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Basic Playwriting



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Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:15 pm
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smorgishborg says...



Basic Script Writing
By Smorgishborg (who is not, in any way an expert)

The script begins with information about the setting, costumes, characters, and other things the playwright believes the actors should be aware of. In short; it paints the opening scene. Don’t forget any important details! Otherwise, anything you don’t mention can be added by the director. Always be conscious of what your work will look like on stage, after all, that's the eventual goal...

Smorgishborg enters. If you are writing a theater script, specify whether the actors enter from upstage or downstage, stage left or stage right. In this case, he enters from stage right, and walks center stage as he speaks.


Smorgishborg: (Make sure to put in-text directions between parenthesis) Welcome to my script tutorial! I wrote this, after being dissatisfied with the quality of most scripts on YWS. Some people don’t know how to write dialogue realistically, others don’t know how the proper script format, and still others don’t know how to construct their plot. I hope this tutorial will be helpful.

He stops center stage. It helps sometimes to break up monologues with stage directions.

Smorgishborg: Throughout this script, I’ll be trying to cover the basics of stage direction. Keep in mind that anything in stage direction is for the actors. The audience will never see the direction, so if something important needs to be conveyed, make sure to do so in the dialogue!

He begins moving again, this time to the stage left proscenium.

Smorgishborg: The most common mistake I see in poor scriptwriting is a lack of believable dialogue. The dialogue is your only medium to connect to the audience. The characterization, the plot, most of the setting come from the dialogue alone. So if the dialogue is poor, the script doesn’t stand a chance. Observe the following – relatively stock - scene…

From stage left, Harold G. Pinkenmire III, the school nerd enters. Thick black glasses, pulled up pants, high socks, and anything else to accentuate the stereotype. From stage right enters Greg Glasier, the school jock. He is wearing his football uniform.

HGPIII: (don’t get too abbreviation happy, but make sure it’s easy to quickly identify the speaker) Hey Greg. How are you feeling this fine morning?

Greg: (part of names are fine) Hey punk! How are you feeling today punk?

HGPIII: According to my calculations, I am feeling supurb tha-

Smorgishborg: (Puts his hands over his ears during the conversation.) STOP! Agh, it’s excruciating! I can’t bear it! (He removes his hands) You see, in just three lines, the playwright has torpedoed his entire script.

He pulls an easel out from offstage left, and pulls a marker out of his pocket. The characters listen as he speaks. He writes: #1. Write how you speak. Then, speak the lines how you wrote them.

Smorgishborg: The playwright has ignored this important principle, with disastrous results. A fantastic exercise for budding playwrights is to tape record normal conversation, and transcribe it to paper. Anyone would be amazed at how strange people sound. People pause, people stumble, people don’t think or speak in straight lines! In fact, normal speech is usually bad onstage because it’s too confused. The playwright should attempt to take normal speech and strip it down until it makes sense dramatically. Always read your plays out loud to yourself, and a friend. You’ll catch most of your mistakes.

He writes: #2. Write how people sound, not how you think they sound.

Smorgishborg: This is another important distinction. In this scene, the characters have been very strictly and limiting defined by certain character types. While this is not always a bad place to start, this should never seep into the dialogue. If you’re writing about a certain type of person, do some field research and hang out with them. I have never, ever heard someone seriously say “According to my calculations”, or “Hey punk!”. Get your characters right, get your time period right. The setting, and the drama will follow.

He flips to a new page on the easel and writes; “Dramatic Structure”

Smorgishborg: The history of theater goes back a long way. The first real playwrights were the ancient greeks who developed a winning formula of myth and monsters that thrilled audiences. But one reason their plays don’t endure as well is that they didn’t get dramatic structure quite right. The Greeks structured their plays in a symmetrical format. The tension rose at a predictable rate until a climax, after which the tension abated at the same rate. It was pretty, but audiences weren’t always big fans of the long period of falling action. So, a new, modern structure was developed, the one we usually use nowadays.

He draws a line of dramatic structure on the easel. It looks like this:
Image


Smorgishborg: This is modern dramatic structure, and any playwright should keep it in their mind. You ought to know the rule before you break it. The play begins with a period of EXPOSITION, where the audience becomes acquainted with the characters. Then, an INCITING INCIDENT takes place. This event will spur the conflict of the play. The inciting incident is followed by a period of RISING ACTION in which the characters attempt to resolve the problem with little success. Usually, the tension increases exponentially as the play progresses. When the tension has reached its peak, it is called the CRISIS. This is immediately followed by the CLIMAX where the problem is resolved in some way. After the climax, is a short period of FALLING ACTION and the play’s CONCLUSION.

As he writes, he labels the moments in the dramatic structure that correspond to his instruction.

Smorgishborg: Got all that? Well, lets apply what we’ve learned to this short little scene. In this scene, we will not only establish clear dramatic structure, but also demonstrate two formatting styles. (claps hands) Places!

The actors scurry back to their original starting points and begin the scene…

HGPIII: Hey. How are you?

Greg: (gives HGPIII a look) Fine, why does it matter to you?

HGPIII: Just asking… That’s good.

Greg: (walking off) Well… okay…

He trips and falls, grabbing his leg. WE ARE NOW GOING TO TRANSFER TO A DIFFERENT FORM OF FORMATTING. THIS IS PROBABLY THE MORE COMMON VARIETY, BUT I LIKE THE OTHER ONE BETTER FOR CLARITY'S SAKE...

GREG: Oh my god. Jesus, that hurts. Oh god, I think I broke something.
HGPIII: (worried) Should I call the nurse? Are you okay?
GREG: Hello? Do I look okay?
HGPIII: No, I think your leg is broken. I’m going to call the nurse.
GREG: No, just… help me up…
HGPIII: But you’re really hurt.
GREG: Just help me up man, that’s all I need. I’ll walk it off.
HGPIII: That’s ridiculous, you just broke a leg!
GREG: Help me up already! Just do it!

HGPIII goes over and tries to lift Greg. He has difficulty, but suddenly… Greg springs to his feet!

HGPIII: But… I thought you fell!
GREG: I was just messin’ with ya! You should have seen the look on your face!

He walks off stage right laughing.

HGPIII: (to himself) Well… that was weird…

He walks off stage left.

Smorgishborg: That’s all my feeble mind could muster in 5 minutes, and that’s all the time I have to write. If you’ve made it this far, well done. You get the immense satisfaction of having learned basic scriptwriting skills! Wahoo!

Fade out.
Fin.
Last edited by smorgishborg on Fri Sep 25, 2009 3:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Sat Jul 05, 2008 11:48 am
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Twit says...



Lol, very good! :D
"TV makes sense. It has logic, structure, rules, and likeable leading men. In life, we have this."


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Sun Mar 01, 2009 8:56 am
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Telina says...



Ha-ha, that was both, educational and entertaining! Well done!
  





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Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:57 am
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peanut19 says...



Smorg, that really helps me :) I'm doing Screnzy and have no clue how to write a script so thank you very much.

~peanut~
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Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:29 pm
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Kelcia says...



That's impressive, if you wrote it in five minutes. Thank you so much, I learned a lot.

-Kelcia
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Is it just me, or are the plot bunnies taking advantage of my ADD?

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Tue Apr 27, 2010 3:56 pm
Rakun says...



OMG and I was thinking to buy "SAVE THE CAT".
Thanks for teach us on this way the basic elements on play writing. I would love to know if there are another samples like yours. (short and simple).
Don't matter what, just WRITE!

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