Playwriting
Dave Brandl
Articles
Playwrights need to create actions and emotional cues to help develop character, in addition to dialogue. But watch out for the pitfalls of writing emotions and adding adverbs that may confuse rather than illuminate.
More about writing solid dialogue.
What is theater without dialogue? Can a play exist without the accompanying words? Of course not. But just writing a bunch of words into sentences and paragraphs guarantees nothing. It is the crafting of the words that helps determine success or failure.
When a script is complete, is in rehearsals, has been submitted to a publisher or producer, or is in the process of being published, what do you do next?
Your show just closed over the weekend. After all the sweat and toiling over the script, a group produced your new play. You saw the performances. What do you do next?
How often is this admonition applied to writers? To follow it literally, though, may really restrict some options. Writing what one knows doesn't necessarily mean to keep a narrow focus, but rather to apply experiences and knowledge when creating worlds.
How Long Does it Take to Write a Play
This is a question I frequently get from non-writers. And the answer is, "It depends." There is a lot that goes into a play, and some flow more easily and quickly than others.
Congratulations. Your play has been selected for production. When will it be done? For how many shows? Will you get paid? What rights are you giving to the theater? These and many other questions need to be addressed in a production agreement that clearly spells out the terms.
Many writings tell of how to write plays; this article looks at the inner attitude and approach for being a playwright.
Organize Your Thoughts With Mind Mapping
Every genius has a method for collecting the information and presenting it for others to read, enjoy, and otherwise benefit from. Mind mapping is a technique (and software tool) that lets you think like Leonardo da Vinci.
Another new year begins, and where do we stand? What did we accomplish last year? What are our plans for this year? How do we know if we're getting better?
Things We Can Learn From Screenwriting
Even though it's about 2,000 years younger than playwriting, there are many things about the creation of screenplays that can be applied to the theater and improve your writing immediately.
Avoid Cliches (Like the Plague)
Successful plays are usually the result of fresh writing. Use of cliches generally indicates that the playwright may not have dug deep enough into the box of literary tools.
Why should a play be a play? Why not a screenplay or a novel? What is it that the theater offers that can be found nowhere else?
Do you like to scare others? Or be scared yourself? This is a season for good clean scary entertainment. And like many other niches, there is a shortage of good, producible scripts.
Melodramas or How The Old West Can Be Fun
The very name conjures up images of overacting, booing and hissing, and corny jokes. Why not? It's great fun!
Theater is for everyone. All should have the opportunity to perform for appreciative audiences. Some people, however, require extra help. Actors and crew working on productions can include many groups that have special needs: the very young and the very old, and those with physical or mental disabilities.
I'm frequently asked where I get my ideas for scripts. The easiest answer is 'everywhere.' The more specific answer is that they come from a variety of sources. Each script is different and each usually starts out from a unique point.
Producing Your Own Play - 2003
Two years ago I wrote about ways to get your play on a stage through self-production. Here's an update of one way I've repeatedly accomplished that.
Writing Dialogue - Putting Your Words Into Somebody Else's Mouth
Of all the aspects of playwriting, creating crisp and sparkling dialogue may be one of the toughest to do. The dialogue is the key to the whole play. The dialogue not only contains the character's motives, aspirations, and history, but it can also include the time of day, setting, season of ...
Contests, Festivals, and Showcases 2003
An update of venues to submit your scripts.
Putting Together Our Playwriting Group
The interest is there, so here's how we'll set this thing up.
With the opportunity to read other playwrights' works, have them read yours, and learn and network with each other, playwriting groups offer many possibilities.
Playwriting is not literature. A completed script is neither a work of art nor complete. Controversial statements? Definitely. But there is truth.
While character and dialogue are important parts of a script, the box office looks at telling a good story.
So much occurs on stage that critical elements may be lost. Characteristics of each member of the cast are in the playwright's head, but are they interpreted correctly on stage? There is always more to a character known by the playwright than will hit the printed page. But enough must be ...
Sometimes you just need to take a break. Stop and smell the coffee.
