Chapter 3
Before Beginning Your Ten-Minute Play
If you’ve never written a play of any kind, writing a ten-minute play can be a great way to start. If you’ve written plays before, but have never written a ten-minute play, this book can be a lesson in learning how to condense and tell stories in a concise manner.
In the next couple of chapters I’ll be discussing writing the ten-minute play from my experience. I am in no way saying that my way is the only way to write a ten-minute play. Every playwright, every artist, creates in his or her own particular way. First I’ll tell how I write ten-minute plays, and then later in the book you’ll see how other playwrights write theirs.
All plays begin with an idea, a topic, an issue, a story line, a line of dialogue, or even an image that engages your mind. Perhaps you’ve had an idea for a piece and don’t yet know how you want to express it. Sometimes it’s better not to do anything for a while. Just let it percolate (“perk”). Many artists talk about an initial gestation period before they do any actual work on a new piece. This is different from a delay tactic for avoiding work. By ruminating you allow your subconscious mind to collect the necessary information for you. Think of the process as the work of little elves who magically know how to gather and organize the material you’ve been looking for. Let them do the work for you. You’ll find these elves even more helpful later on if you get stuck.
Speaking of getting stuck, this can happen at any time while working on a play. When I find myself stuck when beginning or while working on any new play, I generally put the play away for a period of time and focus on other things, letting those elves figure out how I can get “unstuck.” It always amazes me how, when I come back to that same play with a fresh mind, the problems, the block, seems to disappear and the solution seems apparent. There is an aha moment and I feel unstuck.
So when you feel ready to start, when the idea has perked—start, and let the writing move at its own pace.
Also, you may want to look at your dreams and keep a journal during this time.
The right time to begin writing your ten-minute play is when you feel ready, motivated. Before starting, make sure you have enough time to create and explore. If you have an appointment in an hour, now may not be the best time. You want to feel relaxed, not rushed.
Beginning means sitting in front of your computer or taking out that writing pad and seeing what comes to you. Whether you write on a computer or initially on a notepad is up to you. For many years I wrote my plays out longhand. Then, when they were at a developed place, I’d type them out on the computer. These days I go right to the computer and start.
You don’t have to begin with characters speaking dialogue. As a matter of fact, you can start by recording any thoughts of frustration that you may be feeling sitting there. Write it! (See “Free Writing” and “Clustering.”) Whatever blockage you may be feeling, express it in words. Thoughts like “Damn it, this isn’t working!” or “I have nothing to say!” or whatever’s going through your mind at the moment, put it down on paper or type it on your computer.
Sometimes a line of dialogue, something you heard someone say that day, or even an image is all you need to begin. Write down whatever it is and see if it conjures up something more for you. Perhaps the character who is saying that particular line will start to take shape in your imagination. Maybe you’ll get a sense of the type of person who’s saying this line. Or you may see an image, a face, even a person you know or knew.
After writing down that initial line, you want to get a response to that line from another character. Again, let your imagination take over; don’t try to “figure out what should come next.” Trust your instincts and let ’er rip. Jot down the response line; see where that takes you. Hopefully what follows is an entire riff or sequence of dialogue, opening up the play for you. Just go with it. Write the lines down and keep out of the way.
If nothing else seems to follow that first line, just leave it on the page and come back to it when something does. There’s no need to pressure yourself or force something when nothing’s coming. The impetus, the idea may open up at another time when your imagination is ready to move forward with your play. Or it may start filling in when you’re doing something entirely different, like washing the dishes or jogging. I’ll say more about the way I allow a first line to lead me into a play, and about dealing with writer’s block, later on. (See “Techniques for Dealing with Writer’s Block When Starting a Play”)
Generally, actors interpret and perform what a playwright has written. The actor’s creative life involves constant collaboration with other artists (the director, other actors, etc.) early on in a play’s production. The writer starts out creating alone; only after completing a play does he or she collaborate with the play’s production team (producer, director, actors, etc.). Yet the interconnectedness of both professions should be obvious. The most evident similarity between the actor and the writer is that both are creative artists, and both use their imagination in their work. We’ll be looking at techniques that draw on these key characteristics and merge both of these professions in writing your ten-minute play.
As an Actor, Do I Have the Skills Necessary to Create My Own Material?
I personally feel that almost anyone can write, tell stories, and maybe even write plays. If you’ve had experiences, you have stories like no one else’s. Your stories are unique, yours alone. How you’ll tell your stories is as individual as you. Your imagination is also unique to you.
A few years ago I was a mentor at the Edward Albee Theatre Conference (now called the Last Frontier Theatre Conference) in Valdez, Alaska. There was a play that year, very imaginative and deeply moving, that stood out. It was written by a fourteen-year-old girl who had never seen a play. She had read only one or two plays in her whole life. But this play was something she wanted, needed to write. The results were magical. She wrote not just a good play, but a great play.
Actors have an advantage over many first-time playwrights, since acting in plays means you are constantly reading plays and probably know more than you think about structure, dialogue, format. Once you begin writing a play of your own, you may find that you know “instinctively” what to do. And there’s no reason why you as an actor can’t take a playwriting class or two, whether to bolster your knowledge or your confidence in what you may already know.
