back to it, my brain has often resolved the quandary; and I’ve written three extra pages in the meantime.

<

>

Buy My Books
  • Proctology: A Bottom Examination
    Proctology: A Bottom Examination

    For a long time now I’ve been wanting to write an old-fashioned programme guide. One you can hold in your hand and thumb through, make notes on, spill coffee on. So I did. Proctology: A Bottom Examination is my deep dive into Bottom, the hit BBC Two sitcom starring Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson. That’s…

Follow
Most Read
  • Re-Casting Keanu
    Re-Casting Keanu

    Keanu Reeves is 56. That makes him eight years older than Clive Dunn was when he was first cast in Dad’s Army. But don’t panic, Clive Dunn was always playing much older characters than his own age. Keanu Reeves is 56. That makes him seven years older than Stephanie Cole was when she was first…

From The Archive

Sign up for my FREE newsletter