Revision Project; Titus: Day 3

Period 1: (Until 7:50)

Apart from your final exam, the last bit of writing we will be doing is revising one of your previously written scripts. No matter what assignment created it, work to improve your previous draft. For those of your plays we are seriously considering for the playwrights' festival in March, please choose these scripts to revise and edit. If your play was not initially chosen for the festival you may revise any script you have written. Look through your portfolio and select one. In general, plays not selected could either not be produced on stage, were incomplete or undeveloped, or were not dramatic enough--the stories were not compelling enough to hold the attention of the audience/reader.

In any case, when revising (required):

• If your problem was:
• Character development (review handouts/exercises: Basic Character Builder; Dramatic Triangle; Where the Character Lives/Works; Secret Lives of Characters, Defining Trait; Character in Contrast; Finding your Character's Voice, Causing a Scene, and advice on my blog, etc.)
• Get to know your protagonist & flesh out details and backstory details that are delivered through the dialogue of characters on stage. 
• Give characters a goal & a purpose for each scene.
• Use monologues to develop backstory and off-stage action/characters
• Make sure your characters are different enough and distinct. Similar characters can be combined into one character.
• Characters that are unsympathetic or whose needs and goals are trivial is a problem; fix this.
• Heighten the problem/conflict in the scene/play to develop your character's objectives (goals). 
• Conflict
• Make sure the scene objective/goal/motivation for each character is heightened enough so that the character (and therefore the audience) cares about the outcome. 
• Keep your characters in a dramatic scene; we need to watch characters try to work out their own problems by making decisions or by revealing wants/needs, etc. Remember to use that "time lock" and "trap" your characters on stage, particularly when stakes are getting high.
• Keep your stakes high. Characters need a good reason to fight for what they want. The greater the challenge or conflict, the stronger the motivation to reach that goal should be.
• Structure
• If it takes too long to get to the "meat" or main conflict of the scene/act, cut extraneous scenes, beats, or lines of dialogue that do nothing to increase the tension or develop character or conflict. 
• If the conflict is too easily solved or your play is too short, develop the conflict and increase the stakes for characters in the scene. Plays tend to be short as well when we don't know the character's backstory or motivation/scene objective or when we have no theme.
• Know what your scene or play is about. Know where key points of your plot occur (inciting incident, rising action, crisis, dark moment, major decision, enlightenment, climax, falling action, resolution or exposition & backstory). Use the basic scene starter, thinking in beats, or causing a scene exercises to help you.
• If your play wanders about without a point or nothing happens, be able to explain the reason (premise) or main event for each beat/scene/act. Introduce a theme.
• Remove or edit/cut redundancy in your script/story. Combine similar actions into one important one instead of dragging your audience through a series of boring scenes or beats. [This goes for boring characters doubly so...]
• If you have no purpose or lack focus in your play/scene: build your story by making sure you know who your characters are. Your protagonist, furthermore, should be an active participant in the story. We want to see characters "act" and be involved, not be told about them or never deal with them.
• Construct your play's last moment as a compelling image/sound or scene that suggests future action by your characters.
• Theme
• Clarify what your story is about. 
• Have characters talk about issues/events/characters related to the theme in beats. Each scene, furthermore, should develop your theme in some manner.
• Design your characters' goals/objectives with your theme in mind.
• Know your premise and why you are writing. If you don't know figure it out and fix your story/play. 
• Dialogue
• Characters/theme/setting/plot and conflict should be developed through dialogue. Make sure this is happening.
• Aim for specificity in your diction and word choice. Be specific as opposed to vague or general!
• Heighten your language to make it poetic/pretty/infused with conflict. Use imagery.
• Remove all stage directions. Is the story or action of the scene still clear through your use of dialogue? If not, fix it.
• Format
• Fix your format, grammar, and writing mechanics. There is no excuse for this to be incorrect at this point.
• See the exercises in the handout on revision. Do that.
• Use the advice from the blog, online videos, or handouts to help you revise your play draft. 

Revisions are due Jan. 18.

Period 1/2: 7:50 on, more screening of the film Titus. Continue your "death" sheet while viewing.

HOMEWORK: Choose a play script draft you have already written and revise for our workshops next week (Monday/Wednesday/Friday). Use the handout exercises and this advice to assist you.