There is always the fear that if you expose yourself in your writing, your audience will sit in judgment of you and your life. This is true of all artists, including actors. You can’t be too preoccupied by this. You can never second-guess an audience, so why waste time worrying about the people you’re writing for? If you honestly find that you have something to say that is engaging, interesting, or funny to you, put it down on paper or type it on the computer. You may be surprised to find that it will resonate for others, too.
Working Internally as an Actor and as a Writer
Many actors in America are trained in internal or psychological acting techniques. The Actors Studio, using the “method technique,” bases a great deal of the work on the actor’s personal life and inner responses to the character he or she is working on. Any of the many books by Constantin Stanislavski about “the system” (which later became known as “the method”), or acting books by Lee Strasberg or Stella Adler, offer excellent exercises that actors and writers may find helpful in developing characters for their ten-minute plays. After using some of the method techniques and exercises, you can combine what you discover with some improvisation work and imagination. By using your own memories, and then adding your imagination to the stew, you can create all sorts of characters in interesting situations. Writers working this way aren’t working just conceptually, but from inner experiences and memories.
Improvisation is a great way to free your imagination and develop plays. Many actors are already adept at improvisation, so this way to develop your scripts might be an easy stepping-stone from acting to playwriting. British film director Mike Leigh is well known for developing his films (Naked, Life Is Sweet, and others) by working improvisationally with the actors and developing the script from their improvisations. Playwright Jeffrey Sweet is a big advocate of developing plays improvisationally. If you’d like to explore working this way on your ten-minute plays, check out his books, Something Wonderful Right Away: An Oral History of the Second City and Solving Your Script: Tools and Techniques for the Playwright.
Sometimes our creativity feels like a blocked exhaust pipe. And the harder we try to force the smoke out, the worse it seems to get. We are plagued with doubts and negative thoughts such as “Who’s going to care about this?” “Am I, is it, really good enough?” All artists deal with doubts all the time. I’m sure that you’ve dealt with them as an actor. Eventually you learn to live with creative doubts. You’ll realize that self-censoring and insecurities are just part of the creative process.
One solution to the problem of writer’s block is to realize that to get “there” (wherever it is you’re hoping to go, creatively) you have to start with “here.” And “here” is the room that you’re in, with nothing on that paper. You have to allow and accept the present moment. “Okay, I’m blocked, I’ve got nothing.” Use that as the launching pad and see if that admission gets the motor going.
An image that’s been used to describe being creatively blocked is that of rocks in front of a cave. It may feel as if huge boulders are blocking your way into some magical creative cave. If only I could get behind those rocks, you think, I just know there’s some good creative stuff inside that cave. Sometimes those rocks blocking the creative entranceway are, themselves, pure creative gold, the very stuff you’ve been looking for. But you didn’t realize it, couldn’t see their value. They are the starting point! What I’m saying is start where you are. Start in the exact moment/place of your frustration or anger. What does that feeling do to you? What does it look like, how does it sound? Put it into words, write it down, put it into the characters you’re trying to create.
Techniques for Dealing with Writer’s Block
Some writers, when experiencing writer’s block, say that just writing anything, even copying a page out of a book, can help them get back into the groove of writing.
Some playwrights, when feeling blocked, go out and see another playwright’s work. They say that just being in a theater and seeing good material can be quite inspiring.
Keeping a pad with you at all times to jot down a thought or line of dialogue can also be helpful (or keep notes on your iPad, smartphone, etc.). An idea may come to you during any part of your day—while walking, on a bus, in the shower, anywhere. One strong thought or image or some great line of dialogue can be just the trigger that will get you started.
After actually starting a play, I know of some playwrights that end each day’s work in the middle of a sentence or thought. When they return the next day they can pick up the thread of where they left off and not have to look at an empty page.
Freewriting is a great way to get started writing a new ten-minute play. Several playwrights I spoke with said that on occasion it’s helped them get over a bad case of writer’s block. Freewriting is a method by which you put your pen to paper and write nonstop for at least ten minutes. It’s a method for generating new ideas. With this method you allow ideas to lead you (rather than the other way around). When it’s working well, one idea will ignite another. This method is about quantity, not quality. It’s about first thoughts, impulses, anything that comes to mind. Quite often we squelch our impulses. This exercise helps you free yourself from that tendency.
1. Write as quickly as you can.
2. Write without boundaries.
3. Don’t stop to censor or revise anything.
4. Don’t stop to figure out what you’ve written; don’t analyze it.
5. Don’t attempt to think or get logical about the words you’ve written.
6. Don’t pay any attention to spelling, grammar, or punctuation.
7. Write all over the page. Don’t be concerned about margins or even the lines on the page.
8. If you can’t think of anything to write, then write about that.
9. Don’t cross out anything you’ve written.
10. Even if something comes up for you that is embarrassing, painful, or frightening, write it down.
11. Take a sentence from what you’ve written, put it on the top of a page, then write for ten minutes about that sentence, using it as a topic sentence.