If you're adapating or even merely citing a quotation, make sure you haven't breached any copyright laws. Be careful with music, too.
A Process for Playwriting, Part IV
Work Products. Documents. Deliverables. Artifacts. Whatever the name, these are the results of the work you do. The script is the ultimate work product, but along the way, creating these other pieces will ensure you remain focused, informed, and on track.
A Process for Playwriting, Part III
After the Idea and Concept Phases help determine the best script to work on and the general approach, Definition starts the detailed planning, Development is where the script is written, Introduction tests the script, and Deployment gets the script into the hands of those who can give it life.
A Process for Playwriting, Part II
Continuing from the last article, this focuses on the Idea and Concept Phases.
Companies in the manufacturing industry generally follow repeatable and efficient processes to create their products. Software development does, too. So why shouldn't playwriting also have a repeatable process to make the creation of scripts more effective?
You can have absolute control over your script, its direction, and the acting. It's called a one-person show, and it's popular and successful.
You've been productive. But scripts are beginning to pile up. Until they are seen, read, and accepted by others, you've only achieved a part of what being a playwright is all about. Many writers shun the marketing aspects, but they are as important, and require the writer's valuable input for success. ...
Embrace the holidays. Seek inspiration in the season.
It's the same old story: You have a terrific idea, and lots of plans for how to work the story and characters. However, your life has other ideas, and between work, family, and other obligations, getting to the keyboard can be a nearly impossible task. How can one write the next ...
The perfect crime. The perfect murder. The perfect mystery. The perfect meal. How do you do it?
Nowhere is it more important to write clear, concise dialogue than in the performing arts. Plays, movies, and even industrial scripts all demand that the spoken word convey what it must, without conveying any more or less.
Looking for more? Ever thought about writing a screenplay or videos? Here are some things to think about.
The one-act play encompasses everything from 30-seconds to 100 minutes or more. Today's vision of the one-act has changed significantly from the days of the classic definition.
Producing Your Own Play - Part 3
Now comes the mechanics of assembling the cast, holding rehearsals, and preparing for opening night.
Producing Your Own Play - Part 2
Here's some practical experience I use to produce my plays with little or no money from my own pocket, but with bona fide paying audiences to help me evaluate and improve the scripts.
You've completed a wonderful script ... destined for glory. Now, all that's needed is to find the right producer, get a nice budget behind it, and the world will be able to see one of the greatest plays of all time.
If only it was that easy.
Adapting Other Works for the Stage
Have you seen a good movie that you think will work well on a stage? Or how about a powerful novel? What's involved in adapting other works to a stage play?
Plays need productions to succeed. They can sometimes be easier than you think to set up.
Politicians, celebrities, fads, and pop culture all are subject to (and sometimes crying out for) being made fun of. Not only can this be a fun venue, but it is a popular market with a lot of potential.
Marketing Approaches to Community Theater
There are thousands of opportunities for productions and publishing, eagerly seeking scripts.
Sometimes, no matter how hard or how long you work on a piece, it just doesn't seem to work. Do you forge ahead no matter what works, or shelve it in favor of another, perhaps more promising, piece?
What are the editing limits? What are the editing options?
There's an old saying that opportunity, if not recognized and embraced by one, will eventually be embraced by someone else.
I began writing plays because I thought it would be fun. Sometimes I have trouble remembering that.
Just as a quick snack in the late afternoon can re-energize a person, completing a short script can give satisfaction, cure writer's block, and recharge your playwriting batteries.
How can you tell if a script is any good? Here are some more of the things I use to judge.
Among its 8,000 listings are enough scripting opportunities to bankrupt your postage resources. Some careful prospecting can yield significant results
How can you tell if a script is any good? Especially your own script? Here are some of the things I use to judge.
Expanding Your Horizons - Suggestions
It's important to explore current and classic playwrights. Here are some suggestions to study, read, or see.
Are you in a rut? Writer's block? Need a boost of inspiration or motivation? Check out other plays: the classics, the contemporaries, and even the soon-to-be-forgottens.
New Year's resolutions. Easily made. Easily broken.
