Playwriting

Students stuck on “what do I write?”

These playwriting activities are all about sparking ideas. Use prompts, quick exercises, and creative challenges to get students thinking, imagining, and writing without the pressure of a full script.

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Classroom Exercise

Playwriting Exercise: Picture Prompts

Location, location, location , a scene can totally be driven by where it’s set. Picture prompts serve as a great starting point. To that end, write a scene between two characters that use the...

Playwriting

Emotional Attachment

You can’t be emotional about a thing. That’s a common refrain. You can’t feel anything about an object or a building because they’re just things. They have no feelings. They can’t return or respond...

Playwriting

Picture Prompt: The Unexplainable

Ideas can come from anything and everything. But it’s always a good idea to give students a jumping off point. Pictures are a great jumping off point for creative writing. You just have no idea...

Acting

Breaking the Romantic Starving Artist Misconception Starts with You

We have a guest post this week! Please welcome Mel Bondar of brokeGIRLrich Everything about the arts seems dramatic and romantic – especially to middle school and high school students (and let’s...

Classroom Exercise

Picture Prompt: What are they talking about?

Ideas can come from anything and everything. But it’s always a good idea to give students a jumping off point. Pictures are a great jumping off point for creative writing. Here, we’re looking at a...

Classroom Exercise

Picture Prompt: The Portrait

Classroom Exercise

Picture Prompt: The Aftermath

Ideas can come from anything and everything. But it’s always a good idea to give students a jumping off point. Pictures are a great jumping off point for creative writing. Today we’re looking at...

Playwriting

Picture Prompt: Location, location, location

Playwriting

Sense Scenes

Have fun with the five senses! Students write a different header on five different pieces paper: 1. Sight (objects) 2. Sound 3. Smell 4. Touch (Textures) 5. Taste Go through the headers with the...

Playwriting

Tag Team Scene

What: Tag Team Scene Who: Divide class into pairs Materials: Pens/Pencils, Character/Location/Line Pages, Timer Why: Use this exercise to practice writing natural-sounding dialogue. With this...

Playwriting

The Best Writing Exercise Ever

The Best Writing Exercise ever? How can there be just ONE? Surely there’s a different “best” exercise for playwrights or novelists or poets? It’s impossible to make that claim! I am making that...

Classroom Exercise

Expression Exercise: Who Am I?

Who am I? It’s a question not a lot of people ask. Who am I? What defines me? Effective artistic expression begins with you. If you’re going to write a well detailed character, you should know...

Playwriting

Playwriting Exercise: What’s in a Word?

Did you know that the word moment actually used to mean a specific time? It’s so general now – Just a moment….. I’ll be there in a moment…. wait a moment.” In medieval time a moment meant 90...

Playwriting

Playwriting Exercise: Happy Birthday to Me

Birthdays are wonderful character development material because every human being has an immediate emotional reaction to their birthday. It could be that the character hates getting older or isn’t...

Classroom Exercise

Playwriting & Acting Exercise: One Word

This exercise works for both playwrights and actors. It can be done by playwright working on a new play, or by an actor in rehearsal. It’s very simple, but also illuminating. It will encourage you...

Playwriting

Playwriting Exercise: A Month of Monologues

If you want writing to become a tangible act, practice it with consistency. Consistency does not mean volume – there’s no need to start with a 400 page project. That will weaken your resolve almost...

Playwriting

Playwriting Exercise: Fun with Words

This is a great Fun with Words Exercise. Hopefully you can use this in your writing, or take them in your classroom. We’re taking a word that means a mouthful and using it as an inspiration for a...

Playwriting

Playwriting Exercise: Fun with Words – Two

We’re taking a word that means a mouthful and using it as an inspiration for a scene. But not only that, the word in question is from a foreign language. Today’s word is: PachemuchkaThe definition...