Peter Reeves's Blog

Posted by Peter Reeves

My special clever tool that tells me what you guys are typing in search engines to find this page shows that one of the most searched areas of interest is that of playwriting. So thought I'd share my top 3 playwriting articles.

My top is How to Write a First Play. Some useful tips for the first time writer who doesn't know where to start, including plot writing and dealing with writer's block.

Second is An Introduction to Play-Writing Books. A list of some of the books I think are the most useful for budding playwrights including the superb "The Art of Dramatic Writing" by Lajos Egri.

And Thirdly is Aristotle and the Definition of Tragedy in Drama. What do we really mean by tragedy, what are it's components and how are they structured?

Enjoy.

This week I've also added a review of Alan Ayckbourn's playwriting book, "The Crafty Art of Playmaking" A great book for those looking for a different slant than in most playwriting books.

Posted by Peter Reeves

I've been the featured writer here at Writing for Stage/Screen for almost a month now so I thought I'd share the articles that have proved the most popular amongst my readers.

First is Aristotle's Six Dramatic Elements. In this article I describe the six key elements of drama writing from Aristotle's Poetics. Can you name them all?

Second is What are the Seven Basic Plot Definitions?. It's said that all stories are derived from seven classic story archetypes but what are they?

And thirdly Where to Find Inspiration for Unique Story Ideas. Struggling to come up with new ideas can be one of the most difficult and stressful problems for a writer to deal with. in this article I discuss some good ares to explore when looking for inspiration to ease the anxiety.

Posted by Peter Reeves

As I mentioned in my last blog I had already started writing a couple of pages of my latest work before I'd finished my last. But now I've finished the other script I can dedicate myself to this new project.

I'm working from short but very detailed four page plot point synopsis for this project. Many scriptwriting books will tell you that the the first 10 pages of your script are the most important but what they don't tell you is that it is also the most exciting. Finally getting all your enthusiasm for the idea down on paper and into something that is near to a finished product is what it's all about.

I've managed the first part of the play very quickly (or the exposition section) and I'm very happy with my progress and as I'm on schedule it's given me a chance to write more articles for Suite 101. This week I've written Predicting the Future Price of Gold and Where to Find Inspiration for Unique Story Ideas.

I hope to finish this latest script by Septmber as I have to redraft my Hansel and Gretel Script.

Posted by Peter Reeves

As I mentioned in my last blog I had already started writing a couple of pages of my latest work before I'd finished my last. But now I've finished the other script I can dedicate myself to this new project.

I'm working from short but very detailed four page plot point synopsis for this project. Many scriptwriting books will tell you that the the first 10 pages of your script are the most important but what they don't tell you is that it is also the most exciting. Finally getting all your enthusiasm for the idea down on paper and into something that is near to a finished product is what it's all about.

I've managed the first part of the play very quickly (or the exposition section) and I'm very happy with my progress and as I'm on schedule it's given me a chance to write more articles for Suite 101. This week I've written Predicting the Future Price of Gold and Where to Find Inspiration for Unique Story Ideas.

I hope to finish this latest script by Septmber as I have to redraft my Hansel and Gretel Script.

Posted by Peter Reeves

Well the good news is that I finished the first draft of my stage adaptation of Hansel and Gretel. I really worked hard to get it finished quick because I had another project that I really wanted to work on. In fact I must confess to starting it before I’d even finished Hansel and Gretel. Something I’d always advise against. I’ve also submitted a new tutorial article here which talks about what is meant by the inciting incident. I also discuss some good areas to look for story ideas here.

I’ve been watching the second season of Twin Peaks on DVD. I have to say that it’s still a great show after all this time. I’ve been a long time fan of David Lynch although he’s probably not the best person to study when you’re starting to learn how to write. Lynch’s films have all the key elements that exist in three act structure but the way in which he presents his stories to his audience means they can sometimes be hard to identify. (excluding The Straight Story)

His recent film Inland Empire was shot on digital using a Sony PD150 Lynch has said he won’t go back to shooting on film. It’s inspired me to invest in some digital camcorder equipment and I will be detailing my progress in this blog. I’d always been against the digital revolution in film as I just love the look of film but I’ve realised that you can tell different types of stories with the digital medium. I’d love to know your thoughts.

I think my first attempt is going to something in the Eric Rohmer style. If you haven’t seen any on his films read my article The Films of Eric Rohmer and decide whether he’s your cup of tea.

Posted by Peter Reeves

Over the past year most of my writing outside of comedy had been writing for children. What I’ve learnt most from this experience so far is the value of a strong and simple storyline. As most writing for children (especially stage writing) will be of under an hour in length it’s essential to cut out any superfluous material in the plot outline. I’ve written down some of what I’ve learnt in the article Writing Drama for Theatre in Education.

As I have some further theatre in education commissions to complete in the coming months I’ve also been looking at other story ideas. In this research I’ve been watching lots of children’s films and animations. A few common story ideas and themes have shown themselves to be a good basis for a children’s story. I discuss one of the most popular modern themes in my latest article The Fear of Separation in Children’s Films.

Hopefully this week I shall complete my first draft of my Hansel and Gretel stage adaptation. I shall be talking further on the subject of adaptation in some later articles and discussing what things need to be considered when adapting a pre existing story into a screenplay and a stage script.

Posted by Peter Reeves

Hi guys. Just a quick entry to introduce myself. My name is Peter Reeves and I write and perform under the name Reeves Peterson.

In this topic I’m going to give my readers all the practical advice I can about writing for the stage and writing for the screen.

As for what I’m up to at the moment, I recently completed writing a musical version of The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams for the Take Away Theatre Company. Some of the things I learnt from this process I detailed in my recent article Adapting a Children’s Book into a Musical. It was a special adaptation in that one of the requirements of the script was for it to only feature two actors. This was quite a challenge but I got there eventually.

But what I’ve found most interesting about this project so far is the creation of a new character not in the original story. Because of the number of characters in Hansel and Gretel it’s always played (in stage versions) by four actors with one actor doubling up as the step mother and witch. The problem with this is the woodcutter has nothing to do for a lot of the story.

This is fine in the original story but on stage it means you are paying an actor to do very little for much of the play. Therefore I have created a puppet rat character who will reside in the Gingerbread House. This has opened up some tremendous comedy opportunities. It also means that I can extend the stories key theme of hunger and poverty.

I’ll keep you posted of how the script is coming on over the coming weeks.