(Once upon a time -also known as last year - I wrote a series of articles outlining what I thought were interesting observations and tips for surviving a 24 hour play festival. In honor if the upcoming Late Summer Night's Play Festival, I've decided to revisit them by reposting them again here. Of course, I have some new thoughts and perspectives to add this year, which I will note with groovy purple text.)
So you want to write a play, do you? How long do you want to take? A year? Few months?
So you want to write a play, do you? How long do you want to take? A year? Few months?
Oh. A day. You’re insane.
Oh, not a day. Half that time? You’re even more insane. But you are perfect material for a 24-hour play festival like Winter’s Tales. But before you get your laptop cracking and begin a steady infusion of caffeine, let me give you a few pointers to get you going.
Your real reward will be seeing your work take life at the end of the cycle. Your best chance for reaping that benefit is to make sure that you build the proper framework for the rest of the participants to work with.
Know Your Limitations – Time! Part 1
There are two time constraints to keep in mind. The first is a real time barrier of roughly eight hours. That’s how long you’ll have to plot, write, edit, and submit your script. But also keep in mind that that given time frame is overnight during the first day of the festival. So unless you’re a natural night owl (or you just have an out of whack metabolism), consider that you will have slightly less time than that as your body begins to slow down over the course of the morning.
What this means is that your best bet for success is to come up with all of your major ideas and plotting as early as possible. I’m not big on outlining, but if you need it, then go ahead and do it early. I’ll go a further step and suggest that you script several possible ideas/outlines in the first hour or so. Because if an idea goes south on you, you don’t want to be sitting around at 1AM in the morning with no idea of what to go to next.
(I don't know if I can stress enough to first time writers how important an early start is. If you get a good jump, you can be done in a few hours. If things go badly, you'll be sitting up the rest of the morning banging your head against the wall to finish. Having survived this process for several years, I feel comfortable saying that fatigue will definitely become a factor if you don't come prepared for it...)
(I don't know if I can stress enough to first time writers how important an early start is. If you get a good jump, you can be done in a few hours. If things go badly, you'll be sitting up the rest of the morning banging your head against the wall to finish. Having survived this process for several years, I feel comfortable saying that fatigue will definitely become a factor if you don't come prepared for it...)
Know Your Limitations – Time! Part 2
Your second time constraint is a writing barrier. The desired length for your written show is 10 minutes. That translates to about 10 pages of scripted text. I would strongly suggest that you use a piece of formatting software to write your script. That will help put the pieces into proper perspective, make them easier to read for others, and help give the proper spacing/format to actually pan out to ten minutes. There are several free options available if you ever want to make use of them (I’m somewhat fond of Celtx, myself).
(Not much more to say here. Except please try to format and write for under ten minutes. Seriously, as a performer, it is a nightmare when your "10-page" script ends up being a 15-minute marathon. If you are using lengthy or heavy exchanges, consider dropping your page count by a page or two to compensate. Just saying.)
(Not much more to say here. Except please try to format and write for under ten minutes. Seriously, as a performer, it is a nightmare when your "10-page" script ends up being a 15-minute marathon. If you are using lengthy or heavy exchanges, consider dropping your page count by a page or two to compensate. Just saying.)
Find Your Comfort Zone
Every writer will occasionally feel the need to challenge themselves creatively. I will suggest that you pick another time to do so. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that your piece cannot be thoughtful, inventive, or even abstract. But if that’s not your wheelhouse, this is probably the wrong time to indulge that whim.
I know the feeling well. I thought, foolishly so, that it would be a good idea to go with an abstract concept for my writing last summer. How did it go? How many times have I mentioned dumping my first concept, again…? (Okay, it occurs to me that I haven't said it in a while. The first time I tried writing for one of these, I had set in my head to create some sort of meta-physical, birth to death, transformative piece that ended up being too meta for its own good. It took way too long to try to write, and no one was going to get what I was shooting for, anyway. So I ended up ditching the idea around 1 AM an starting from scratch. I do not recommend this...)
Just keep in mind that with only hours to work and several other constraints to consider, choosing to right outside of the box is just giving yourself one more handicap. And speaking of other constraints…
Consider Your Directors – Setting the Stage
Naturally, your script should not detail things that will be difficult or impossible for someone to create in under a day. That doesn’t mean that you can’t use certain settings; it just means that you need to consider the environment.
(After the mini-chaos of the first few events, the constraints put on writers have been adjusted to make this considerationa lot easier to manage. In short, if the item(s) for your script aren't at the theater, then you can't use them. It's just simpler that way. And honestly, you shouldn't be weighing down directors and actors with these things to begin with...)
Consider Your Directors – Making the Moves
My favorite part of any script is the dialogue. It’s probably the thing that most clearly reflects itself in my head as I think up ideas. But even with that, I recognize that a script does need some stage directions. This is less a play-by-play of each and every action a character will make and is, again, a framework for the director and actors to work with.
When considering what actions to include and exclude, I tend to ask myself the question: “Is this action important to the scene or my vision?” If the answer is yes, then that action goes in with as much detail as necessary. If not, then I tend to leave it open. The trick is in balancing making a clear picture with tying a director’s hand with lofty descriptions.
(Add to this that your technical directions will also need to remain simplified. Plays will need to be be lights up, lights down with very little if any technical work in between. In fact, plan for having no major tech work in your show. Again, simpler is better.)
(Add to this that your technical directions will also need to remain simplified. Plays will need to be be lights up, lights down with very little if any technical work in between. In fact, plan for having no major tech work in your show. Again, simpler is better.)
Consider Your Actors – Casting Call
If history is any indicator, there will be limited resources with regards to performers. Even if there is a wide berth of performers to choose from (and here’s hoping that pans out…), you still need to keep in mind that directors will be making the casting choices. So don’t go too crazy trying to pen a part that you feel would be suited for one particular person. That person may not be available, and on top of that it’s not your job to make a choice like that.
Now that isn’t to say that you should feel limited in your ability to create characters. People play above and below their age ranges, do accents, etc. all of the time. Feel free to create any characters you want in whatever standing you see fit. It will, however, smooth things over if you give your characters a little bit of leeway. Speaking of which…
Consider Your Actors
This one is kind of a no brainer, but it bears saying. Don’t go crazy when it comes to what characters say or do or how they interact. My main, major general rule of thumb (and a solid suggestion) is to steer clear of heavy romantic interactions. Hugs are pretty safe, but anything beyond that should be left up in the air (or just left out). Seriously, no one is signing up for this expecting a love scene, and those types of actions take weeks (or longer) for actors to develop a comfort level in. Try not to make the performers have to do anything that’s going to leave them with emotional scars.
To Make A Long Story Short (Too Late)…
I would never want anyone to feel limited in their ability to tell a story, paint a picture, or express themselves. But in this particular endeavor and in this environment, it is important that the writer realizes their role. You are making the blueprint for what everyone else is working with for the next half of the festival. And to a certain degree, how well you do that will eventually affect how hard or how easy that task will be.
(It can be tough to balance nursing an idea into a fully realized script, dealing with your limitations, and somehow fighting off late night fatigue. But the better a job of streamlining you do, the more likely it is that the end product will resemble what you envisioned it to be.)
(It can be tough to balance nursing an idea into a fully realized script, dealing with your limitations, and somehow fighting off late night fatigue. But the better a job of streamlining you do, the more likely it is that the end product will resemble what you envisioned it to be.)
(Next time, my (most likely much shorter) advice for directors. Yes, I’m going to tell you how to do that job that I never actually do. I’m like Dr. Spock that way…)
