Writing a play is very different from any other type of writing.

A few of the Basics on Playwriting: character and character development, plot and subplot, plot structure, dialogue vs monologue, the much needed premise, et cetera.

Formatting your play: Proper formatting is an important skill.   If your play is not formatted properly, literary managers, agents, directors, actors, and others may not read it.

Your skill as a writer:  The use of symbols, analogy, metaphor, image, stage props, et cetera, can be the vehicles to create your dynamic play.   Writing active, motivated, comedic or dramatic  dialogue and monologues are skills and techniques you can use,  coupled with stage props, to create various thematic and motivational levels for directors and actors to carry your story forward.

Self-Criticism: In order for your characters to succeed and your plat to be successful, you must be able to withstand and comprehend self-criticism. Identifying what in your script is good, what fits, and what works well, and what needs to be changed, set aside (never delete: save in a separate file), or adjusted.

Writing is rewriting:  Along with self-criticism, editing and rewriting go hand-in-hand.   “I am not re-writing!   I’m not changing a line!”   How many times have I heard that line?   

The process using queries as a tool:  Whether you want to or not, begin your re-write  by reading your first page.   Change the first words out of your character’s mouth from a statement to a question.   What does it do to the progression of the story?   (+/-)   Does it move the story forward?  (- / +)  Does it create a problem where there is none?    (+/-)   Try it.   If it doesn’t work... the least it will accomplish is that it will get you back into your play, by viewing it and your character from a different perspective.

Find a theater: Hosting a reading.  A stage reading versus a staged reading.   A stage reading: actors sitting to read before an audience without props or movement.  A staged reading: actors holding scripts using some props coupled with stage movement or blocking.   The latter is a little difficult, but well worth the effort especially if you have seasoned actors.  In either incidence, once you hear the actors read and interpret your words, you and your reading audience will visualize the world you have attempted to create.   Without a critique by the actors and the audience, you cannot advance the play to a full production.

What is your play about?:  This should be a given.   You must have a proposition, an hypothesis, a premise upon which your characters can to rely, after all they are the storytellers... if you don’t have a premise, they can’t relate to your audience.  Many playwrights get mired in the muck of not knowing what their play is about.   They don’t know what the focus of their play is: give your characters focus.

Write everyday: There is nothing like a writing workout everyday.   Put a minimum of two hours each day aside to write. Find a time that is good for your imagination, get up ½ hour early and do it then or go to bed later.  

Keep a journal:   It doesn’t matter if you use an actual tactile journal, the writing pad on your phone, an app on your tablet, or your computer.   The manner in which you record your ideas does not matter.   What does matter is that you’re writing down ideas.   By recording them they will stay with you and develop both consciously and subconsciously.   I keep a journal of my wildest most explicit dreams: a great idea resource.

Writing is writing:  Don’t just write plays.   Try writing a Blog, or poetry, write short stories or develop a screenplays.   All of this will help you be a better playwright.

Go see a play or several.

Read Arthur Miller’s plays.

Common Character Problems by Playwrights

Characters are not unique...They do not have an individual way of speaking. This is one of the most common problems for new playwrights... every character sounds the same, uses the same slang, dialect, etc..., normally the problem is that the characters’ voices are identical to the playwright’s manner of speaking.   

Believability...The characters do or say unbelievable things, behaving contrary to their nature without causation. (i.e. A grumpy man suddenly buying presents for the neighborhood children is unbelievable; when he has been visited by three ghosts, shown the error of his ways, and then buys the presents, the activity becomes believable.)   

Too many characters...There are characters present who are not necessary to the story being told.   A surplus of characters can confuse or muddle the story and burden the playwright as well. 

Characters are incomplete... or not “whole,” which prevents people from connecting with them and caring what happens to them. 

Questions for the Playwright to ask: 

Who is this character? 

What else might this character do? 

What might this character say? 

Why does the character do/say what he does? 

Does your character have a secret? 

What kind of mood is he in now? 

Are all of these characters necessary? 

Where is the focus of the scene? 

How does the character’s background affect what he says? 

What is his relation to the other characters? 

Do you care about this character? 

Why? 

Who is the story about? 

Playwright’s Vocabulary and Glossary.

CHARACTER:   A person in a novel, play, or movie.   

A part played by an actor.   A character wants something(s).   Characters have goals and objectives:  An actor must convey these wants, goals, and objectives to the audience.

DIALOGUE:   A conversation between two or more characters as a feature of a play.   A discussion between two or more people or between groups.

