What's the Secret to Writing a Great Play?

by Troy M. Hughes
The Internet Writing Journal, August 1997
Blanche DuBois says, "I've always depended on the kindness of strangers." Linda
Loman advises us that "Attention, attention must finally be paid to such a person." As
readers, theatre patrons, or moviegoers, we all know these lines. They seem so
simple, yet their power and relevance have not diminished in hundreds of
performances over the many years since Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller
penned them.
Why? What is it that makes a great play great? Characters? Plots? Wisdom?
Honesty?
It is all of these things and, of course, more.
But when we sit down with a play in mind, how do we put it to paper effectively?
How, when the last page is done, do we know if we have a viable piece of work?
While ultimately, this is subjective, there are many ways to approach writing a play
which will facilitate finding out whether or not you achieved your goal of writing a
great play.
First of all, as in all things, you must know your medium: the theatre. If you are a
constant movie watcher, don't write plays. Even the largest stage cannot
accommodate car chases and explosions.
And, for Heaven's sake, actually go see a play!

"Avoid idealizing
characters. The
ideal person does
not exist. Hamlet
was a great guy.
But let's admit it,
the man had a
problem making
decisions."

To write truly effective theatre, you must immerse yourself in

the medium. Go to your local community theatre and
volunteer to work backstage, or even just go to watch some
rehearsals. Learn the limitations of space and live action;
there are many. Learn that less is often more in the theatre.
Learn that Johnny cannot turn into a werewolf in 5 minutes
during a play; the make-up people will entertain murderous
thoughts towards you, and it is highly unlikely that it can be done that quickly. Learn
to give Johnny a good amount of time for his transformation. Use the intermission, or
write plenty of good scenes in between. The more you know about theatre before
you sit down to write your play, the better equipped you will be to begin.
In playwriting, less truly is more. Take a look at the Plays section of The Writers
Market. A high percentage of the guidelines listed in this useful resource call for
plays with only four to six characters: a very small number. Many of the companies
buying rights to original plays are ensemble groups with a small core of actors -- and
small budgets.

You will want to write small, as well. Think in terms of a singular setting. Consider
some of the best plays of all time: Death of a Salesman, The Glass Menagerie,
and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? All of these plays take place in a single setting:
one room, or one unchanging collection of rooms. Keep in mind the unities of Time,
Place and Action. While theatrical aesthetics may change over time, you will find that
people still love a play that begins at the beginning and proceeds in a linear fashion
through to the end. Writing multiple scene changes, 10-year gaps in time and action
will alienate your audience; they want to get to know and care about your
characters.
Imagine hearing of a friend's crisis when it happens, then hearing only of the
aftermath at a much later date. You have been "left hanging", wondering whatever
happened. What was the resolution of the tragedy? You move on and later find out
the ending. You would have missed primary developmental moments in your friend's
life. He/she would be a different person, and you might not feel comfortable with
them or, at the least, it would take awhile to catch up on past events. The same thing
happens to theatre audiences. You only have a couple of hours. Don't waste them by
alienating your audience with flashbacks, large time gaps, and other devices that are
better suited to film or novels.
You now have characters, a setting, and an incredible idea for a plot. How do you
start? Where do you start? Successful plays often start in the middle of something. In
Tennessee Williams' short play The Lady of Larkspur Lotion we find our protagonist
confronted by her landlady on the first page. The landlady is demanding the rent.
This is an excellent device for introducing conflict and exposition. In the first
moments of this play we learn about the landlady, the protagonist, and their
relationship. The bonus is that we are immediately propelled into the action. People
have to be interested in what is happening to really hear what you want to say. Get
your audience into the action quickly and keep them there.
Characterization is crucial. Always remember that motivation is the key to strong
characterization. Your characters must have a strong want or need that will enable
them to take risks to get what they desire. Profile your characters before writing, so
that you know them intimately. Avoid "author intrusion": imposing your will as an
author on your characters. As a writer, you are in essence creating a life. Just as you
would with your own children, you must allow them to be themselves. Always ask
yourself, "Would my character really speak or behave that way?" You must not
interfere with your characters' pursuit of their goals.
To test your dialogue, get to know some actors and ask them to read your work
aloud. A good actor has a sense of character, and will tell you if what is on the page
"feels right". You may not agree, however, the experience definitely will be useful. A
play must be heard to really be understood. Hearing your words come to life will tell

you whether or not you achieved what you had in mind.

