Write the dramatic rise of the play backwards to suss out drivers and action that truly energize you as a writer. " Have ypu elaborated on this somewhere? (loving this newsletter)
“pathos” 👍 … a “crisis of empathy” that (potentially) brings the audience to their knees? I am working backwards, and then forwards, to bring tgese moments into existence
Thanks for your 21 points. Thought provoking and informative especially reading backwards... I can see how this works: if I am searching through a list or indeed a piece of prose for something specific, I’ve discovered reading it backwards makes my quarry leap out at me. Now actually writing it backwards… wow! What is revealed then? Writers love bending time’s arrow but what other directions do you you fly off in if you do this backwards? And how the hell do you do it? I guess it’s got to be plotted and planned thoroughly so you know the end. But when I write I find the end can differ considerably from that I’d planned (pesky characters) so can the beginning of a play change when written backwards - or indeed the end? Look forward to your article.
I don’t always know the end. But that “starting” point could be any interesting moment in the story and one you want to build up to honestly by making choices (as you make your way “backwards”) that are the most interesting, most energizing. For me, this process is always done independent of the actual ending.
Thanks for these 21 gems! I love all of these tips, but I love number 21 the most. I often chose Pathos but I have been critiqued that Pathos alone is not enough conflict. I wrestle with the difference between a true conflict and what is just a plain old disagreement between two characters. Now back to the diamond mines…
I can talk more about this in a future post, but here are two scenarios for exposing both pathos and serious conflict in a basic character study. As a basis for this discussion, let's establish that the internal world (hopes, dreams, fears, longings) of a main character (or any character really) can be intuited quite readily by a loved one and almost instinctively by a newcomer.
1. A newcomer - as is the case for my play Alabaster (aka #alabamagoatplay) - may intuit a "disturbance in the force" and either ignore it or press for more information. This can be very useful in organically uncovering exposition. It's also a great way of creating tension and trapping your characters in a corner. The trick then is to take that intel and weaponize it later in the play as explained below.
2. A loved one - will want the character to step out of their comfort zone and move toward their goals and dreams. A loved one might also be unhappy with the state of things and push for something beyond the status quo. As they struggle back and forth, of course, we learn more about each of them. This technique can be used at any time during the play but is most powerful when deployed during the main dramatic rise of the play. Don't be afraid to weaponize information they've extracted from past conflicts (yes, it's evil, but it works). See more on "weaponizing" on my playwright vocabulary here: https://bit.ly/3plw5ob.
Two crystalline examples of effective and pathos-rich conflict: a. the famous scene from Moonstruck when Nicolas Cage is telling Cher she needs to get in his bed; b. Holly Hunter and Albert Brooks in the "I think you're the devil" scene in Broadcast News. Because these scenes play out during the dramatic rise of the story, the stakes are much higher and we've already established so much about who these people are, so the "disagreement" isn't just a scuffle, these are people fighting for their lives, fighting to breathe. If one thinks of that struggle in life-or-death terms, the conflict is world-destroying, not just some minor annoyance. FWIW, both of those video clips are available on YouTube.
In mechanical terms, it's useful to think of an interesting "ninja move" that you might hear a character pull on another at the height of an argument (a "death blow," as it were), and then work your way backward from there to see how that "ninja move" came to be. I use this technique all the time, it has never failed me. See Dane Cook on "brain ninja's" - he's an incredible observer of human behavior and this is a classic example of what I mean by "weaponizing": https://bit.ly/3A0IfYr
Write the dramatic rise of the play backwards to suss out drivers and action that truly energize you as a writer. " Have ypu elaborated on this somewhere? (loving this newsletter)
Not yet. But I well may in a future post. And thank you!
Thank you!
“pathos” 👍 … a “crisis of empathy” that (potentially) brings the audience to their knees? I am working backwards, and then forwards, to bring tgese moments into existence
I write a lot of my plays backwards. I'll be writing a whole article on this at some point.
Thanks for your 21 points. Thought provoking and informative especially reading backwards... I can see how this works: if I am searching through a list or indeed a piece of prose for something specific, I’ve discovered reading it backwards makes my quarry leap out at me. Now actually writing it backwards… wow! What is revealed then? Writers love bending time’s arrow but what other directions do you you fly off in if you do this backwards? And how the hell do you do it? I guess it’s got to be plotted and planned thoroughly so you know the end. But when I write I find the end can differ considerably from that I’d planned (pesky characters) so can the beginning of a play change when written backwards - or indeed the end? Look forward to your article.
I don’t always know the end. But that “starting” point could be any interesting moment in the story and one you want to build up to honestly by making choices (as you make your way “backwards”) that are the most interesting, most energizing. For me, this process is always done independent of the actual ending.
Thanks for these 21 gems! I love all of these tips, but I love number 21 the most. I often chose Pathos but I have been critiqued that Pathos alone is not enough conflict. I wrestle with the difference between a true conflict and what is just a plain old disagreement between two characters. Now back to the diamond mines…
Thanks, Jennifer.
I can talk more about this in a future post, but here are two scenarios for exposing both pathos and serious conflict in a basic character study. As a basis for this discussion, let's establish that the internal world (hopes, dreams, fears, longings) of a main character (or any character really) can be intuited quite readily by a loved one and almost instinctively by a newcomer.
1. A newcomer - as is the case for my play Alabaster (aka #alabamagoatplay) - may intuit a "disturbance in the force" and either ignore it or press for more information. This can be very useful in organically uncovering exposition. It's also a great way of creating tension and trapping your characters in a corner. The trick then is to take that intel and weaponize it later in the play as explained below.
2. A loved one - will want the character to step out of their comfort zone and move toward their goals and dreams. A loved one might also be unhappy with the state of things and push for something beyond the status quo. As they struggle back and forth, of course, we learn more about each of them. This technique can be used at any time during the play but is most powerful when deployed during the main dramatic rise of the play. Don't be afraid to weaponize information they've extracted from past conflicts (yes, it's evil, but it works). See more on "weaponizing" on my playwright vocabulary here: https://bit.ly/3plw5ob.
Two crystalline examples of effective and pathos-rich conflict: a. the famous scene from Moonstruck when Nicolas Cage is telling Cher she needs to get in his bed; b. Holly Hunter and Albert Brooks in the "I think you're the devil" scene in Broadcast News. Because these scenes play out during the dramatic rise of the story, the stakes are much higher and we've already established so much about who these people are, so the "disagreement" isn't just a scuffle, these are people fighting for their lives, fighting to breathe. If one thinks of that struggle in life-or-death terms, the conflict is world-destroying, not just some minor annoyance. FWIW, both of those video clips are available on YouTube.
In mechanical terms, it's useful to think of an interesting "ninja move" that you might hear a character pull on another at the height of an argument (a "death blow," as it were), and then work your way backward from there to see how that "ninja move" came to be. I use this technique all the time, it has never failed me. See Dane Cook on "brain ninja's" - he's an incredible observer of human behavior and this is a classic example of what I mean by "weaponizing": https://bit.ly/3A0IfYr
Cheers. - Audrey