Reddit mentions of Elephant Bucks: An Insider's Guide to Writing for TV Sitcoms

So what do you think happens every episode?

Procedurals have a murder.

Situational Comedies have a situation that effects the characters.

Is this like Hannah Montana, where being an Instagram prophet complicates his life of being a normal teen?

I know people hate books on this sub, but Elephant Bucks by Sheldon Bull is invaluable. And certainly worth the 20 bucks as an investment in becoming better.

If you really can't spring for the 13.99 kindle version, I'd also reccomend you go through the archive of Jane Espenson's Spec Blog. You should do that in any case! But it doesn't have as much clarity as Elephant Bucks.

It's a rather awkward subject. I've been trying to write comedy for a while now and have read a lot of books on the anatomy of humour. It would appear that everyone who has a book out on how to write jokes believes it a teachable skill. Everyone who doesn't have a book out believes the person simply has to be born with the natural ability of knowing what is funny and then honing this talent over years of exposure to other funny people

I'm between theories.

I know it's the kind of advice that is mooted about repetitively around here but you simply have to adsorb and study as much comedy as possible. I don't think that is even remotely negotiable. Even those who are born funny study for years on end before they achieve any form of success.

For writing, this book would be a good start in terms of understanding the anatomy of a joke. It breaks down just how late night TV hosts put together their monologue jokes. It's a solid introduction to learning the beats of a joke as well as knowing how to pull comedy from specific subjects.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0615953891/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Another recommendation I would make is Elephant Bucks. It's an insight in to how sit-coms are pieced together. It breaks down what makes for funny interactions between characters while driving story:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elephant-Bucks-Insiders-Writing-Sitcoms-ebook/dp/B00696DDL2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1526896144&sr=1-1&keywords=elephant+bucks

Unfortunately, I've never read anything that details the structure of a comedy novel so if anyone has any suggestions that would be great.

The good news is that comedy is universal. Any medium, be it novel, movie, tv show, theatre production, etc, will teach you something about being funny. You have to consume them all and truly study what each writer is doing in order to make the viewer/reader/etc., laugh. There is a science to it. But understanding that science and then replicating it in a completely new and original manner is something else.

Good luck. It's obscenely difficult.