In order to develop a character with a mind and a distinctive sense of self, you must
know all there is to know about her/him. You must know where the character lives
and why. What does he or she do for a living? Is the character educated? Age,
religious beliefs, political leanings, and social behavior are all parts of a person.
These items may not be revealed in the final work, but a strong character study
enables you to create a round and dimensional character. Think of all the influences
and experiences in your own life that brought you to where you are today. Every one
affected you, and affects you still. This may require a great deal of research. You
may need to write a character that is agoraphobic, while you intensely enjoy the
outdoors and the company of others. You cannot be every character you write. While
I believe that a piece of us resides in every character we develop, we are not
effective if we write ourselves.
Avoid idealizing characters. The ideal person does not exist. Hamlet was a great guy.
But let's admit it, the man had a problem making decisions. Othello trusted the wrong
man; he had bad judgment. Don't be afraid of giving your characters a flaw, or even
two. After all, nobody is perfect.
In my estimation, a good play says something to humanity about humanity. Family,
love, death: these are things we all deal with and with which we identify. The
pyrotechnics and helicopters of the large-scale musical theatre production have their
place and are entertaining, but I still believe in the essential human desire to be
touched and moved to catharsis. Read the play Night Mother, by Marsha Norman. It
is a play with no intermission which takes us through a mother's struggle to convince
her daughter not to commit suicide. It is cathartic in performance. People don't
necessarily need to leave the theatre happy to have enjoyed the performance.
Finally, never forget the effectiveness of action. Think of William Gibson's The
Miracle Worker, the story of Helen Keller. There is a very long non-verbal scene in
Act II that is well-worth reviewing. Non-verbal action can reveal much about a
character, as well as be intriguing to an audience. Look for it in plays you see, and
use it in your writing.
As you know by now, writing is not easy. It can be a painful and trying experience, to
say the least. But if you have the desire to be heard and a need to convey your
vision, you will be successful. Remember to know your medium. Strive to write
efficiently and from the heart. If a director can visualize your story and an actor wants
to play the role, you will have an excellent chance of getting your play produced.

5 Scriptwriting Tips That Will Make Any Story Better

Whether its a work of fiction, a poem, or the narrative of a soul, good writing pulls
the reader into the reality of its words and imprints an experience in the minds eye
as real as any staged play.
After 30 years of scriptwriting, Ive found a handful of techniques that can help tell
any story.
Establish and maintain a clear voice
In a well-written play, each character has his own speech patterns. Some ramble;
some utter grunts. Some use flowery language; others are coarse. If they all sound
alike, none feel genuine, and the audience senses a disconnect.
Likewise, our voice our character, if you will should not sound like everyone
else. We may admire the way another person writes, but if we emulate too closely,
we rob readers of diversity and run the risk of presenting only a stale copy.
If we are writing a work that requires more than one voice, we should be careful that
no given speaker flips back and forth between sounding like Dr. Spock and Anne of
Green Gables. That gets very distracting. Each voice should be distinct and
consistent to ensure fluidity and credibility.
This is not to say that a writer cannot be poetic and verbose in one essay, and
practical and concise in another. But within a given text or persona, we need tomake
the voice clear.
Speak in vernacular
Characters on a stage need to convey their personalities through the way they
speak, and the more natural the speech is, the more accessible the character. That
is partly why plays are not written to sound like chemistry text books.

Depending on the venue, grammar rules can and ought to be flexible. Avoiding split
infinitives, for instance, is a rule left over from Latin where infinitives are one word,
not two. Is it really going to thoroughly unravel the message if I say I need to quickly
run to the store for more eggs? Of course not. And half of you probably didnt catch
the mistake anyway.
In casual writing, following stuffy, prescriptive rules, with all those to whoms and
with whiches feels like legalese, not a blog post from a friend.
Intentional disregard for a rule can create a timing or mood effect that enhances the
writing. Conscious use of fragments, for example, can direct pacing or add
emphasis. And its how people talk. (Anyone who has ever had to transcribe candid
speech can tell you that. Some sentences contain more switchbacks and drop-offs
than a hike in the Gorge.)
A word of caution: natural is not the same thing as sloppy.
It is a mistake to think that grammatical conventions are unimportant. They provide
clarity. A communication world without proper punctuation gets messy and confused
very quickly. (Youve all seen the Lets eat Grandma! vs. Lets eat, Grandma!
example, right?)
Thus we need to know the rules of grammar well enough to know when and how we
can break them.
Give stage directions
In a script, there are often cues given to the actors as to how they should say their
line:
[Sadly], [Hesitating], [While toppling off the desk].
Sometimes we need to tell our readers how to hear the lines we are delivering. In
casual writing, this usually involves things like bolds, italics, CAPS em dashes
or ellipses
These tools, like the tweaks in grammar, aid in a sense of timing or emphasis, which
in turn help convey the intended mood.

