Period 3 (until 9:30):
Please clean up, edit, and prepare your drafts of the Epistolary project. I have Group B's shared file, but both A & B can still revise/work on their project. Group A, make sure you share your Google file with me by 9:30 (bradley.craddock@rcsdk12.org); We will share these stories with the class next week. Please complete a self/peer evaluation for up to 2 other group members.
Period 3/4: Discussion & Blog Post on The Writing Life (chapter 1)
Blog post (until 9:45ish): On YOUR blog, please post a response to The Writing Life by Annie Dillard.
One way to publish your work (Writing for Publication) is to win a writing contest. We will (and have) entered a variety of writing contests. Our next one is a play contest from local Regional theater Geva. Selected plays will be presented in readings this year and then full productions next year. This is an opportunity to see your words acted by professional actors and gain a professional writing credit.
The contest rules are as follows:
A sketch is a short play or slight dramatic performance. It differs from a play in that there is not necessarily a major theme or point in the sketch. Usually sketches are simply meant to be enjoyed. Most sketches attempt to be funny. Deep discussion dealing with the human condition is left to PLAYS.
Sketch Writing:
1) Choose a setting. Avoid common set-ups. Think original. Only set the sketch in one location.
2) If you're trying to sell your material [or enter a contest], don't put in anything expensive like a helicopter [or car]. Most TV shows [or theaters] are on a tight budget.
3) Three [or four] characters is more than enough for a short sketch. Don't write for a big cast. Avoid crowd scenes where the actors do not speak.
4) Think about what is happening visually as well as the words you use to communicate an idea. Be specific! A speckled trout wearing a fake mustache is funnier or more vivid in the audience's mind than a fish.
Types of Sketches
To help you get going, here's a few tried and tested comedy formats for sketches.
1) Escalation: Funny idea starts small and gets bigger and bigger, ending in chaos of ridiculous proportions.
2) Lists: Sketches in which the bulk of the dialogue is a long list of funny items. The best example of this is "Cheese Shop" in Monty Python. (You can find all the Python sketches at www.planetcomedy.force9.co.uk/bookstore.html.)
3) Mad Man, Sane Man (opposites): This format speaks for itself, but don't go for obvious settings.
4) Dangerous Situations: For example, sketch set on a flight deck of aircraft.
5) Funny Words: Sketches which use the sound of language itself to be funny. For example, use of the words "blobby" or "wobble"; Names can be funny if you want people to think of your work as comedy or humorous. Some names are just funny: Aloysious Butterbean is a funnier name than Tom Johnson or man.
6) Old and New: Getting a laugh from putting something modern in an historical setting (Or, vice versa) Example: Abraham Lincoln using a cigarette lighter shaped like a handgun. Benjamin Franklin inventing the fidget spinner, Alexander the Great using a cell phone, Jesus dining at the Cheesecake Factory, etc.
7) Big and Small. Getting humor from large differences in scale. For example, a pig trying to make love to an elephant (South Park).
Look here for samples of fine sketch writing:
Please clean up, edit, and prepare your drafts of the Epistolary project. I have Group B's shared file, but both A & B can still revise/work on their project. Group A, make sure you share your Google file with me by 9:30 (bradley.craddock@rcsdk12.org); We will share these stories with the class next week. Please complete a self/peer evaluation for up to 2 other group members.
Period 3/4: Discussion & Blog Post on The Writing Life (chapter 1)
Blog post (until 9:45ish): On YOUR blog, please post a response to The Writing Life by Annie Dillard.
- What lines or passages from Dillard's chapter did you find to be well written? Why, in your opinion, are they well written? What is Dillard doing that WORKS in her writing?
- How do you relate to Dillard's observations/advice about writing? Is she right about writing? Is there any passage in the chapter that you found to be TRUE for YOU? (make sure you quote the passage in your blog post so a reader knows to what you are referring...!)
- Finally, what is your own relationship with writing? Explain in the post what works for you or what you think of writing as an Art form?
