Question asked by a student from Hanby Middle School ANSWER #1 (from Johsua Guessford) This stage of the writing process can be very tough. So, the best advice I can give you is to just brainstorm. Try laying out all of your options. Start thinking of where you want all of the action to take place, and start creating a general flow of what you want to happen in the play. When I got stuck on this part of the writing process, I had to think about what I wanted my play to say, and which events would take place, to make sure my play sent that message. So, one option you have is to create a mock storyboard, and mark off the general flow of how you want the play to carry out. Basically, what big events do you want to occur in your play? Once you figure this out, write them all down in the order that works best. (Play Begins --> Event --> Event --> Event --> Event --> Closing) You can use a similar type of chart, to make your ideas flow. If you get stuck and aren't sure what happens next, this is when you tap into your creativity and think of what previous event would have triggered the next. Overall, you're just breaking down the basic idea you have for your play, into a series of events, which you may decide to break into your separate scenes. Once you're ready, you will need to go even farther and then start marking out what is happening in each of these scenes. Just try different ways of organizing your thoughts and brainstorming, and find out what works best for you!ANSWER #2 (from Hilde Alexander) There’s no correct way to go about putting your ideas into a play. You’ve found a story you can associate with, and that’s great. Just getting those seeds of a story planted in your mind is one of the hardest steps. There are a lot of ways to take the next step, and every writer has their own methods. For prewriting, I like to brainstorm – just let ideas fall onto a sheet of paper until I find one that seems good. Before I start brainstorming and prewriting, I figure out exactly what it is I need. Is it a good strong character? Or an interesting plot? Sometimes it helps to think of a climax and work your way out. Maybe it’ll help you to think of what conflicts your character will have to overcome. Is his only conflict convincing his mom that he really is meant to play football? Or is there an exterior conflict, like a game he needs to win? Just think through your play, get a feel for where you want it to go – this story is in your mind, just waiting to be set free. |
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I know how I'm going to use the theme. But how do I get from that basic idea to the plot of a play? My play is going to be about a teenager who wants to be a football player but his mom wants him to be a doctor. I'm not sure where to go from there.posted Oct 1, 2008 6:41 AM by Unknown user [ updated Oct 1, 2008 6:48 AM ] |