OVERVIEW

WRITING TIPS: 

YOUR PLAY MUST HAVE A BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END

BEGINNING   

In the beginning your 10-minute play should ask a question or take a character on an adventure. It can be any question or go on any kind of adventure. Keep the question simple, like “What would happen if you visited a love one in the hospital and they told you they were dying.” Or, you might want to ask a simpler question like “How to make friends with people you don’t like.” If your story is about an adventure, it might be for example; “Exploring the Land of Giants” or “Emperor’s New Clothes.” Whatever your question or adventure, make this the central point of your play. Keep your story focused on its purpose. 

There is no time to write a long exposition; in other words, very little in the way of an introduction is needed.  Present a situation for the audience to unravel. Get them engaged and curious immediately in a story. Human beings are captivated by the unknown! So, give them just enough to hang around to find out the ending.

Remember, you only have 10 pages to tell the story. Don’t add unnecessary dialogue that adds nothing to your story, the time lost will detract from your story. Your purpose is to get your story across in as few necessary words as possible. Include only what your audience needs to know to understand the story.

By the middle of the first page, your exposition should be stated, we should know the setting, characters, and conflict. In writing the play every element must relate to the action of the play.  You have no time for any unnecessary points. For example, if you are writing a play about crime, when the curtain goes up the crime should be presented immediately to the audience. More than anything else, this will give your play a sense of unity.

MIDDLE   

The middle is where your main character seeks the answer to the question or explores the strange new world of their adventure. Whether the protagonist is in search of an answer to a question or exploring a strange new world. They will almost always find themselves in some sort of crisis and conflict. At this point in your story the main character will experience an inability to find the answer to the question, or seemingly insurmountable obstacle placing his adventure in peril. In as few words as possible the main character must discover and display some unknown characteristic in themselves to face the crisis and the conflict. 

END  

The end is the final confrontation in which the hero or protagonist finds the answer or overcomes their obstacles or antagonist. The ending may be happy or tragic depending on the outcome the writer chooses. Keep in mind happy endings reflect rewards and tragic endings reflect punishment. Tell how your main character is rewarded and your antagonist is harmed or disciplined.  

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT  

Show your character in action and speaking to get what he/she wants. Reveal the dreams of your character and how they make her/him unique. Show how their dreams are fulfilled, or not fulfilled. 

There should be some dissonance in your character that depicts him/her off-balance in some way.  Show any excesses or deficiencies in the character.  Display the disparity between what your characters are saying and what they are doing. 

Acting is about showing, so, don’t waste time talking about anything you can show.  Every protagonist must have a journey. You must take your character through something. Take your main character someplace very different from where he/she started.  Avoid having your character saddled with a mundane existence.  Ensure that they experience a life-altering change or event.  If your protagonist ends up in the same place he/she started, the character must go through an inferno to get back there. 

ADDITIONAL THINGS TO CONSIDER 

• Give the play a premise
• Limit the exposition
• Give a tight structure (almost never change scene or setting)
• The beginning of the play starts at the POINT OF ATTACK.
• There are usually fewer than four characters. 
• By the end of the first page or the top of the second the argument or conflict is generally presented.
• The play usually has only one conflict and one plot line.
• The end of the play falls very close to the climax. Only a few lines are devoted to resolution.
• Most plays deal with the exceptionally brief, but powerful moment in a character's life.

LAYOUT OF PAGES

• Set up the world of your main character. (Pages 1 to 2)
• Something happens to throw your character’s world out of balance.  (Pages 2 to 3) 
• Your character struggles to restore order to his world.  (Pages 4 to 7)
• When your character is about to restore order, something happens to complicate matters. (Page 8)
• Your character either succeeds or fails in his attempt to restore order. (Pages 9 to 10).