CONFLICT:   An incompatibility between two or more opinions, principles, or interests.   Obstacles that get in the way of a character achieving what he or she wants.   What the characters struggle against.

SCENE:   A sequence of continuous action(s) in a play separate from another set of continuous actions.   A single situation or unit of dialogue in a play.   The pieces of scenery used in a play.

STAGE DIRECTIONS:   Messages within the play manuscript from the playwright to the actors, technicians, and others in theater telling them what to do and how to do it.

SETTING:   The place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where  the action in a play takes place.   

BIOGRAPHY: a character’s life story that a playwright creates.

BACK STORY:   The part of the character’s life not revealed by the playwright, but can be inferred by the actor gathering his/her characters personality, character, et cetera to enhance his or her performance.

MONOLOGUE:   A long speech by one actor in a play or movie, or as part of a theatrical or broadcast program.

BEAT or PAUSE: a hesitation in a scene or dialogue, typically lasting a specified length: i.e. slight, long, a count of three, a pregnant pause, et cetera.

PLOT: the structure of a play, including exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement.   The main events of a play devised and presented by the playwright as an interrelated sequence to create the story or stories.

BLURB/EXPOSITION:   The beginning part of a plot that provides important background information.   The part of a play in which the background to the main conflict is introduced.

RISING ARCH OF THE PLOT:   The ascendant part of a plot, consisting of complications and discoveries that create conflict.

CLIMAX:   The highest point in a plot: the orgasm, so to speak.   The most intense, exciting, or important point or culmination of the action.

FALLING ACTION:   The series of events following the climax of a plot. 

DENOUEMENT: the final resolution of the conflict in a plot.   The final part of a play or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained made clear or resolved.

How to Write Better Lyrics in 3 Easy Steps

When it comes to songwriting, lyrics hold a tremendous amount of impact (unless you only write instrumentals… in which case, lucky you, you don’t have to worry about lyrics)

When mixing songs (across many genres), much of the focus is on getting vocals to sound great and have excellent placement in the mix. We emphasize the vocals and want them to be heard and understood. Considering that, if the lyrics are awful, it certainly can take away from an otherwise excellent song.

Lyrics are also another great avenue for expression. Music can make us feel so many things, but adding impactful lyrics on top of great beats and instrumentation can turn a song into something truly special.

Unfortunately, unless you’re a naturally gifted poet like Bob Dylan, or a lyrical wizard like 2Pac, writing lyrics can be quite challenging. So today, I’m going to offer up 3 easy steps to help you write better lyrics. When you sit down to put pen to paper… keep these steps in mind!

Step 1: Show, Don’t Tell
This piece of advice has been thrown around so much it’s almost cliche… still, I think it’s thrown around often because it’s just so fundamentally important. It’s the first step to writing any great lyric in my mind.

Don’t write something like I’m feeling lonely and missing you
Do write something like I count the minutes until I’ll see you again
The action verb (“count”) is key, and will draw your listener in and help them connect with the song. In my second example, the listener can see what’s happening, as opposed to simply being told about it. Action gets listeners more engaged with your song.

Step 2: Include Details
Think of lyrics like painting a picture, or telling someone a story. Would you tell your friends a story and leave out important facts? Would you paint a picture of a forest and leave out all the trees? Including detail is tremendously helpful when writing lyrics, and you should focus on that whenever you can. Now, you don’t need to go overboard with the detail of course, but consider these two examples:

Don’t write something like she throws the flowers on the ground, and runs into the house
Do write something like she throws the roses in the mud, and runs into the dingy foreclosure
Which picture or story is clearer in your head? If you can add times, locations, landmarks, brand names (e.g., for you country singers out there…don’t just write about a truck, write about a Chevy or something!), and more to your lyrics your listeners will be able to connect much more easily.

Step 3: Utilize Imagery
So far I’ve been listing actions and details which can beef up any lyric and make it better…but those tips are nothing without the use of powerful imagery. If you’re writing about intangible things such as love, joy, sadness, and anger… the use of imagery can be tremendously helpful. Consider something like this:

I slammed the door then clenched my fists as I stomped out to the car.
Clenched fists, slamming doors, stomping… these are all words that provide tangible imagery to convey something intangible (anger). The best songwriters are able to convey complex emotions, stories, and the like by using imagery.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the ways you can write better lyrics, but to me, these three steps are at the core of every great lyrical endeavor. When you sit down to write that next great song, consider these and ask yourself, “do my lyrics follow these steps?”