This text goes to kick issues off with just a few assumptions about you, pricey reader. It’s going to imagine that you just’ve bought a killer thought for a play in your head. Unbelievable! It’s additionally going to imagine that the prospect of writing a full-length stage play is considerably daunting. Now: you’re not improper. However fortunate for you, StageMilk is right here to assist. Let’s reply the query of “How do I begin writing a play?”
To begin writing a play, you want a strong thought in thoughts, anchored by characters with clear and achievable objectives. Not like movie, formatting is yours to find out—though it needs to be as easy and stylish as potential. As with all writing process, guarantee you’ve sufficient time and power to embark on the venture, in addition to a objective in thoughts for the completed product.
That is the second article in our sequence on beginning writing tasks, which rightfully acknowledge how rattling terrible it’s to start the method. Be sure you take a look at “How Do I Begin Writing a Brief Movie?” for extra recommendations on enhancing your writing abilities and getting tasks happening the appropriate foot.
What You’ll Must Write a Play
Earlier than you begin typing away, let’s discuss in regards to the tools and set-up required for writing a play. One thing we’re going to maintain addressing on this article is the truth that playwriting doesn’t have one hundredth the principles of screenwriting. That’s to not say you shouldn’t method with consideration, and a system in thoughts.
Tools
Write on a pc: laptop computer or desktop. Sure, you’re not certain to screenwriting software program like Remaining Draft, and you may technically do your first cross of the script with crayons and authorized pads. However even utilizing Google Docs will make sure that your enhancing course of for subsequent drafts is way much less of a headache.
In the event you’re the sort of author who likes taking notes and planning with post-its, that’s completely nice! However digitise as a lot of this as potential, so that you could take your work travelling if wanted and aren’t certain by a cork-board in your house workplace.
Area
The best writing area depends upon your and your persona; whether or not it’s public or personal, zen-like or pumping with black steel, develop an area that feels proper and cozy for you.
One piece of recommendation we’ll repeat from our screenwriting article is that this: make sure that your chosen area is used solely for writing. Don’t sit in your mattress, or go to a favorite café you reserve for lengthy, indulgent breakfasts. Decide an area you possibly can arrive at to write down and depart whenever you’re accomplished—a delegated inventive zone.
Time
One other vital issue for any writing venture: put aside devoted time to write down. Mark it in a diary or on a calendar and render that point sacred. In the event you don’t take it significantly, no one else will.
As performs unfold on the web page with extra freedom than a formatted movie script, it’s possible you’ll prefer to set your self a barely extra formidable page-a-day goal. This will truly encourage the move of concepts in a scene and get your characters actually speaking and interacting. You may all the time reduce the superfluous stuff later.
Targets
Writing any venture in any respect is less complicated with a set objective in thoughts: earlier than you begin writing a play, take into consideration the place you would possibly take it and what function it would serve.
There aren’t as many alternatives to submit performs for on-line competitions like there are brief movies. Nonetheless, you most likely have an opportunity of sending the play to an indie theatre with a thoughts to getting it produced—on the very least learn in entrance of an viewers. If you’re an actor writing a car for your self, a stay studying of an authentic work is an effective way to community and self-promote.
Methods to Begin Writing a Play
Let’s assume you’ve an thought robust sufficient that it’s set you on this path. A variety of would-be writers pause proceedings at this juncture to plot out their story. Whereas this may be useful in fixing plot issues, post-its on a wall don’t equate precise writing: that may solely be measured by phrases on the web page.
Your objective needs to be to get to the top of a primary draft, irrespective of how horrible it might sound within the second. Phrases written down are value a thousand instances greater than good concepts kinda floating round … in the event that they aren’t good, carry on writing and label it a “second draft downside.”
#1 Know The World of the Play
In the event you’re caught on the way to start your play, spend a while pondering the place it’s set. Is there a single, distinguished location the place many of the motion takes place? How do you make that place really feel alive, and vital to the journeys of your characters? After all, you’re allowed a number of areas in a play. However every one has to rely for one thing and really feel actual—and too many tends to make a play really feel prefer it was meant as a film however the producer couldn’t elevate the funds.
A standard mistake for inexperienced playwrights is to talk an excessive amount of about motion or occasions occurring off-stage. In the event you’re writing a play set at a home celebration and all of the fascinating stuff retains occurring again within the kitchen/laundry space … possibly the play is best set again there. Set your play the place the drama can unfold within the second, proper there in entrance of the viewers.
#2 Characters
Right here’s how Western theatre has labored for the previous few thousand years: Character A walks onto stage (the protagonist) and says their piece. Character B (the antagonist) walks out and disagrees. This creates battle, which is the essence of all drama.
