Play

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Play

Writing a play gives you the opportunity to let your imagination soar—freedom some students love and others find intimidating. Breaking your creative writing project into manageable tasks can make it a little easier.

Task 1: Requirements

Make sure you understand what your teacher expects of you. Review all of the information you have about the assignment and verify that you can answer the following questions. If you don’t know an answer, ask your teacher.

When is your play due?

Are you required to write your play on a particular topic?

Did your teacher provide any other guidelines for your assignment?

Task 2: Topic

Whether you’re starting from scratch or your teacher gave you a starting point—such as a general theme or setting—your first job is to decide what to write about.

1. Start by brainstorming. Don’t censor yourself—write down any ideas that come to mind. If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas, consider using something that you know, such as a hobby or a special interest.

Once you have a few ideas down on paper, pick the one that most appeals to you. Example: Your teacher asks you to write a play from the perspective of a teenager. You’ve learned a lot about children from your after school job at a day care, so you decide to write about a teenager who is raising a younger sibling by himself.

2. Define the goal of your play. Every story has a reason for being told. What is yours? Example: Your play will illustrate the difficulties that a teenage boy and his younger brother experience in their life without parents.

Task 3: Plot and elements

Writing a play is a lot like writing a story. Once you’ve come up with an idea and a goal, it’s time to flesh out the elements of your story—that is, the theme, setting, point of view, characters, and plot.

1. Write a brief plot summary. Include a beginning, middle, and ending, as well as any possible plot twists. Example: You’ve decided to write about a day in the life of a teenager who shoplifts a gold bracelet and intends to sell it to a classmate for enough money to buy his younger brother a baseball glove. On the way out of the department store, the teenager is detained by store security, who calls the police. The police take the teen to the police station.

2. Identify the elements of your piece. These components may vary depending on the kind of fiction you are writing, but they typically include:

Theme

Setting

Point of view

Characters

Plot

3. Once you’ve identified the main elements of your play, begin to flesh them out. Example: Your play portrays the difficulty of two brothers’ life without parents (theme) by looking at a day in the life of a teenage boy (main character). Also appearing are the teen’s younger brother, the little brother’s Little League coach and teammates, a store security guard, and police officers and personnel at the police station (supporting characters). The action takes place at a baseball diamond, at a department store, and at the police station (setting). The story is narrated by the teen (point of view).

Task 4: Rough draft

Now that you’ve laid the foundations for your play, it’s finally time to start writing.

1. Take a few minutes to map the plot sequence of the story. That is, figure out what is going to happen in your play, when it happens, and how it happens. (Hint: In 50 words or less, summarize the action.) Example: The teen’s younger brother needs a baseball glove, but the brothers don’t have any money. The teen decides to steal a mall-store bracelet to sell to a classmate. The teen is caught; the police are called. The police proceed with punishing the teen; but they also take up a collection for a baseball glove for the little brother.

2. Write. Tell your story through your characters. As you write, let your imagination roam freely. Think about how your story will unfold on stage. Don’t get distracted by spelling, punctuation, or grammar. Right now your job is to have fun and be creative. Pay attention to each of the play’s elements and expand on them as you write. Example: Set the scene. When you place the teen at the baseball diamond, take time to describe it. Is the diamond part of a park? What sounds can our teen hear at the park?

Develop your characters. Let the reader know who these people are. Give them personality traits that will come through on a stage. Describe how they dress, talk, or act. Hint at their personalities. Make them real.

Focus on dialogue. Tell your story through your characters and stage scenery. Writing dialogue is one of the biggest challenges for playwrights. Though we all know how to talk, writing words that will sound natural or credible when spoken is no easy feat. For direction, listen to how others speak. Try taping a conversation you have with friends to get a feel for the rhythm and flow of language.

3. Relax! The hardest part is behind you. If you can spare the time, don’t even think about your play for a day or two. This will help you approach the next step with a fresh eye.

Task 5: Rewrite

As any playwright will tell you, rewriting is one of the most important parts of the creative writing process.

1. Read your play again with a critical eye, asking yourself the following questions:

Does your opening grab attention?

Did you tell your story? Will viewers understand it?

Did you develop your characters and scenes sufficiently?

Have you provided enough detail to give viewers a sense of what’s to come without giving the plot away?

Does it have an ending, or will your audience be left hanging?

2. Rework any parts of your play that don’t work well. Don’t be afraid to change a setting, introduce a new character, or even cut characters that don’t play significant roles.

Task 6: Final draft

You’re almost done.

1. Run a spell check on your play.

2. Read your play from start to finish, the same way your teacher will. Fix any grammar mistakes or other errors you find.

3. Once you’re satisfied your play represents your best effort, get a second opinion. Ask a parent or other trusted person to read your piece with a critical eye and to give you feedback. Make any changes you think necessary.

4. Read the play one last time to make sure you didn’t introduce any new errors.

5. Hand in your work. Congratulations!