Playwriting Exercise: The Next Scene

Use this exercise to practice creating titles based on a picture. • Find a photograph. A great source for public domain photos isflickr.com/commons. • Take a few moments and study the photograph. Look at it carefully, with the eye of a writer. What is going on? Who is in the photo? Who is in the foreground? Who’s in the back ground? What is the landscape? What might be happening out side the frame? • *Title One: * Come up with a title that you think best describes the picture. • *Title Two: * Come up with a title that defines the dominant emotion in the picture. • *Title Three: * Come up with a title that is inspired from a line of poetry. • *Title Four: * Come up with a title that rhymes. • *Title Five: * Come up with a title that is just one word. What is the one word that captures this picture? • *Title Six: * Come up with a title that has a symbolic connection to the picture rather than a direct connection. • *Title Seven: * Come up with what you think would be the absolute worst title for this picture. • *Title Eight: * Come up with a title that describes the emotional state of the person taking the picture. • *Title Nine: * Come up with a title that hints to an upcoming action of the person taking the picture. • *Title Ten: * Come up with a comedic title for this picture. • *Title Eleven: * Come up with an absurd title for this picture. • *Title Twelve: * Come up with a tragic title for this picture. • *Title Thirteen: * Come up with a title that includes the name of the picture location. Part Two of this exercise is something that can be done with a class. After everyone has come up with their titles, have them choose a couple, write them on slips of paper and put them into a hat. Then, everyone chooses a slip of paper and based on the title they receive writes a brief description of the play they think fits that title. It’s an exercise in how easy a title is to visualize as a full work. And another: Hand out brief descriptions of movies or plays. I would suggest choosing from older words that your class wouldn’t necessarily know. Based on the description, have students create titles. Then share the real title.IMDB.com is a good place to get short concise movie descriptions, for example: • A lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his kids against prejudice. (To Kill A Mockingbird) • Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency. (The Shawshank Redemption) • A small time boxer gets a once in a lifetime chance to fight the heavyweight champ in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect. (Rocky)

Taylor Swift famously described categorizing her songs as having "fountain pen," "quill pen," or "glitter gel pen" lyrics, referring to how the songs were written and the feelings they were meant to evoke. According to Taylor, fountain pen songs are modern, emotional, and deeply personal. Quill pen songs are old-fashioned-sounding, historical, and finely detailed. Glitter gel pen songs are upbeat, light, and youthful. Her songs are always written and performed in her unique voice, but the tone, structure, and artistic approach are different. It makes for an interesting writing challenge, but also creates a sense of variety and fun from song to song. Let's take that concept and apply it to writing a scene for performance. In this exercise, students will come up with a premise featuring one or two characters, to be the basis of a short scene or monologue. The scene or monologue will be between half a page to one page in length. Students will write the scene three different ways, using Taylor’s three song categories as the basis for tone, style, and word choice. Start by coming up with a premise for the scene. Some ideas might be: • Someone preparing a favourite meal • Someone cleaning their room and finding a long-lost item • A parent and child going shopping for a particular item • A baseball player about to go up to bat • Someone sharing a secret with a friend Create a brief outline for the scene, decide on the name(s) of the character(s), and note any pertinent personality traits or necessary details. The outline can be as simple as “Susan (parent) and Demi (child, age 13) need to get a new pair of pants for Demi.” Then, students will write the scene three different ways: fountain pen style, quill pen style, and glitter gel pen style. As a reminder: fountain pen songs are modern, emotional, and personal; quill pen songs are old fashioned, historical, and detailed; and glitter gel pen songs are upbeat, light, and youthful. So for example, in the scene about the clothing store, in a fountain pen scene, Susan and Demi might disagree about what pants to get, and Demi has a monologue about how their parent doesn’t understand how the pants they want to wear represent their personality and how they’re viewed in the world. In the quill pen scene, Susan and Demi might have to purchase the materials and notions and sew the pants themselves, and have deep conversations while they work together to make the pants for Demi. In the glitter gel pen scene, Demi might break into song about all the different pants and how surprised they are to discover that they’re actually having fun with Susan, trying on the pants. In all three scenes, Demi is getting a pair of pants, but each scene is totally different in tone and structure. Now you may have students saying, “Three different ways? I can barely write a scene one way!” Not to worry, we have lots of ways to help students figure out how to approach the different styles of writing. Have students consider the following when they’re planning their writing: • Perspective: Think of writing from the perspective of an adult, an elderly person, or a child. • Time period: Write from the time of the present, the past, or the future. • Slang words or phrases: How would words like rizz, groovy, awesome, balderdash, or forsooth affect the scene? • Cultural references: Do the characters communicate using telephones, letters, or social media? Are they fans of lute music, The Who, or robo-trance music of the year 2347? • Amount of words used: “Why yes, of course mother” has a much different tone than “Yeah ma,” as does “Alas, I wish to possess that item” versus “I want that.” • Contractions: “Do not” versus “don't” sounds very different. • Types of words used: Think about simple words and phrasing versus complex language, and who is using the words. For example, a five year old wouldn't likely use the word "conversely" when they’re talking. • Amount of details you include, and which details. • Style of scene: dramatic, comedic, historical, musical… Once students have completed their writing, have them read their scenes aloud to a partner or small group (or have other group members read the scenes aloud to them). Listen for things like consistent details, tone differences, anachronisms, and whether or not the scenes flow well. If any edits or revisions are needed, students should make those changes, then submit their three scenes to the teacher. Alternate Exercise: If students are overwhelmed by the thought of writing one story three different ways, have them work in groups of three. The groups will come up with one scene premise, and each student in the group will write the scene in one of the three styles (fountain pen, quill pen, or glitter gel pen style). Groups must ensure that the details of all the scenes are consistent between group members; only the style of writing will change. Groups will submit all three scenes together as a package.

