1. Playwriting
The Basics

2. What is a play? A play is the blueprint for a theatrical performance.
Not a stand-alone work of literature.
Includes every action taken and every work spoken in the text.
Can include some sounds the writer deems important enough to include.
Does NOT include character thoughts.
Think poem rather than novel.
©2010 Darcy Faylor

3. The Basic Ingredients: Characters
The Protagonist – your main character
From a Greek root meaning “to compete.”
The protagonist will spend the course of the play trying to find something, lose something, change something, etc.
The Basic Ingredients of a Screenplay
Characters
1). Protagonist - “main character”
a). From a Greek root meaning “to compete.”
b). The protagonist will spend the film trying to find something, lose something, change something, etc.
©2010 Darcy Faylor

4. The Basic Ingredients: Characters
The Antagonist – your villain
One who opposes or contends with another.
The antagonist will spend the play trying to keep the protagonist from finding, gaining, or changing what it is he or she wants.
The antagonist can be a single person, group of people, or even the protagonist himself.
2). Antagonist - “villain”
a). One that contends with or opposes another.
b). The antagonist will spend the film trying to keep the protagonist from trying to find, gain or lose what he wants. Can be one person, a group of people, or even himself.
The most successful protagonist/antagonist pairings come when the antagonist doesn’t simply want to stop the protagonist. Meaning, it’s not just that he doesn’t like the protagonist, but what he wants is the exact opposite of what the protagonist wants.
©2010 Darcy Faylor

5. The Basic Ingredients: Plot
Four basic parts of the plot:
Status Quo
The “normal” state of affairs in the protagonist’s life.
Inciting Incident
Interrupts the status quo.
Conflict
The protagonist tries to get back to the status quo.
Resolution
The conflict is worked out. New status quo.
Plot
1). Four basic parts of the plot.
a). Status Quo - This is the protagonist’s life as it is at the beginning of the story. This is what is “normal” for him or her or them.
b). Inciting Incident - The event or person that comes along to disrupt the protagonist’s status quo, leading directly to the . . .
c). Conflict - You cannot have a good story without conflict. This will be the majority of the story as the protagonist contends with the antagonist.
d). Resolution – The conflict is worked out and there is a NEW status quo.
©2010 Darcy Faylor

6. The Basic Ingredients: Plot
Four basic plots:
Man vs. Man (also Man vs. Society)
Man vs. God
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. Himself
A good story isn’t necessarily limited to the use of one of these basic plots.
2). Four Basic Plots
a). Man vs. Man (or Society)
b). Man vs. God
c). Man vs. Himself
d). Man vs. Nature
3). A good story need not use only one of these. Moody Field includes Man vs. Man and Man vs. Himself.
©2010 Darcy Faylor

7. The Basic Ingredients: Theme
Different from plot.
The message of your story.
Ask yourself what you want your audience to learn and write your story around that lesson.
c. Theme - The message of your story. What is it that you want the audience to learn?
Theme and plot are two different things. Ask them if they know the difference. Explain the difference.
The theme of Moody Field is that Christians should demonstrate Christ’s love and forgiveness to all of His children. The plot is about a young woman who loses her brother in World War II and then must deal with coming face to face with his enemies on her own farm. They work hand-in-hand. It is OK not to know the theme of your story before you start writing.
Arthur Miller would write a play, figure out what the theme was, and then rewrite the play in light of his “discovered” theme.
©2010 Darcy Faylor

8. The Basic Structure: Act 1
Act 1 is the beginning of the story.
Contains the status quo and the inciting incident.
Roughly 25% of the total running time.
The Basics of Screenplay Structure
Three Acts
1). Act One - Beginning - 25% of total running time
a.) Demonstrates the status quo for your protagonist, introduces the inciting incident, and reverses the status quo.
The inciting incident needs to come in by about page 15. I usually shoot for somewhere around page 10.
b.) In Moody Field there is a somewhat protracted inciting incident: Ruby learns about the POWs coming to Valdosta on page 8, she learns her father has been approved to hire the POWS on page 18, they arrive on the farm to work on page 22, almost exactly 25% of 92 pages.
©2010 Darcy Faylor

9. The Basic Structure: Act 2
Act 2 is the middle of the story.
Contains and develops the conflict arising from the inciting incident.
Roughly 50% of the total running time.
2). Act Two - Middle - 50% of total running time
a.) Develops the conflict arising from the inciting incident.
b). In Moody Field, the second act is a little longer, it ends on page 75, leaving 17 pages for the third act, which climaxes quickly.
©2010 Darcy Faylor

