What is the one piece of advice you’ve received as a play writer or screenplay author that you wish someone had told you when you were starting out? That question was posed to a writer’s discussion group I belong to and here are over 85 answers.<\/p>\n
Many of these are basic 101 type insights but I think even seasoned writers will find a few that will give them pause for thought. There are a few that say the same thing in different ways that I have kept in for reinforcement. \u00a0To a writer, a piece of advice worded in a new way can lead to a different thought process and outcome.<\/p>\n
Also, there’s at least one tidbit on this list that most people would say is “wrong”; so keep your critical eye on these and consider each one not as a rule, but as an element to consider absorbing into your creative process.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Less is more<\/p>\n
Kill your darlings<\/p>\n
Not yet (regarding when information should be revealed in the play)<\/p>\n
Start in the middle<\/p>\n
Keep it present tense or future tense<\/p>\n
Let the characters talk; you edit<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t have to take, or agree with, every note<\/p>\n
Write what you\u2019re afraid to write about<\/p>\n
Just stick to questions. If someone asks a question, don\u2019t answer it for a while or ever<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t be sentimental about your work<\/p>\n
Every scene should be a fight, a seduction or a negotiation<\/p>\n
If a word or line doesn\u2019t serve to further the action or story, cut it<\/p>\n
What a character wants and what a character needs are virtually never the same thing<\/p>\n
Listen to your characters. They will tell you what they believe to be true.<\/p>\n
Get angry<\/p>\n
Learn the rules so you know how to break them<\/p>\n
Start as late as you can in the action, so the audience is immediately engaged and trying to get up to speed<\/p>\n
Full length, by the end of page two we should know what the play is about. Ten minute play, by the end of page one.<\/p>\n
Tension<\/p>\n
Exposition is ammunition – only fire it off when you need to.<\/p>\n
Nothing is good or bad until you write it. Never be afraid to write anything.<\/p>\n
Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.<\/p>\n
Where\/What is the danger?<\/p>\n
Love scenes are murders, murders are love scenes.<\/p>\n
Why today?<\/p>\n
Come into scene at the latest possible moment.<\/p>\n
Write YOUR play<\/p>\n
Show don\u2019t tell<\/p>\n
Put your characters in danger<\/p>\n
You need to know three things before you ever write a line: What you want, what the characters want and what the characters actually do about it<\/p>\n
Always tell the truth and then lie about it.<\/p>\n
Your characters are real people, not imagination, and this is their story, not yours<\/p>\n
If you are writing a comedy, keep your funniest scene for the last act<\/p>\n
Listen to the characters\u2019 silence<\/p>\n
Run towards the questions the audience has (If the audience has a question about a character or action, don\u2019t gloss over it; address it so the audience won\u2019t get hung up on the small details)<\/p>\n
Write characters that actors would kill to play<\/p>\n
ALWAYS order the second drink<\/p>\n
Give the actors something fun to do<\/p>\n
Shock is good. The answers and endings don\u2019t always have to be good.<\/p>\n
Give your characters secrets<\/p>\n
Character is story and story is character<\/p>\n
You\u2019re making a blueprint from which a team of creative people will build. NEVER explain. If it reads easily, it\u2019s probably over-written.<\/p>\n
Read one\u2019s character\u2019s lines all the way through when you\u2019re editing – and end on an action.<\/p>\n
If you have a scene that isn\u2019t working then you should ask yourself three questions: Who wants what from whom? What happens if they get it or don\u2019t? And why now?<\/p>\n
Cut extraneous words; be merciless<\/p>\n
Audiences care more about WHY someone does something than the actual behavior itself<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t talk to much about what you are writing until you\u2019re ready to share it<\/p>\n
Let the first draft suck<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t be afraid to make them feel<\/p>\n
Every line in a play needs to add to a character, add to the plot, or be really really funny<\/p>\n
Tighter is better. Never let your audience get in front of you<\/p>\n
Pinter: A character, a place, a line of dialogue. You\u2019re off.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t show your work to anyone until it\u2019s finished. Then only to someone who can progress it in some way.<\/p>\n
Sometimes dialogue is not spoken<\/p>\n
If a character should cry but doesn\u2019t, sometimes the audience will for them<\/p>\n
Love is in the details<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t let a page or two go by without a change in beat and\/or a new action<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t ever invite the \u201ceditor\u201d in until the \u201cwriter\u201d is finished<\/p>\n
That son of a bitch keeps interrupting me while I\u2019m working<\/p>\n
Do not start without a plan<\/p>\n
I like writing without a plan. The characters tell me what happens next.<\/p>\n
More needs to happen in less time<\/p>\n
A play should be able to be produced with two chairs and a hanging lightbulb, and still make sense<\/p>\n
No matter how small the beat, what just changed?<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s a gun on the will it better go off by the end of act one<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s a paper shredder onstage, someone\u2019s necktie has to get caught in it<\/p>\n
Learn how to hold the situation<\/p>\n
Writing is rewriting<\/p>\n
Keep it in the present tense<\/p>\n
Only you can judge your work<\/p>\n
Never write a character who is dumber than you<\/p>\n
Let a play be as long as it\u2019s meant to be, don\u2019t telescope it into a perceived requirement<\/p>\n
Everybody in the scene wants something<\/p>\n
There are no rules<\/p>\n
Write crap, then revise the hell out of it<\/p>\n
Never give anybody anything the first time they ask<\/p>\n
First draft is your gut, second draft is your brain, everything after is your heart<\/p>\n
Start where the action starts<\/p>\n
Being a screenwriter means you have to kill your \u201cbabies\u201d<\/p>\n
Finish it<\/p>\n
I never met a script I couldn\u2019t cut 10% out of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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