That said, we can overuse these tools easily. We should write the first draft without
all the doodads, and then read it aloud to find out where the natural words of
emphasis are.
Are they obvious? Or could someone logically punch up a different word, and
thereby change the meaning? If so, add the cue.
But if it is 99% likely that the average reader will interpret the sentence the same way
you do, then leave out the markers. It gets too visually busy and pulls away from the
import of the words that do receive special font treatment.
Show, dont tell
Although it is occasionally necessary to have a Narrator explain exposition in a play,
thats usually deemed a cop-out for a script writer. Audiences should ideally be able
to pick up on the context from the dialog and action.
A well-placed line can give attentive listeners information about the past and clues
about the future. Likewise, we dont need to say, This is a story about a youth
coming of age blah blah blah
We need to paint the story of growth and self-realization through the events and
images in our writing. Our readers are smart enough. Theyll figure it out.
We can get our message across without stating and restating the obvious.
Leave em hanging
No playwright wants that 15-minute intermission to turn into an opportunity to slip out
the back door.
Well-crafted scripts make sure that questions are left unanswered and conflicts left
unresolved at the end of each act so that the audience will keep coming back for
more.

When writing, we need to be aware of the adrenaline levels of our readers. Are they
up? Are they metaphorically on the edge of their seats, wanting more? Good. Time to
end the chapter.
Because then they have to start the next one just to see what happens next, of
course. And then theyre hooked for the next umpteen pages because no one wants
to put the book down in the middle of a chapter. It isnt right.
Every writer wants to hear,
It was a page-turner. I couldnt put it down!
So dont let them put it down. Except sometimes you really ought to. One can have
too much of a good thing. There are times when you should grant a degree of
resolution, a glimmer of understanding, a moment of rest.
But always with the feeling that there is more to come. Even when there isnt.

Tips on Writing a Good Script

Writing a Script for a Movie

Have you ever gone to a movie that had famous actors and a great director, but the
movie was not good? Many believe the magic is in the script. If the characters arent
developed well, if the story lags or doesnt keep your interest, then million dollar stars
cant make it work.
Following are some points to ponder when preparing to write a script.

You need to watch movies, especially the classics. They are called classics
for a reason, and they will thrill and inspire.
Keep the main plot simple. If there is too much going on, the general
population wont get it. Think accessibility, not complexity.
Have a strong start; to capture and hold the audiences attention.
The structure is usually beginning, middle, and end, but that doesnt mean
they have to be revealed in that order. Flash backs and flash forwards can help
to keep the audience engaged.
Make sure you have an overall goal or point to your story. There needs to be a
reason for telling the story.
A movie should last at least 90 minutes. As a rule of thumb, a page of script
equals one minute on the screen. It has to be very good to be longer. The reason
for this is that if it is over 100 minutes, the theatres lose one showing of it every
day.
Use must have a protagonist, a main character. It can be one or more people,
a thing, or a place. He does not always have to be extremely likeable, but he
does have to be interesting. In fact, character flaws can add a touch more reality
and make audiences empathize.
A workable premise is important. Even if the whole idea is unbelievable, there
are parts of the movie that will be logical and believable. With all the talking cars
and toys of late, you can see this point. Toys dont talk or move by themselves,
but in these movies they behaved in a human way, which made the audience
accept them and the premise.
Be true to yourself and dont just mimic others. If you do something that has
never been done, then that could really make your screenplay stand out.

Like so many other things, you need a talent for screenwriting and also lots of
practice. Any aptitude will need refining and skills need to be strengthened. Keep at it
and you may surprise yourself.

Writing a Script for a Play

Many of the same premises of writing a movie also exist when writing a play. The
three big differences are:

A play is about desire, and we see the characters sometimes fail and
sometimes succeed.
In a play, the story has to be visual as well as auditory. A lot can be said from
the action on stage.
The relationships between characters are critical to a plays success. There
are no car chases and special effects, so the people are what it is all about. If
you, as the writer, care about the characters, then the audience will also care.
Only have as many characters as you really need.

Remember that you are writing for a small stage, not a big screen. That is another
reason why the development of the characters is so important. Also, do not have a
lot of scene changes or jump around in time too much. Many great plays had only a
few rooms on stage. If there are too many scenes and gaps in time, you may lose
the attention of the audience.
Writing a Script for Television
In addition to the tips on writing a good script mentioned earlier, here are some tips
on writing a television show.

Watch a lot of different shows, especially award winning shows. Pay attention
to your reactions, what you liked and didnt like, and what happened right before
a commercial. Get a script online and follow along, noticing how the script
translates to the screen.
When you decide what kind of show you want to write, research it. If you want
to write shows about the police, then study police procedures. Watch shows in
the same genre and figure out a way for yours to be different.
Outline the plot. Then outline the story and write down the basic action. Next,
figure out where the commercial breaks will be and make sure you leave the
audience wanting to keep watching.
Develop your characters as this is crucial to a good show. You will need main
characters that are there most of the time and supporting characters that show
up occasionally. Develop backgrounds for each character and keep track of
mannerisms and catch phrases for each.
Write on a schedule. Most writers will write most days. If you get writers
block, then go to another scene and come back to it later.

You need to revise, revise, and revise. This is key to improving your show. Rewrite
and proofread, making sure every word counts. You may want to join a writers group
that proofreads and critiques each others' work.