Thursday, January 15, 2009

...And More Advice About Playwrighting

By this time you may have run into problems with your full-length play project. To reiterate, plays revolve around conflict. This is what moves a play. If your conflict has dried up, or you feel like your characters are floundering, consider a few pointers:

1. Fully develop your characters (especially your protagonist): add information about your character's physical qualities, their sociological connections (family, religion, beliefs, hopes, political views, occupation, career, financial situation, etc.), their state of mind or psychology (what are your characters talents, susperstitions, ambitions, disappointments, inhibitions, obsessions, morals, hobbies, phobias, etc.), and consider using a secret to propel your plot or reveal a sudden change of fortune. Secrets can come from childhood, educational background, people in the past, etc.

2. Actions speak volumes about your character. Put in some stage directions and action, if needed.

3. Characters in plays NEED to speak. If stuck, have a character rant.

4. Need more conflict? Most plays deal with the conflict between characters. A character generally A. has something important to say, but doesn't know how to say it or B. A character says something to another character, but this character doesn't listen or hear what is being said (subtext).

Hope this helps a bit!

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The Murky Middle (Even More Advice)

Aristotle wrote that stories should have a beginning, middle, and end. Middles can be difficult. You might have a smashing opening to a stor...