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Hello! I’m Rosie and I work for as a content producer and presenter, I write comedy in my spare time and have just finished a 4-part sitcom script. This was my first year at the TV Writers' Festival, which I attended with two hats on - as 主播大秀 staff and as a blogger for , who asked me to sum up the day.

Now in its eighth year, the festival brings together working TV writers. Up until this year, the festival had focused on drama, but this year, for the first time, comedy writing was added into the mix.

When I arrived at the Circus Arts Centre in Stratford, the venue was already buzzing with writers swapping Twitter details, sharing their latest projects and catching up. There was a real sense of community from the moment I arrived with many people looking to start up a conversation.

The morning kicked off in a first day of school fashion with an introduction from the Head of 主播大秀 Writersroom, Anne Edyvean. The room was full of bright-eyed writers eager to learn, scribbling down snippets of advice in stylish notebooks (it would be tough to pick a winner for best notebook, but I was impressed by a rather rogue pad that simply stated ‘I am fun’).

After the introductions, and a plea for all writers to not pitch their telly ideas in the queue for sarnies at lunchtime, the first session got underway: writer (Line of Duty, Lady Chatterley’s lover, ) in conversation with ). There was one overarching theme to this conversation in that the 主播大秀 is looking for new voices and stories from different communities that promote a more local approach to commissioning. Moore explained that there was a push to find stories from different parts of the UK and for the 主播大秀 to have the courage to take a chance on scripts that other broadcasters might not have the autonomy to develop. She added that the 主播大秀 was proud to take a story and see where it fits in terms of format, rather than looking to fill a gap in the schedule.

Women in writing was the hot topic for the audience Q&A with Mercurio and Moore with many keen to understand what broadcasters were doing to encourage and support women in scripting (in particular comedy). As mentioned throughout the day, accessibility and visibility of commissioning teams has made it easier for writers of all genders, backgrounds and ethnicities to reach out to production companies, but none of the speakers denied that there was certainly more work to be done in this area in the next 12 months.

The second session I attended was 'Meet the comedy commissioners’ with (主播大秀), (ITV), (Sky) and (C4) Chaired by (Bluestone 42, Miranda, Not Going Out). I’ve sat in on a few comedy commissioning panels before, but this was the most useful and honest yet. Cary did a great job at getting to the bottom of what the commissioners were looking for (audience poised with their notebooks). The takeaway: broadcasters are looking for different stories from underrepresented parts of the UK, daring plotlines and gritty and real truths.

In terms of formats, the panel collectively agreed that sketch and sitcom are hard nuts to crack, with studio sitcoms an almost unpitchable script relying heavily on the availability of talent to carry the show and higher budgets, something that at this point in time just isn’t there for broadcasters.

The commissioners commented on the need for larger than life characters. Allen said: “Funny happens when characters say or do things that you haven’t heard before, so perhaps we need to get highly creative and go a bit wild with it?”. Schuster requested that writers do their research to make sure they are not pitching something that is already out there and to watch as much television as possible to get a real handle on new plot lines and character types.

Next up was 'Meet the Drama Commissioners' - (主播大秀), (ITV), (Sky) with (主播大秀 Studios) as chair. Stokes kept the discussion concise and timely with takeaways from the panel being drama scripts which contained grounded and authentic characters combined with real stories that say something about the world we live in now. Wenger asked writers to consider exploring opportunities to branch out from the traditional methods of script commissioning. He noted that the 主播大秀 were moving towards a model which now considers filmmakers, directors and novelists among the pool of writing talent and that it pays to record or film your script, making it into a tangible product. Writers are now not only becoming writer-performers, but writer-producers and when different avenues are explored it opens up the opportunities for development.

After lunch it was back to a session I had been looking forward to all morning - sitcoms. Having recently completed my own sitcom script, I was intrigued to hear what the panel thought about the future of British situation comedy. As touched on by other panels, this format seems to be one that resonates with many people due to the nostalgia and warmth of the studio format. For many, this format was their first exposure to the comedy genre. But what makes a sitcom so successful? Funnily enough, despite the format’s name it’s not so much about the setting, but the characters themselves. The panel suggested three tips for writing a successful sitcom script: stuffed full of jokes, the characters are believable and the script has genuine and moving real moments. The panel took an example from Absolutely Fabulous (Jennifer Saunders) - Audiences resonated with this script not only because Edina Monsoon was a high-class clown but a flawed character.

Rounding off the day was a keynote from the legendary (Doctor Who, Sherlock, ). Moffat, who spent the session comfortably reclined in his chair, opened by advising all writers to marry another telly person to make the whole process of building your career easier! (He is married to of Hartswood Films) After a round of laughter from the room, he moved swiftly on to the real advice. There is a real need for writers to branch out, learn new skills and be there in all aspects of a production. He noted that a story can be made, or destroyed, in an edit so it’s important to have creative input along the way. Moffat also highlighted that in a world where content is constantly pushed out, it’s now more important than ever for a writer to take on the role of a producer to lift your script from the page. He also suggested for everyone in the room to buy a hammock, as apparently, they make for a great place to write.

After buying my hammock online, I went straight to the networking drinks to mingle with the fabulous and talented writers I crossed paths with earlier in the day. What I learned from my day at the TV Writers Festival is that you need to be tenacious, believe in your work and go for it, but also ground that with an industry understanding. Do your research before you submit a script and gen up on the television landscape. Don’t close yourself off to other opportunities for scripting such as online and radio and believe, invest in and live your idea. Passion gets you a long way but hard work even further.

The full line-up of sessions for the 2018 TV Writers' Festival:

• Charlotte Moore in conversation with Jed Mercurio
• Meet the Comedy Commissioners (Jon Mountague, Fiona McDermott, Saskia Schuster, Shane Allen, James Cary (chair))
• Today Daytime, Tomorrow the World (Tahsin Guner, Jude Tindall, Dominique Moloney, Stephen Keyworth, Ceri Meyrick (chair))
• Stories from the Nations (Gaynor Holmes, Stephen Wright, Brian Minchin, Matthew Hall, Helen Perry (chair))
• Sketch Comedy: What have we learnt? (Steve Dawson, Cariad Lloyd, Gemma Arrowsmith, Ben Caudell, Gareth Edwards (chair))
• Meet the Commissioners - Drama (Piers Wenger (主播大秀), Anna Hargreaves (Sky), Victoria Fea (ITV), Richard Stokes (主播大秀 Studios) chair)
• Film: So you want to write a feature? (Rose Garnett (Director of 主播大秀 Films)
• Writing, Writers and the possibilities for Content Creators in the International Industry (Katrina Wood (MediaXchange))
• Comedy Drama: What is it? Who is it for? Where does it sit?! (Sian Harries, Will Smith, Chris Sussman, James Cary, Paul McKenzie (chair))
• Children’s TV: “Be Yourself” (Connal Orton, Holly Phillips, Emma Reeves, Anna Davies (chair))
• Finding your voice: Writing the show you want to write! (Tim Renkow, Nicole Taylor, Michael Orton-Toliver, Peter Foott, Amanda Farley (chair))
• Sitcom (Barunka O'Shaughnessy, Dave Cohen, Andrew Dawson, Peter Foott, Claire McCarthy (chair))
• Continuing Drama (Dana Fainaru, Jeff Povey, Becky Prestwich, Simon Harper, Oliver Kent, Ros Ward (chair))
• How to pitch your show! (Simon J Ashford)
• Keynote with Steven Moffat (Justine Potter, chair)

This article originally appeared on the