Mike Schur is one of the most prolific comedy writers of his time. His stacked resume includes gigs writing for Saturday Night Live, Parks & Recreations, and The Office. In 2016 he switched from staff member to showrunner on CBS’s The Good Place — an audacious sitcom that blends sketch comedy and moral philosophy.
Recently, Mike sat down on the Tim Ferriss Podcast to discuss his career and new book How to be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question. The interview includes Schur’s thoughts on comedy, philosophy, and lessons learned as a writer.
Here are 5 bits of writing wisdom from the interview.
Show Tough Love To Your Work
Fresh out of college, Michael Schur landed a dream job writing for Saturday Night Live. While exciting for the young writer, he describes the experience as a “gauntlet of fire”.
The show’s strict weekly format forced the staff to hatch sketch ideas and ruthlessly pare them down for the camera.
“You generally have about four minutes to do whatever you’re going to do. You’re talking about four minutes, and so you write a sketch and it’s five minutes and 38 seconds long, and you go in with a red pen and you just make giant X’s on your script.”
Sound harsh?
Maybe so. But Schur claims the success and failure of a sketch were based on how tough writers were on the piece.
The joke didn’t land? Cut it! An idea fell flat? Scratch it out. Your sketch didn’t get a laugh? Scrap the whole thing.
This tough-love approach allowed the SNL staff to pump out lean, smart sketches that entertain the audience.
“Being tough on your work” is not an excuse to belittle yourself. Writing is hard enough as it is. But if you have the humility to scrutinize what you write, and edit when necessary, your work as a whole will improve.
Characters Come First
After seven years at SNL, Mike worked in the writing rooms of some of the most popular comedy shows of the 21st century: The Office, Parks & Recreations, Brooklyn 99.
Schur says the switch to long-form television, poses a unique challenge for sketch comedy writers:
“The thing that SNL can teach you is what’s funny, funny ways of observing the world or ways to write jokes. But long-form TV writing is about establishing characters and slow-cooking them”
People tune into series for laughs, but they stick around for the characters. Shows like The Office ran for over 200 episodes because audiences fell in love with Steve Carell’s Michael Scott and Rain Wilson’s Dwight Schrute.
This is no coincidence. From the beginning of the show’s nine-year run, The Office writing team made establishing and building character a priority. The staff believed every detail should reveal something new about a character.
Schur says this philosophy led to spirited debates over things as small as what someone received for a Christmas present.
All this underscores the point: character comes first.
Audiences can forgive slow pacing, minor plot holes, or other slip-ups if you give them characters to care about.
Follow Your Fascinations
On coming up with fresh story ideas, Mike shares this:
“And of the many, many rules of creation or of writing that have been taught to me over the years by a number of very smart people, the best and most trustworthy is write what’s interesting.”
Sounds obvious, right?
Perhaps. But the fact that creative minds like Schur, Pixar’s Pete Docter, and Simpson’s legend John Swartzwelder offer similar advice shows it’s “obvious” advice that is often ignored.
This happens because we fall into two traps when picking an idea.
Playing it safe — selecting a “safe” idea we assume will play well with our audience.
Hunting for perfection — searching for the elusive “perfect idea”.
Both traps tempt writers with a promise of certainty. The first is that there is an idea so tried and true it will work in all scenarios. The latter, that an idea so impeccable exists, it simply cannot fail.
In between the two extremes is an interesting idea. An interesting idea is one that compels you to write. It’s the one you stay up at night thinking about. It’s so fascinating it energizes you through the highs and lows of the writing process.
Remember, what we see as a good or “successful” idea is one someone took the time to will to completion. If you’ve any chance to put in this work, you first need an idea that excites you.
Write About Complex Issues In Entertaining Ways
The Good Place is perhaps the crown jewel of Mike Schur’s writing career — a network comedy that explicitly deals with moral philosophy from thinkers like Immanuel Kant and Jeremy Bentham.
You might expect a show with such lofty ideas to bore the audience. Or perhaps only appeal to a small intellectual niche. The numbers say otherwise.
Before wrapping up its final season in 2019, The Good Place was one of the most popular shows on CBS. Drawing in millions of viewers per week.
How did a show about such a cerebral subject bring in that large of an audience?
Schur claims The Good Place succeeded because it presents complex ideas in ways that are both entertaining and understandable. The show creates scenarios that highlight moral dilemmas, without diluting or dumbing them down.
In today’s digital age it’s common to lament the waning attention and intelligence of an audience. But the success of a show like The Good Place proves there is still a market for brainy ideas in pop entertainment.
Don’t underestimate the intelligence of your audience. If there’s a subject you consider “too sophisticated” for the masses, reconsider. People aren’t afraid to wrestle with larger ideas if they’re introduced in a compelling way.
Take Big Swings & Don’t Be Afraid To Fail
On Saturday Night Live, Mike wrote for megastars like Tina Fey, Amy Pohler, and Will Ferrell. One might suspect working with such high-profile actors would give you a front-row seat to virtuosic performances week in and out.
According to Schur, the reality was a little different:
“I saw the greatest comedians of our generation bomb, week after week, after week. Tina Fey’s batting average was the highest of anyone’s. And she probably hit 400, which is great for a baseball player, and incredible for an SNL sketch writer.”
Humbling, no?
The best writers and comedians fail more than they succeed. Schur says, although painful, these frequent missteps thickened the skin of SNL alums. It teaches them they can survive mistakes.
Hiccups and stumbles are part of the process for any writer and performer. No matter how good you are or become, you will never outgrow them. The ones who produce great work, like Schur and Fey, are those that continue to make bold choices in the face of failure.
You may never land a job writing for Saturday Night Live or The Office, but this attitude can benefit writers of all levels. No matter where you are in your career, continue to test daring ideas. Fail regularly. Learn from your mistakes. And most importantly keep writing.