Freewriting instills discipline. It’s a productive way to work through fears and anxieties about creating new material. Some writers use this method as a daily warm-up exercise before starting work on their piece. Or, when you’re working under pressure, it can jump-start you into your day’s work. Freewriting is a useful tool that can give you ideas and help you learn to write effortlessly, more spontaneously. It can help to turn off that self-censoring device that can be destructive, especially in the early stages of starting a play.
After You’ve Completed the Freewriting Session
Remember, this exercise is about process, not product. After you’ve done your freewriting session, look through the material to see if there is anything that you can use (a word, a phrase, some dialogue) for the play that you’re about to get started on or are presently working on. If there is, save it. Then immediately get rid of the rest of the freewriting work that you’ve done. The reason you do this is that sometimes there’s a tendency to want to revise what you already have on the page, using it as a first draft. That’s not the idea of this exercise. It’s not a first draft; it’s the starting point for what will (hopefully) become your new play.
Clustering (or Webbing): Finding the Initial Core of Your Work
Following the freewriting exercise, I suggest another excellent exercise called “clustering.” Clustering is a very popular writing method that was created by Gabriele Lusser Rico and discussed in her book Writing the Natural Way, an excellent book for writers. Her technique helps you focus on what you’re trying to say in your work. It utilizes the right side of the brain’s ability to organize information. Sometimes when we start out on a new piece it may be difficult to determine which areas of our work we need to focus on. Clustering helps you to find the throughline to your work. It helps you to zero in when too many thoughts and ideas seem to blur your creative landscape. Ironically it’s also useful when there’s a lack of ideas. Like freewriting, which it’s similar to, this technique helps you to bypass your conscious mind and get to your unconscious. The best way to describe clustering is “total free association” or “brainstorming.”
Start this exercise with a fresh sheet of paper. Write a word that is somehow connected to the ten-minute play that you’re about to start work on. Don’t be concerned about which word you choose; whatever word comes to mind will be fine. If you don’t have a play in mind, any word that comes to mind is the one to start with.
• Place the word in the middle of the page. Circle the word. Look at it for a moment. This core word or nucleus is the jumping-off point for the exercise.
• Now, as quickly as you can, allow yourself to free-associate around your nucleus word: write whatever thoughts, words, images, or phrases come to you, uncensored, as many as you can. Each new word or phrase that you write down should radiate out from the nucleus word.
• Draw circles around each new word or phrase. Use each one as a new starting point to which you link further related ideas, phrases, bits of dialogue, etc., as they arise in your mind. You can add arrows indicating direction if you wish.
• If nothing spills out, doodle, putting arrows on your existing cluster. The doodling allows your hand to keep moving and may allow for possible associations.
• Don’t waste time trying to analyze anything; just go with your gut feelings. Don’t stop until you have exhausted all possibilities. Keep going until you feel the need to write something. This shift will come in a thought like “I’ve got it! I know what I want to write!”
• Most writers work with clusters for up to a few minutes. When you feel compelled to write, start immediately! Don’t allow your inhibitions to hold you back. Free-associate, write with abandon, let your imagination go. Start writing as fast as you can.
• If nothing particular inspires you to write, then look at the words or phrases in the cluster and select any one of them. Start writing about that word or phrase. It may give rise to dialogue, images, or even new plot ideas. Keep writing for at least ten minutes if you can. You can refer back to the cluster if you wish.
• Remember, there is no right or wrong here. This is only an exercise. Don’t force it.
Starting Your Play with an Outline
Some playwrights like to start their plays with an outline. The outline can serve as a sort of skeletal script, giving the writer a sense of direction for the piece. They start off with a cast of characters. Then they invent ways for these characters to interact at different points in their lives. Hopefully a plot emerges out of these interactions.
Some playwrights’ outlines are only a paragraph long, while others go on for pages. With a ten-minute play, the outline will obviously be much shorter than for a full-length. I’ve written a few ten-minute plays using outlines. It’s not my favorite way to work, but it has worked. I know many playwrights that only work this way. I personally like to let my subconscious imagination run wild when starting new plays. I don’t care for any preset ideas or borders. But whichever way works for you is the way to go. You might try both ways: start with an outline if you like, and then try freewriting.
Comparing Processes for Actors and Playwrights
Actors generally come to a first read of a new play with no preconceived ideas of who their character will be, or how they will go about creating him or her. It’s a very vulnerable time in an actor’s creative process. It’s a time of taking in, reading the script, digesting information, and then preparing to respond creatively to what you’ve read.
After that initial reading of the play, you have feelings and ideas about the character you are about to create. Creative juices are flowing; the imagination is at work. Starting with some initial impulses, you begin thinking of ways of ways to create your new character.
At the beginning of writing a new play, you, the writer, are opening a door for yourself. From the very first lines you write, you are taking yourself somewhere, although you may not be quite sure where yet. The more spontaneous you can allow yourself to be, the more personal and original your work will be. In this way, both the actor and the writer begin at the same place. It’s a place of unknowing. It can be a frightening moment or an exciting one, like the moment just before you board a roller coaster. Trust yourself and let the ride surprise you!