Fictive Dialogues from Playwright Point of View (II)

 

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 playwright point of view.

 

Roddy Doyle:

1 Do not place a photograph of your favourite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.

It never crossed my mind. I prefer very much alive – Black and White, I am not racist – healthy, handsome, hardworking and successful, but not dead! My favorite playwright is not internationally known, but it is the writing style and humor I mostly identify with. Another favorite among all favorites is internationally known – Eugene Ionesco. In high school, I read him in French. I think each writer feels the genre to write in, but within the genre there are different types of writing. Ionesco’s type of drama is something I like, but not something I would write then. I continued writing short dialogues as I always loved – I did not choose the dialogue, but the dialogue chose me. I never thought that I would have time to extend dialogue over tens of pages following a certain theoretical structure in my mind, to actually write plays. Until the time came: Knock! Knock! After leaving my PhD (due to lack of financial means) I started re-reading, thinking about writing the type of drama I mostly identify with, saving, waiting for the right course taught by one of the best – the course at Oxford and, now, the course at Harvard.

 

2 Do be kind to yourself. Fill pages as quickly as possible; double space, or write on every second line. Regard every new page as a small triumph

3 Until you get to Page 50. Then calm down, and start worrying about the quality. Do feel anxiety – it's the job.

I write my short dialogues at one and a half and my plays single space, because there is already a space between the lines of two characters. I think a lot before I write a play. It starts unfolding in my mind during the research. The thinking takes me months, but the actual writing does not take me too long. I put in the first draft all the quality I can. With every re-reading I improve the quality. After my course at Harvard, I want to add some writing art in the lines to make my plays – meant more to be read than to be staged – even more artistic from the writing and reading point of view. I am never nervous or anxious, but happy and delighted to write down whatever story unfolds in my mind.

 

4 Do give the work a name as quickly as possible. Own it, and see it. Dickens knew Bleak House was going to be called Bleak House before he started writing it. The rest must have been easy.

Actually, I do. I usually have a title before I start or very soon after. I place it on the top of the page, as a title, mostly at the time when in the text I get to the point that suggests the title. It means that even if I have a title in my mind, I also want to see if the story that unfolds in my mind, unfolds on the screen to the direction that suggests the title. And the moment I reach that point, I place the title I had in mind on the top of the page.

 

5 Do restrict your browsing to a few websites a day. Don't go near the online bookies – unless it's research.

I heard often advice to turn off the online when writing, but I do not because I can control myself: I do not get online on computer or on the smartphone unless necessary. The Internet is useful in many ways, but it can also absorb lots of time. Then it makes sense to me that I use Internet, not the Internet uses me!

 

6 Do keep a thesaurus…

I use the online one, too. I like to think that I use the Internet not the other way around. J

 

7 Do, occasionally, give in to temptation. Wash the kitchen floor, hang out the washing. It's research.

I never looked at cooking or doing the dishes as research. They are to me as shopping and walking are – the time when I am still thinking at the stories I want to write, although doing something else.

 

8 Do change your mind. Good ideas are often murdered by better ones…

Great advice! I did once. My WIP at Oxford had a certain ending that I did not like, but it was fallowing the rules. After the course ended, I thought to break that particular rule and make the symmetric and more plausible end. And I am more pleased with the story. I think the play is more beautiful this way.

 

9 Do not search amazon.co.uk for the book you haven't written yet.

I can name one circumstance in which one should do that. If an author wants to write a book about Donald Trump – the US President with a record-inspired titles during a mandate – one should check whether or not somebody else did not write the book s/he wants to write, but has not yet started.

 

10 Do spend a few minutes a day working on the cover bio – "He divides his time between Kabul and Tierra del Fuego." But then get back to work.

What about this phrasing: ‘He divides his time between Kabul and Tierra del Fuego, but then he gets back to work’? J

 

Helen Dunmore:

1 Finish the day's writing when you still want to continue.

2 Listen to what you have written. A dud rhythm in a passage of dialogue may show that you don't yet understand the characters well enough to write in their voices.

Reading your own text aloud can be beneficial for the rhythm of the dialogues, a better wording can be discovered, too long sentences shortened, etc. It is a beneficial advice. I subscribe. For plays, it may be mandatory. But I understand somebody who has written a novel that is hundreds of pages.

 

3 Reread, rewrite, reread, rewrite. If it still doesn't work, throw it away. It's a nice feeling, and you don't want to be cluttered with the corpses of poems and stories which have everything in them except the life they need.

It is very important to feel that your characters speak naturally and that the whole work has life. Sometimes, after several rereading and rewriting, it is necessary to start a new page. Hopefully, the reread and rewritten words and sentences do not follow the author on the new page.  

 

4 Join professional organisations which advance the collective rights of authors.

You mean something like a trade-union?! A writer is an artist, but not an actor at Hollywood to have a trade-union. Each writer seems to be on its own, sharing news to each other about this great hobby that writing is, but I am looking for a job. Then, yes, I will join a trade-union.

 

5 A problem with a piece of writing often clarifies itself if you go for a long walk.

Definitely! A problem with a stubborn piece of writing is not going to get clarified by staring at it on screen. Doing something else helps: long walks, biking, backing or listening to some music.

 

6 If you fear that taking care of your children and household will damage your writing, think of JG Ballard.

If I had a child the way I was to my parents, I would not fear at all that that child would damage my writing – that child with most probably want to stay late to write and read what s/he likes most. Household? It depends what it is meant by it. One definitely must clean its place and create a healthy and pleasant environment for writing, but a big household with ten rooms, five bathrooms and a swimming pool does take time from writing. I never fantasized about such households. Even having people doing that for you, their come and go, take time and disrupts writing.

 

7 Don't worry about posterity … "What will survive of us is love".

I worry about the food on the table and the bills. Not the posterity! I write, but I also seek a job – a moral and a legal one. More it allows me not to worry about the food on the table and the bills, better it is! J (To Be Continued)