All good performs are pushed by characters with desires. So in the event you’re caught on the way to start your play, drop two characters onto the stage and provides them conflicting goals: objectives that conflict with each other. If a personality’s objective is weak or unclear, it’ll present instantly, as they’ll lack the drive to maneuver your story alongside. Take into account adjusting the desires of your characters till they both battle, or push the motion in a extra thrilling, high-stakes path.
That is particularly vital for secondary characters. Most writers have an understanding of what plagues their heroes and villains. Nonetheless, each character must really feel full—and in pursuit of their very own particular person objectives.
#3 Line By Line
Plot is nice. Plot is vital. Engaged on plot can really feel extremely useful to the writing course of, as you are feeling such as you’re fixing issues which may stump you down the road. Nonetheless, plot doesn’t essentially assist getting phrases on the web page.
Generally the sheer vastness, the ambition of a big story to inform, can paralyse an aspiring author earlier than they’ve even begun. So whenever you begin writing a play, take the motion line by line, chicken by chicken. What does character A say (or do) to realize their goal? What does character B say (or do) in response, to additional their very own objective?
#4 Begin The place It Will get Good
Begin your play the place issues get fascinating. That’s just about the entire recommendation, right here. It’s very simple to assume that point spent with characters earlier than an inciting incident helps the viewers get to know them, to sympathise with them. The reality is: characters are greatest found on the journey, not earlier than it.
Playwright and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin talks about his love of dropping an viewers proper into the center of a scene—forcing them to interact and ‘catch up’. (This all the time makes me consider that good opening scene of The Social Community, and the way rapidly you’re pressured to acclimatise to the tempo of the movie and its characters.)
How late are you able to deliver your viewers into the narrative in order that it nonetheless is smart?
#5 Stage Instructions
If you begin writing a play, hold your stage instructions minimal. The impulse is usually to make use of a block of italicised textual content to arrange the world and provides the reader an thought of what they’ll see on stage. Sadly, this tends to bathroom down author and reader alike with pointless particulars.
What’s the primary distinction between a screenplay and a stageplay? In the event you write a screenplay effectively sufficient to get it observed and optioned and filmed … it turns into out of date. The movie turns into the definitive doc, like a home from a blueprint. This isn’t true with a play, which shall be produced (hopefully) a whole lot of instances over a whole lot of years, in new and thrilling methods.
So plan for longevity: don’t get slowed by particulars of how the stage will look, whenever you need administrators for hundreds of years to grasp your phrases in new and thrilling methods. Discover these characters, discover their desires, and let the drama unfold.
Simply Preserve Writing
Once I was at drama college, my writing trainer made us comply with a punishing technique for growing drafts. We weren’t allowed to learn the script again till it was accomplished. Not a lot as a look till the entire story was instructed. This produced some fascinating issues in a screenplay I used to be growing, together with a roommate who left for the kitchen space and by no means got here again…
However it’s an ideal approach, and one to make use of in the event you’re feeling courageous. The roommate disappeared from the face of the script as a result of I didn’t want him. If he was so vital, he’d have come again and furthered the story alongside!
Any any sense: simply hold writing. Resist the temptation to return and edit what you’ve already written upon getting just a few pages stashed away. You’ll cease including new materials or, and spend your designated writing time tinkering with what you’ve.
Performed! Now to Drafting…
Your first draft of something needs to be adopted by an enormous celebration and every week’s break from the venture. After a pause in proceedings, you possibly can learn what you’ve written and the drafting course of can start.
Drafting isn’t the main focus of this text, because it’s a subject unto itself. However understand that future drafts will strengthen what you’re writing whenever you start your play. Not all the pieces must be neat, polished, refined, researched or essentially coherent whenever you’re specializing in getting phrases out and onto the web page.
So long as you are taking the time to deal with issues afterward with the effort and time that your work deserves, the primary draft of your play is allowed to be a bit bit skinny right here and there. Realistically, it’s one thing that you just and solely you’ll ever see.
Conclusion
Writing something is a severe problem, and one thing each artist and actor ought to aspire to do. However whereas it does require excessive effort on the a part of the would-be scribe, it’s not some magical reward that’s bestowed on some and never others.
Writing is a talent. And all abilities could be realized with time and persistence and a superb work ethic. And whereas it’s not essentially essentially the most enjoyable factor ever whenever you’re within the thick of character/plot/emotional woes … it’s extraordinarily satisfying to see a superb story come collectively. And that’s earlier than you even begin to share it with others.
Simply hold writing.
Good luck!
Further Assets
Lastly, check out some extra writing assets right here on StageMilk:
