Be a Better Writer--PLAYS, SKITS, AND SCREENPLAYS
Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 10:43 am
I was asked for a lesson on writing plays, skits, and screenplays, and I’m happy to do so—with the caveat that it’s not something I’ve done often (occasionally for the Writing Challenge—more on that below). For this lesson, I’ll use the word plays to indicate any kind of writing meant to be performed by actors.
Plays are unique in that they can be experienced in two ways—they can be read, or they can be seen as a performance. The focus of this lesson will be on writing plays to be read, and the last part of the lesson will focus specifically on writing plays for the Writing Challenge.
I know from teaching high school English for thirty years that plays are formatted differently from other prose forms. Each bit of dialogue, for example, is preceded by the name of the name of the speaker. There are directions to the actors, indicating how they should speak or move, and there are directions to people who run the curtains and the lights. I wanted to make sure that I gave correct advice about this formatting, so I asked two family members who have written professional screenplays. They gave me these links with specific directions for how to format screenplays:
How to Write a Screenplay: Script Example and Screenwriting Tips
Screenwriting Resources
If you’re interested in submitting a script for publication or into a contest, the above resources should be very helpful for you.
However, I suspect that most of you who are reading this lesson are interested in writing plays either for the Writing Challenge or perhaps for performance in a church or school setting. So for the remainder of this lesson, that’s where my focus will be.
1. Although you don’t have to format your plays exactly as laid out in the first link above, you really should help your readers by differentiating characters’ names, stage directions, and dialogue. One easy way to do this is to use all caps for characters’ names, italics for stage directions, and regular font for dialogue. You can see an example of this formatting in a challenge entry here.
2. Your stage directions—the bits that tell the actors where to go or how to speak their lines, or that describe the characters for the readers—should not be thought of as disposable words. They should be interesting, too. When I was teaching 10th grade, the students read Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, which is notable for its exquisite stage directions. Here’s an example:
[Amanda] wears a girlish frock of yellowed voile with a blue silk sash. She carries a bunch of jonquils--the legend of her youth is nearly revived.
And elsewhere, Amanda is described as sitting …gracefully and demurely as if she were settling into a swing on a Mississippi veranda.
I’m sure you get the idea—you want those directions to be as compelling for the reader as the dialogue is. In the Writing Challenge, where you’re limited to 750 words, you really don’t have the luxury of writing like Tennessee Williams—but do try to provide stage directions that are well-chosen ‘salsa’ words.
3. Dialogue is the most important aspect of most plays. It will help your readers (or your audience) to get to know your characters, and it is pretty much the only vehicle for propelling the story. Be sure that your dialogue is true to each character’s stated traits: age, gender, geographical setting, job, educational background and the like. For example, don’t have a child speak with words not matched to her age and don’t have a street kid speak with standard English.
Each character’s dialogue should move the story along, since you do not have narrative to do so. But don’t make the mistake of having the characters explain each action or their motivations. Write their dialogue, in conjunction with the stage directions, in such a way that the reader/audience can figure it out.
Wrong:
BEN: Where are you going?
JAN: I’m so depressed. I’m going out to get some Twinkies. When I’m depressed, I just want to eat.
Right:
(Jan sighs and puts her head in her hands for a few moments, then picks up her keys.)
BEN: Where are you going?
JAN: (she looks away from him for a beat. Then, quietly…) I’m getting Twinkies. A whole box of them.
4. If you’re brainstorming the week’s topic and the story that’s percolating seems to be dialogue-heavy with just two or three characters, consider writing it as a play. Occasionally we get entries that consist solely of conversation between two characters (sometimes tagged, sometimes not), but unless that’s done exceedingly well, it’s difficult to read, and the overabundance of quotation marks is a visual distraction. Writing it as a play allows for the dialogue to be broken up by stage directions.
5. I asked Lisa Mikitarian, a former FaithWriter who has written both screenplays and plays for performance in local theaters, for her best tips:
a. Imagine the scenes as you are writing them. Are they interesting visually? Some of the best drama, conflict, and comedy come from gestures and movement--not words at all.
b. Show, don't tell is important in writing, but critical in plays. Avoid long monologues when possible. The audience has an easier time keeping interest when their lines are more concise and are shared among other actors.
c. Recurring actions/ bits can be very effective in keeping an audience engaged.
d. In a play, you have a short amount of time to make the audience care about the characters--choose their actions and dialogue wisely (don't waste words).
e. Have distinct characters so the audience doesn't get confused (unless that's the point).
You can read Lisa’s current writing on her blog, here.
I’ll close with links to a few of my Writing Challenge plays—again, not because they’re anything special, but because I know where to find them.
Alas, Poor Yorrick is formatted slightly differently from my first link, but it’s another example of how plays might look in the Writing Challenge.
Please—Read Cousin George’s Story is just plain weird. I have no idea what got into me that week.
It’s Still Wrapped and Alone in the Spotlight consist entirely of stage directions—no dialogue.
When I was judging the Challenge, there were very, very few plays submitted, and it was a pleasant change of pace to read them. I strongly recommend that you try your hand at writing a play—it will stretch you as a writer, and your entry will definitely stand out from the crowd.
HOMEWORK:
Write a little snippet, similar to the “Twinkie” snippet above, that contains both stage directions and dialogue. No more than 100 words, please, and choose one of these emotions to convey:
Annoyance
Surprise
Joy
Disappointment
If you have submitted a play for the challenge, feel free to link to it. If you do so, please tell us a little bit about your writing process.
Questions or comments about this lesson? Ideas for future lessons? I’d love to hear them.
Plays are unique in that they can be experienced in two ways—they can be read, or they can be seen as a performance. The focus of this lesson will be on writing plays to be read, and the last part of the lesson will focus specifically on writing plays for the Writing Challenge.
I know from teaching high school English for thirty years that plays are formatted differently from other prose forms. Each bit of dialogue, for example, is preceded by the name of the name of the speaker. There are directions to the actors, indicating how they should speak or move, and there are directions to people who run the curtains and the lights. I wanted to make sure that I gave correct advice about this formatting, so I asked two family members who have written professional screenplays. They gave me these links with specific directions for how to format screenplays:
How to Write a Screenplay: Script Example and Screenwriting Tips
Screenwriting Resources
If you’re interested in submitting a script for publication or into a contest, the above resources should be very helpful for you.
However, I suspect that most of you who are reading this lesson are interested in writing plays either for the Writing Challenge or perhaps for performance in a church or school setting. So for the remainder of this lesson, that’s where my focus will be.
1. Although you don’t have to format your plays exactly as laid out in the first link above, you really should help your readers by differentiating characters’ names, stage directions, and dialogue. One easy way to do this is to use all caps for characters’ names, italics for stage directions, and regular font for dialogue. You can see an example of this formatting in a challenge entry here.
2. Your stage directions—the bits that tell the actors where to go or how to speak their lines, or that describe the characters for the readers—should not be thought of as disposable words. They should be interesting, too. When I was teaching 10th grade, the students read Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, which is notable for its exquisite stage directions. Here’s an example:
[Amanda] wears a girlish frock of yellowed voile with a blue silk sash. She carries a bunch of jonquils--the legend of her youth is nearly revived.
And elsewhere, Amanda is described as sitting …gracefully and demurely as if she were settling into a swing on a Mississippi veranda.
I’m sure you get the idea—you want those directions to be as compelling for the reader as the dialogue is. In the Writing Challenge, where you’re limited to 750 words, you really don’t have the luxury of writing like Tennessee Williams—but do try to provide stage directions that are well-chosen ‘salsa’ words.
3. Dialogue is the most important aspect of most plays. It will help your readers (or your audience) to get to know your characters, and it is pretty much the only vehicle for propelling the story. Be sure that your dialogue is true to each character’s stated traits: age, gender, geographical setting, job, educational background and the like. For example, don’t have a child speak with words not matched to her age and don’t have a street kid speak with standard English.
Each character’s dialogue should move the story along, since you do not have narrative to do so. But don’t make the mistake of having the characters explain each action or their motivations. Write their dialogue, in conjunction with the stage directions, in such a way that the reader/audience can figure it out.
Wrong:
BEN: Where are you going?
JAN: I’m so depressed. I’m going out to get some Twinkies. When I’m depressed, I just want to eat.
Right:
(Jan sighs and puts her head in her hands for a few moments, then picks up her keys.)
BEN: Where are you going?
JAN: (she looks away from him for a beat. Then, quietly…) I’m getting Twinkies. A whole box of them.
4. If you’re brainstorming the week’s topic and the story that’s percolating seems to be dialogue-heavy with just two or three characters, consider writing it as a play. Occasionally we get entries that consist solely of conversation between two characters (sometimes tagged, sometimes not), but unless that’s done exceedingly well, it’s difficult to read, and the overabundance of quotation marks is a visual distraction. Writing it as a play allows for the dialogue to be broken up by stage directions.
5. I asked Lisa Mikitarian, a former FaithWriter who has written both screenplays and plays for performance in local theaters, for her best tips:
a. Imagine the scenes as you are writing them. Are they interesting visually? Some of the best drama, conflict, and comedy come from gestures and movement--not words at all.
b. Show, don't tell is important in writing, but critical in plays. Avoid long monologues when possible. The audience has an easier time keeping interest when their lines are more concise and are shared among other actors.
c. Recurring actions/ bits can be very effective in keeping an audience engaged.
d. In a play, you have a short amount of time to make the audience care about the characters--choose their actions and dialogue wisely (don't waste words).
e. Have distinct characters so the audience doesn't get confused (unless that's the point).
You can read Lisa’s current writing on her blog, here.
I’ll close with links to a few of my Writing Challenge plays—again, not because they’re anything special, but because I know where to find them.
Alas, Poor Yorrick is formatted slightly differently from my first link, but it’s another example of how plays might look in the Writing Challenge.
Please—Read Cousin George’s Story is just plain weird. I have no idea what got into me that week.
It’s Still Wrapped and Alone in the Spotlight consist entirely of stage directions—no dialogue.
When I was judging the Challenge, there were very, very few plays submitted, and it was a pleasant change of pace to read them. I strongly recommend that you try your hand at writing a play—it will stretch you as a writer, and your entry will definitely stand out from the crowd.
HOMEWORK:
Write a little snippet, similar to the “Twinkie” snippet above, that contains both stage directions and dialogue. No more than 100 words, please, and choose one of these emotions to convey:
Annoyance
Surprise
Joy
Disappointment
If you have submitted a play for the challenge, feel free to link to it. If you do so, please tell us a little bit about your writing process.
Questions or comments about this lesson? Ideas for future lessons? I’d love to hear them.