Question
How do I write a stageplay?
I want to write a stageplay, but I am just a business student and I dont even know where to start. Any ideas? Thanks.
Answer
First Ill tell you how you do NOT start. You do NOT start by sitting down and writing a play...You have to do the background work first. Oh, and you also dont start by thinking, quotI have something to TELL EVERYBODY!quot Odds are everybody already knows it, and any play that starts like that will be a sermon, not a play...brbrYou start with something you feel about lifeor even better, something you do not understand, and want to explore. You then consider what type of person embodies this feeling or questiona central character. Who can be like or unlike you, doesnt matter as long as they WANT SOMETHING AND ARE WILLING TO GO AFTER IT. You spend time in your head with that persongetting to know them, talking to them, writing down who they are and what they tell you about themselves. You learn why they want that something, and what theyre willing to do to get it. And thenthis is the simplest constructyou give them something in their way trying to stop them, preferably another character. Who you ALSO spend time with in your head, trying to find out why theyre so determined to stop the first character. And then you find a place or places for them to exist in, and set them in motion.brbrIts the essence of drama a protagonist, an antagonist, and conflict. The harder the protagonist goes after what they want, the harder the antagonist tries to stop themuntil, at the climax, the main character either gets what they want or fails, or changes somehow. Break down any major play, and its still the same Hamlet wants to kill his uncle, his uncle doesnt want to get killed. Takes hours, but by the end, Uncles dead. Of course, sos Hamlet... And DURING all that which is written down in paper in the form of dialogue, and descriptions of physical action, we will learn what you learned about them, take the journey you took in writing it, and presumably end up feeling the same feelings you felt that led you to write it.brbrSuggestions for a first play keep it shorta halfhour is plenty thats about pages. Keep it simplea couple of characters working out one issue. Try to keep it in one placeits a play, not a movie. Dont write the script until youre ready the more time you spend writing character backgrounds, outlines, notes to yourself, etc. the faster the actual script will gobut if you try to start writing dialogue on Day One, you wont get very far, because you wont know who these people are youre writing about. Write a practice scene for yourself to see how it workssay, Man A wants Woman B to go out with him, and she doesnt want to. Write pages to see how they work it out. Dont sweat dialoguesay whatever these people would really say, even if its not brilliant. What matters most is the action trying to get something, however big or small, and either succeeding or failing. Finally it doesnt have to be perfectthats what drafts are for. Dont criticize yourself while youre writing allow yourself to write as much crap as you need to in order to get to the good stuff. brbrEDIT while were at it, heres some other things not to sweat FORMATyou can fix format later. Write first. People who are preoccupied with format arent writers, theyre word processors. STAGE DESIGNtheatres hire perfectly talented people to figure that out for you. Your job is to write the play, not design it. quotBobs apartmentmorningquot or whatever is all you have to say. STAGE DIRECTIONStheatres ALSO hire perfectly nice people called directors to take care of that. Dont waste your time obsessing with quotBob goes to the window stage rightquotits the first thing the director will ignore anyway. WORRYING ABOUT AGENTS, THEATRES, READINGS, ORGANiZATIONS, or anything else having to do with BUSINESSyou have no play, so you have nothing to sell. Therell be plenty of time to deal with that later. I know Jon Dorfhes a great guy, and his advice is excellentfor AFTER youve written a play, not before. Your job now is to go off by yourself and write whats in your head, in any way that works for you and taking as much time as you want. THATS ALL.brbrOh, and have fun. After all, its only a play...
