Beginning To Write


Your brain is saturated with your play idea as it gains form and substance. Now it's time to slow down so you can commit it to paper where it can be read and understood by somebody who may never meet you.

A play isn't literature. A script isn't a work of art. The art appears when the play comes to life on a stage. The written script is a set of detailed instructions for creating a work of art.

Collect Your Thoughts

I rarely (if ever) start writing a play on page one and diving right in to dialogue. I usually take an inventory, and document everything I know about the play and its structure. This includes (among many other things):

  • Plot Ideas - Whether it's a mystery, comedy, drama, or adaptation.
  • Characters - How many male and female parts, any ideas of what the characters look like, or how they act.
  • Themes - Such as love or deception.
  • Dialogue Snippets - That occurred to me or that I overheard.
  • Jokes - How they might work into the plot, and which characters may say them. (Neil Simon once made the comment that for a punch line to work correctly in a play, there is one, and only one character that can say that particular line.)
  • Incidents - What happens, and then what happens after that, and then what happens after that.
  • Research Notes - Very few plays can be written completely from the top of one's head. Some research is required to create depth and realism within the play.

Create an Outline

Next, I organize all this documentation to see what exists. I'm frequently and pleasantly surprised that when I get all these things written down, the shell of the play is already taking shape. A similar technique is used by British playwright, Alan Ayckbourn.

Once I have this general outline, I start looking at how to break it into acts and scenes. For a full-length play, I usually write two acts. Some years ago, three-act plays were the norm, with two intermissions breaking up the action. My experience now is that two-act plays are more common, with a single intermission.

I take stock of all the different scenes that may be needed to tell the story. Then I look at approximately how long each scene may last, and finally, I see where a good break in the action can occur to create the intermission.

When I start writing a play, I like to have all these things sketched out so I know where I'm headed, and along the way I know how far I've come.

The copyright of the article Beginning To Write in Playwriting is owned by Dave Brandl. Permission to republish Beginning To Write in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic