Sketch Writing: Conclusion; Workshop & Revision

1. Read the advice about playwriting.
2. Get into your reading/workshop groups and help each other succeed.
3. Go back to your computer and correct, add, edit, cut, check grammar, of your play script. Prepare it for Geva's contest.

Some advice about playwriting: (please read)

• People tell stories all the time. Listen for them and you'll soon start spotting them everywhere, from newspapers to bits of overheard conversation. You'll hear a lot in the hallways,  lunchroom, restaurants, bathrooms, and classrooms. Pay attention to how people tell stories.
• Ask yourself what your story is. You could try summarizing it in a sentence or two in your journal and/or sticking it by your computer, so you can keep it in mind while writing.
• Get into the habit of writing. If you're short on time, try writing little but often. Start with 1/2 a page per period, then move to 1 page per period. Soon you'll be writing 1.5 or 2 pages per period. Go with the flow!
• Write, then worry about whether or not it's good. Stop beating yourself up! Writing is a process. Let it process...
• Overwrite, then cut or edit. Avoid editing while you are writing, as this breaks your stride. 
• Give your main character obstacles to overcome. He/she should have changed by the end of the play, if only fractionally.
• What are your characters' wants and objectives? These might change from moment to moment.
• Make your characters extraordinary or larger than life in some way. people generally don't spill their guts to other people. Let these people spill their guts. Everything they want or think or do should be part of your dialogue.
• Think about the subtext of your dialogue and remember that people often don't say what they want to say - or say the opposite of what they think.
• You might find it useful to interview your characters. Assume the identity of one of your characters and get someone to ask you questions about yourself. Or ask questions yourself of your characters. One easy way to do this is to have a character on stage ask another character on stage why he or she is saying, doing, or acting that way. Have characters ask questions to each other! Their answers will build your backstory and characterization.
• Read your play out loud to yourself. Or better yet, gather your friends and read it out loud together!
• Women tend to write subconsciously, men tend to plan more. Do whatever works for you! Plan if you need to, improvise if you need to. The important thing is to write!

Please complete your workshop today and (when you are done) revise and/or complete your play scripts for Geva's contest. See the advice above for some help and/or motivation.

I'll stop class around 9:25 to prepare you to submit your play draft to the contest. Details will follow.

If you finish revising, editing your play before the end of class, take a look at some of these play writing tips:

• How to Write a One-Act Play
• Writing a Stage Play versus Writing a Film Script
• Devil Can't Write No Love Song (SNL sketch)

HOMEWORK: None.