In this article you’ll find instructions for a playwriting choice board exercise. For this exercise, students should bring in a photo of them as a baby or toddler. It needs to be a physical copy, not a screen capture on a phone, because some of the options require students to trade the image with a partner or put it up on the wall. If students are uncomfortable with bringing in a photo of themselves or aren't able to do so, they can bring in a photo of another baby or toddler — perhaps a parent or sibling, or a magazine cutout or printout from the internet. Depending on your timeframe and the size of the assignment you wish your students to complete, you can have students select one or more options from the choices below. Two of the choices are individual, two are for pairs, and two are for groups. So, for example, you may wish for students to complete one individual selection and one partner/group selection. If you want to add a performing component, you can have your students workshop the pieces aloud after they’ve been written. Adapt the exercise to best suit the needs of your class. You’ll find an evaluation rubric in the giveaway below. Choice Board Options:Individual: Write a monologue from the perspective of your younger self. It could be in the voice of the baby or toddler, or in an adult voice speaking about childlike topics. It can be comedic, dramatic, whatever you wish. Individual: Write a monologue from the perspective of the child about to have a total meltdown or temper tantrum. What happened that made them so upset? How did they get from the state they were in in the photo to melting down? How can you write the monologue to indicate that it should have different levels, not just screaming? Partner: Write a scene together in which your two younger selves meet for the first time. Where are they? Why are they meeting? Who are they with? What other details should you include? Partner: Trade photos with a classmate and write a character sketch about their baby photo. It doesn't have to be accurate — feel free to make up details! Trade the character sketches back and write a scene together from the perspective of the babies in the character sketches, using the details your partner created. Try to stick to what they wrote, not what you know about yourself. Group: The teacher will collect all the photos and post them on the wall in small groups (3–5 per group, depending on the size of the class). Those students will get together and write a Rugrats-style scene featuring the group of babies on an adventure. Group: In small groups, students will write a comedic “baby newscast” scene. Using the details in the photos, each group member will write a segment about issues facing babies, from the perspective of the baby. For example, if one of the baby photos features a baby with food all over their face, the baby might express frustration that they’re messy. A baby wearing overalls might discuss baby fashion dos and don’ts. One of the students’ babies can act as the host or anchor of the newscast to tie all the pieces together.