Holiday plays are always in demand, and can be very rewarding ... year after year.
Writing Plays to be Performed by Adults for Children
This market is largely made up of professional and small, independent groups who perform regularly for schoolage children.
Writing Plays to be Performed by Children
Children may enjoy watching fairy tale plays immensely, but they seem to prefer portraying themselves in plays relevant to their lives. Good plays in this category are in high demand.
Whether you write plays for adults to perform for children or for children to perform, the markets are there, and eager to see new plays.
Here's an alternative market you might consider. There's potential for a lot of productions
Interview with Nagle Jackson, Part III
My interview of Nagle Jackson, director turned award-winning playwright, concludes as he tells about his playwriting process, directing, and some advice for playwrights.
Interview with Nagle Jackson, Part II
My interview of Nagle Jackson, director turned award-winning playwright, continues with his thoughts about currents trends in theatre and new play development - the idea for a play.
Tap into a voice of experience. A director turned award-winning playwright shares his history, views, and insight.
Be a theatre critic ... or just write like one. Analyzing the works of others can be of great benefit to a playwright.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was not only a talented playwright, but did so during a time when good theatre was at a minimum.
As with any other business venture, successful playwriting is a matter of supply and demand. Does your play fill a need?
Between the first draft (or even the second or third) and full production are readings, where the playwright gets to hear actors bring the script to life, but without the production costs or risks.
Publishers put your play into their catalogs and send their catalogs to thousands of theatre companies. This can result in hundreds of productions (and the associated royalties, too).
Ninety per cent of writing is re-writing. That's where the really important work occurs.
Music and spectacle are among the six important elements of theatre, according to Aristotle. Traditionally, they were the least of those elements, but in recent years, they have become much more important.
What's your play about? You know what the sequence of events are. But that's the plot. What's the theme?
What is the playwright's dream? Production, of course. And the more, the better.
Hooking into the Internet gives you access to an abundance of writing tools: dictionaries, synonyms, quotations, public domain manuscripts, and a whole lot more.
Some writers always direct their own plays; some never do. I think there's a happy medium.
Copyrights. Titles. Publishing Agreements. Production Contracts. Taxes. 'Jim, I'm just a playwright. I'm not an attorney.'
It's been said that luck is when opportunity meets preparation. Another key ingredient is continuing to pursue your dream regardless of setbacks and obstacles.
Contests, Festivals, and Showcases
These venues provide potential for recognition, production, and prizes and cash awards for the selected plays and playwrights.
Actively participating in theatre regularly, at any level of involvement, makes for better playwriting.
Are your characters real? How do you develop characters that are full-bodied and interesting?
Plays are produced by groups of actors, with a director, producer, and other people to perform a show for a paying audience. That's the norm. But there are other ways to be a scriptwriter.
Some Thoughts About Playwriting
Full-length plays used to run about two hours. Some playwrights and companies are stretching them into epics today. And what about quality control in a script? I think some people feel it's not necessary.
Original Works vs. Adaptations
What is the best source for an idea? Do you empty your brain of all your original thoughts? Do you adapt or dramatize somebody else's work? Is there really anything new under the sun?
Your script is in the mail, on its way to discovery. How do you spend the time waiting for fame and fortune to respond?
Your research has identified opportunities to present your script. What next? Are there rules or standards for contacting these people? You bet.
You have a script (or scripts) that are ready to send out. Where do you send it? How do you find the best potential targets among the hundreds (or thousands) of possibilities.
With the dawn of a new year, take (and make) opportunities to get your writing out there.
Whether you just completed your latest play or finally sweated out your first line of dialogue, you need to determine how good it is. How do you do that? And how do you know what's "good"?
How To Type A Play Professionally
Now it's time to start writing a play. Do you just get it on paper any way you can? There are professional standards.
You've focused your idea and now you're ready to beginning writing your play. Or are you? There may be some other work to do before you write that first line of dialogue.
Getting Started - The Idea For A Play
You've decided to write a play. Where do you start? Do you have an idea for your play?
With all the venues available to writers, many offering large sums of money, this is why I write plays.