10. The Basic Structure: Act 3
Act 3 is the end of the story.
Contains the climax and resolution of the conflict.
Roughly 25% of the total running time.
3). Act Three - End - 25% of total running time
a). The conflict reaches its climax and a resolution, leaving a new status quo for the protagonist.
b). In Moody Field the climactic scene comes immediately after the end of the second act, though it is a long scene which doesn’t end until page 82, leaving 10 pages for the falling action and new status quo.
Try to think of the conflict like a balloon filling with air. It will keep filling with air and getting tighter and fuller until it it pops or you stop blowing air into it. If you stop blowing air in it either just lays there or fizzles out. If you keeping blowing air into it, it will pop.
©2010 Darcy Faylor

11. The Basic Format: The Scene
The scene is the basic building block of the play.
A scene is a piece of the story action that takes place in one place at one time.
Any change in place OR time requires a new scene.
Each scene is preceded by a heading.
The Basics of Screenplay Format
Acts are made up of scenes. A scene is a piece of the action that takes place in a specific place or time. Any change in time OR place requires a new scene.
GIVE EXAMPLE.
©2010 Darcy Faylor

12. The Basic Format: The Scene Heading
The three parts of the scene heading:
INT. or EXT.
Location
Get specific if necessary (i.e., using many rooms in a single house).
Time of day
Get specific ONLY if necessary.
1). Scene Heading
a). INT. or EXT.
b). Location
c). Time of day
©2010 Darcy Faylor

13. The Basic Format: The Scene
There are two basic parts to the scene:
Action
Primary means of storytelling for the playwright.
Character’s physical actions.
Location descriptions.
Character descriptions.
Dialogue
Dialogue enhances the scene, gives insight into character, and exposes theme.
©2010 Darcy Faylor

14. The Basic Format: Action
Write vertically.
Write in the present tense.
Write actively.
Choose words carefully.
DON’T write the characters’ thoughts.
DON’T include characters’ emotions or movements unless absolutely necessary.
2). Two basic parts to the scene
a). Action
Includes character descriptions, especially when introduced, description of locations, and actions the characters take.
DOES NOT include character thoughts. If the audience won’t see or hear it when watching the film it has no place in your script. Obviously there are exceptions to this, but I tend to be a purist and I find that it forces me to be a better writer if I follow this rule absolutely.
DOES NOT include camera direction. Directors do not like writers to tell them how to shoot a scene. It is their job not yours. HOWEVER, you can subtly point the directors thoughts towards the kind of shot you want. For example, if you have a character who picks up a watch and you want a close-up of the watch in her hand you can write the action thus: “She stared at the watch as it sat in the palm of her hand” makes one think more of a close-up than a simple “She picked up the watch and looked at it.”
©2010 Darcy Faylor

15. The Basic Format: Dialogue
Write sparingly.
Write naturally.
Listen.
DON’T allow the dialogue to carry the story.
DON’T allow the dialogue to take up more than 50% of the screen time.
DON’T tell the actor how to deliver lines.
b). Dialogue
INVIOLABLE RULES: NO ONE should be able to read only the dialogue in your script and understand the story.
Should not be more than 50% of your script.
SHOW, don’t tell.
Dialogue can include what are known as parentheticals. It may sometimes be necessary to indicate to whom a character is speaking when you get a lot of them in the same room, or if a line should be spoken under the breath and mumbled rather than spoken out loud, etc.
DO NOT tell the actor how to deliver his lines with little parentheticals. They call them “wrylies.”
c). Each scene should, at a minimum, advance the plot, develop the theme, or develop characters. If you are a good writer, you will have many scenes that do all three.
Now let’s take a look at the opening scene of Moody Field and see what some of these rules look like in practice. The opening scene of a film is very difficult to write and this is one of the scenes I spent the longest amount of time on, while writing this script.
©2010 Darcy Faylor

16. ©2010 Darcy Faylor Read the scene. Point out: Scene heading
Action, which includes description of location, action, character intros with descriptions.
Some of this is just my style of writing.
Dialogue: what is said vs. what is not.
Discuss how this scene helps set up the characters.
©2010 Darcy Faylor

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22. Advice for Young Playwrights
Learn the craft.
Look for inspiration everywhere.
Seek feedback.
Don’t be afraid to fail.
Do the work.
Honor the Lord in all that you do.
Learn the craft.
Learn to write unexpected scenes.
Look for inspiration everywhere.
Observe. Think about what you see and hear.
Give examples of how research sparked an entire story idea.
Seek feedback.
Don’t be afraid to fail.
Do the work.
You can’t be a writer if you don’t write.
Honor the Lord in all that you do.
©2010 Darcy Faylor