Fictive Dialogues from Playwright Point of View (I)

 by Laura Lai/ Uncategorized

On the 20^th of February 2010, ‘The Guardian’ published an article containing valuable advice from consecrated writers of different genres. To construct my creative writing exercise for this ‘Writing Break Blog’ I used some of the advice to build this personalized fictive dialogue from a playwright point of view.

 

Elmore Leonard:

1 Never open a book with weather …

All right, Madam!

 

2 Avoid prologues: they can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a foreword…

I can understand that they may be useless when they come after an introduction that comes after a foreword. But for my plays they are essential. It is on that one-paragraph prologue that I construct the whole single issue play.

 

3 Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in…

I wonder if it is not annoying to see the verb ‘said’ everywhere. Fortunately, in plays, I use stage directions and I can use different verbs to express motion and emotions.

 

4 Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose…

Wow! That’s gooood to know.

 

5 Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip. Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in them…

Hmmm, when reading a play nothing is skipped. Otherwise one cannot understand the play. One needs to read the dialogue from the beginning to see where it gets.

 

Diana Athill:

1 Read it aloud to yourself because that's the only way to be sure the rhythms of the sentences are OK…

I agree that the reading aloud of a text can be helpful. I guess is quite a task to read a novel of hundreds of pages aloud. Plays are shorter, they are dialogue, and by reading them aloud, the wording and the rhythm can only be improved. Absolutely!

 

2 Cut …

I write to teach, to clarify, to entertain. Fortunately, I am not keen on keeping something unless relevant for the overall understanding of the writing. I noticed that I can cut easily – and that’s great. I write having in mind both an educated and a less educated audience. If somebody tells me to cut that or that because it is clear, that person may refer to those educated and exclude those less educated that may need an extra paragraph to get a clearer picture. I would not cut, because I can live with the offence from somebody educated that I used a redundant extra paragraph, but with the satisfaction that somebody less educated got it clearer because of that extra paragraph or set of dialogue.

 

Margaret Atwood:

1 … take two pencils. […] Take something to write on. Paper is good… If you're using a computer, always safeguard new text with a memory stick.

That is what I usually use, too: pens, pencils, paper and computer. Some people can write on the smartphone. I could, too, if a dialogue strikes my mind when walking or shopping, but I usually can keep it in mind until I get home and find the time to sit and write. I confess that so far I never wrote a dialogue on the smartphone. I do not know how to save the text, but I guess it is not such a rocket science. It is more difficult to write than to save what it was written.

 

2 Hold the reader's attention …

Very important, indeed. I think here the epic genre offers a greater possibility than the dramatic genre. Although it is possible to end on a hook some scenes or an act, I still think it is easier done in the epic than dramatic. When I read a play, I read it because I want to read that story formulated and presented to me as a play. Therefore, I read it to the end, anyway. In comparison to a novel, a play is never hundreds of pages. The playwright never loses me as audience. My attention would be lost if a play had not been well written and I would need to turn back pages to re-read and understand, but if the play unfolds logically, as they usually do, I get to the end. It is then that I can comment. But usually they all end so nicely that the only feeling one has is to read them again.

 

3. […] Writing is work. It's also gambling. You don't get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but essentially you're on your own. Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don't whine.

My God, I’m not! I think writing is a beautiful hobby activity, enriching the writer spiritually by reading and researching on the topic it wants to write about. There are plenty of talented writers out there, but only a very tiny few can afford living only from writing. Hobbies are, in general, expensive. And writing is not an exception (to publish, for example). I have been looking and I am looking for a job in countries that have a good living standard (in my country of origin, salaries are lower or equal to a studio rent). That’s why immigration plans – for a good job and a better standard of living. Until then, the waiting time is a Divine privilege to do what one loves: To Write.  (To Be Continued)