- I'd like us to consider a few passages in the chapter that pertain to us as writers
- I'd also like to know if you had questions about what you read, or comments about the chapter
- Overall, we'll discuss the life/experience of a writer
One way to publish your work (Writing for Publication) is to win a writing contest. We will (and have) entered a variety of writing contests. Our next one is a play contest from local Regional theater Geva. Selected plays will be presented in readings this year and then full productions next year. This is an opportunity to see your words acted by professional actors and gain a professional writing credit.
The contest rules are as follows:
- Showcase date: Saturday, May 5
- Submission deadline: March 1, 2018
- Eligible for students in Monroe County aged 13-18 (You!)
- Your submission should have a tile page with your name, full address (including zip code), phone #, and an e-mail address
- Plays should be between 5-10 pages (no scripts under 4 pages, or over 10 pages!)
- No more than 8 characters (I would suggest 3-5 at most)--the shorter the play the smaller the cast!
- Submit plays online to: youngwriters@gevatheatre.org
- Plays must be in .doc or .pdf format
- Do not submit your play until we've had time to workshop/edit it!
A sketch is a short play or slight dramatic performance. It differs from a play in that there is not necessarily a major theme or point in the sketch. Usually sketches are simply meant to be enjoyed. Most sketches attempt to be funny. Deep discussion dealing with the human condition is left to PLAYS.
Sketch Writing:
1) Choose a setting. Avoid common set-ups. Think original. Only set the sketch in one location.
2) If you're trying to sell your material [or enter a contest], don't put in anything expensive like a helicopter [or car]. Most TV shows [or theaters] are on a tight budget.
3) Three [or four] characters is more than enough for a short sketch. Don't write for a big cast. Avoid crowd scenes where the actors do not speak.
4) Think about what is happening visually as well as the words you use to communicate an idea. Be specific! A speckled trout wearing a fake mustache is funnier or more vivid in the audience's mind than a fish.
Types of Sketches
To help you get going, here's a few tried and tested comedy formats for sketches.
1) Escalation: Funny idea starts small and gets bigger and bigger, ending in chaos of ridiculous proportions.
2) Lists: Sketches in which the bulk of the dialogue is a long list of funny items. The best example of this is "Cheese Shop" in Monty Python. (You can find all the Python sketches at www.planetcomedy.force9.co.uk/bookstore.html.)
3) Mad Man, Sane Man (opposites): This format speaks for itself, but don't go for obvious settings.
4) Dangerous Situations: For example, sketch set on a flight deck of aircraft.
5) Funny Words: Sketches which use the sound of language itself to be funny. For example, use of the words "blobby" or "wobble"; Names can be funny if you want people to think of your work as comedy or humorous. Some names are just funny: Aloysious Butterbean is a funnier name than Tom Johnson or man.
6) Old and New: Getting a laugh from putting something modern in an historical setting (Or, vice versa) Example: Abraham Lincoln using a cigarette lighter shaped like a handgun. Benjamin Franklin inventing the fidget spinner, Alexander the Great using a cell phone, Jesus dining at the Cheesecake Factory, etc.
7) Big and Small. Getting humor from large differences in scale. For example, a pig trying to make love to an elephant (South Park).
Look here for samples of fine sketch writing:
- Marty Feldman: The Bookseller Sketch
- The Cheese Shop Sketch: Monty Python's Flying Circus
- The Dead Parrot Sketch: Monty Python's Flying Circus
- Self Defense Against Fruit Sketch: Monty Python's Flying Circus
- Italian Lesson: Monty Python's Flying Circus
- The Headmaster Sketch: Rowan Atkinson
Try your own hand at writing a 5-6 page sketch. Skip a line between each line (but do not double space scripts!) Describe your setting before you begin. Give each character in your scene a specific action to do. Scripts are not due yet! We'll work on them next week as well!
HOMEWORK: None. If you did not complete your 4th blog post in class or are missing work, please complete on your own time.
HOMEWORK: None. If you did not complete your 4th blog post in class or are missing work, please complete on your own time.
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