Brenda has added two new scenes to her play. After a reading we showed her how she can expand the dialogue of her characters to reveal their arching. In the opening scene she had one character, 'Kip', using his friends to sharpen his weak and sometimes insulting attempts at comedy, only to create doubt in their minds as to his eventual success. By turning the tables on him in the end, they allowed him a graceful exit. Glib and facetious humor on his part was countered with tongue-in-cheek, friendly, mischievous and playful humor.
"Do my characters have sufficient 'skin in the game'? If they don't, there is no reason for them to exist in the little world you have created. They serve no purpose in your play. What compels them to live in your play? Have you created a place for them to complete their arch? With any luck, your life experience will allow them to lead you where they want to go. They want you to 'advance the plot' in their direction. This is what they want, and if they don't get what they want, there will be consequences. Your characters are under constant pressure. As individuals they have different goals and different ideals and their own methods to achieve those goals.
I cannot emphasize the importance of editing and re-writing your play. Even after their work has been published, playwrights, famous as they may or not be, continue editing and re-writing their work.
"When do I get to stop re-writing? Am I ever finished?" Yes and No. "Yes" it's finished when your characters tell you "Yes, I know I'm boring, but my arch is complete. I think." And "No" when your characters continue to say, "I wouldn't say that to her. Given the predicament you have placed me, and I didn't really want to go there in the first place, why don't you just have me turn slowly and stare blankly into her face. Yes! Now I'm finished! Wait... ! One more little tidbit. Please? It'll only take a moment of your time."
"Do my characters have sufficient 'skin in the game'? If they don't, there is no reason for them to exist in the little world you have created. They serve no purpose in your play. What compels them to live in your play? Have you created a place for them to complete their arch? With any luck, your life experience will allow them to lead you where they want to go. They want you to 'advance the plot' in their direction. This is what they want, and if they don't get what they want, there will be consequences. Your characters are under constant pressure. As individuals they have different goals and different ideals and their own methods to achieve those goals.
I cannot emphasize the importance of editing and re-writing your play. Even after their work has been published, playwrights, famous as they may or not be, continue editing and re-writing their work.
"When do I get to stop re-writing? Am I ever finished?" Yes and No. "Yes" it's finished when your characters tell you "Yes, I know I'm boring, but my arch is complete. I think." And "No" when your characters continue to say, "I wouldn't say that to her. Given the predicament you have placed me, and I didn't really want to go there in the first place, why don't you just have me turn slowly and stare blankly into her face. Yes! Now I'm finished! Wait... ! One more little tidbit. Please? It'll only take a moment of your time."
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