There are several formats to writing skits and sketches. You don’t have to have a professional format, but you should have an easy to follow one.  The top of your script should have the title of your skit. Below you may want to write out the names of the characters involved, and even the name of the actor playing that character. To write dialogue, center and capitalize the character’s name who is speaking. On the next line, left indent the cursor and type the dialogue. Actions can be written on a separate line in parentheses. When writing your first draft, don’t concern yourself too much with getting everything perfect. You just want to get the general script down. You will edit it later. Whether you’re filming or performing your skit live, your skit will most likely be under five minutes in length. This means that you have to get into the meat of your skit quickly. Don’t spend time setting up characters and backgrounds. Simply start at a point which is funny or where the action is happening.  If you’re writing the coffee shop skit, try beginning your skit with the barista asking the person at the front of the line what this person wants to order. The person who orders the drink should describe a complicated drink but not something that is so crazy that you can’t begin to build on it as the next few people order drinks. At the top of your skit, your goal is to give your audience enough information as quickly as possible. The barista can say something like “Welcome to Good Coffee, what can I get for you?” With one line you have established where you are, who the characters are, and what is happening. In a skit, every line is important. You don’t have time to waste developing elements that don’t matter in this scenario. Avoid discussion of things in the past/future, people who aren’t present, and objects that aren’t relevant to the skit. Keep your script to less than five pages. If you go over five pages in your first draft, that’s fine, you can cut parts out. On average, one page of a script equals one minute of performance time. You also want to keep your skit short because you can lose the humor if you drag it on for too long. A fast-paced script that ends quickly is easier to stay engaged in than a skit that stops being funny because the joke has run its course. The rule of three means that you repeat something three times, or include three similar elements into your skit.  It’s like having your beginning, middle, and end, you have three components making up a whole. In our coffee shop skit, you can have three different patrons buying coffee. Each patron has a more ridiculous order than the last. When writing your script you want to start at a place that you can build on. A skit should have a rising action before hitting the climax and then ending.  Using our coffee shop example, the first person will order a complicated drink. You can have the barista and customer talk for a few lines. Maybe the barista tries repeating the drink back to the customer and gets part of it wrong. The customer then has to correct the barista. The second customer has a crazier drink order. The barista tries repeating the drink order back and the customer decides to change the order. The barista then tries repeating this order back or has to ask what one of the ingredients is because it’s not common in a coffee drink. The customer complains and moves on. Finally, the third customer comes up. The barista is already upset and confused by the first two orders. The third order is by far the most outlandish order. The barista tells the customer that the coffee shop doesn’t even carry half of the ingredients and that the remaining options are black coffee, or coffee with cream. The customer throws a fit and calls for the manager. Now the barista has finally snapped and acts in a way that is just as crazy as the customers only with real life implications. This could mean the barista robs the coffee shop, throws hot coffee in the customer’s faces, or gets fired. After you write your first draft, read it out loud to your group, assigning each person a character. Then get feedback and discuss what everyone thought did, and did not work.  Show your sketch to someone whose opinion you trust. It’s good to get feedback from someone who will give you an honest opinion. Take notes on what people thought was funny, and not funny. It’s a good idea to understand what doesn’t work in a skit. Though you may like a line or joke, it may not work in your skit. Cutting out what doesn’t work is a great way to trim the fat in a skit. You want your skit to be lean and quick. Consider removing lines of dialogue that don’t directly contribute to forwarding your skit.
اكتب النسخة الأولية من الاسكتش. لا تُطل المقدمات. حافظ على الاسكتش مُختصرًا. اتبع القاعدة الثلاثية في الكتابة. ابنِ إيقاعًا للأحداث. استمر في العمل على تعديل نسخة الاسكتش الأولية.