Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [playwriting]

This tag should be used for questions about writing a play that is intended to be performed as a theatrical performance.

This tag should be used for questions about writing a play that is intended to be performed as a theatrical performance. You could use this tag when asking questions about transforming one genre into a play, such as a , for questions about plays such as questions about the or for example for questions.

This tag should be used specifically if the intention is to write a play. If you are writing a for example for a TV-show you should use the tag .

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I'm producing a play with a character who the audience isn't supposed to know is alive, can I credit the actor in the program?

There isn't a theater SE so this seems like the best place to ask, but feel free to suggest a better place. I'm producing a community play with a character who's believed to be dead, but turns out to be alive in the final scene. I don't want to…
user30789
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How can I get started screenwriting/playwriting?

I have some experience writing stories, but would like to beginning screenwriting. Are there any online guides to show how to get started and transition into writing for the stage, where ideas need to be presented through dialogue and props, rather…
Reverend Gonzo
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Is there a way to describe casting and costuming notes for a stage play?

I am writing a stage play and would like to express my desires for casting and costuming of the characters. For instance, a historical character is of Irish ancestry (thus an actor with red hair and a convincing Irish accent would be desired) and…
Thunderforge
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What are the meta considerations when writing a play?

What are the considerations one has to take into account when writing a play, that are imposed by the format of a play, a.k.a by the fact that it is played on stage? For example, in Shakespeare's time, all "corpses" had to be carried off stage,…
Galastel supports GoFundMonica
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How to present asides in play writing?

I'm not sure whether this is the stackexchange website for this, but I'm in the process of writing a play for a competition. The main character often has asides (where she expresses an idea or thought to the audience directly without the other…
RE Lavender
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In a stage play, how should the script refer to minor characters whose names are irrelevant?

Problem I'm writing a play that includes a number of minor characters who only exist for a scene or two. They are defined by their personality traits, not by their professions, and their names are irrelevant (I could introduce them, but they don't…
Thunderforge
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Software for Reading Playscripts?

I recently wrote a play and wanted to know what it sounded like before I showed it to the director, actors and so on so forth. Hence I was wondering if there is a software that just simply narrates my script back to me. I have tried Windows…
The Man 95
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How can I keep dialogue attached to character names in a Pages play script?

I'm formatting a play using Pages on macOS. I cannot figure out how to get character names to be associated with their dialogue. I'm formatting like [centered] JOHN [\centered] Yes, that’s me. But I constantly get orphaned character names…
Clayton McCray
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How to approach the Novelisation of a Play

So a couple of years ago I wrote a locally succesful one-act play, of which I still really enjoy the world. I want to continue writing in this world in a more prose-y way. I feel like the appropriate way to start this would be by first novelising…
Weckar E.
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Software for writing theater-like scenes

I do my writing in MS Word. I must incorporate some theater-like scenes into a book. In the theater-like scenes, there will be three to five characters speaking lines. Very, very occasionally a tiny bit of narration. Do I need different software,…
aparente001
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Sorkin: "Dialog is music" - In what way(s)?

I recently watched Aaron Sorkin's Masterclass on screenwriting. One frustrating section of it (overall it's quite good, IMHO) is about dialog, and Sorkin says that dialog is important, it can't be taught, and it is music. To be precise, he first…
Todd Wilcox
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What are these script formats called?

I have found two ways of formatting a script for a play. Character names go in the middle of the page, on a separate line. Example: http://filmschoolonline.com/sample_lessons/sample_script_page.htm Character names go flush left, and then there's a…
aparente001
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Translation as the starting point of a new work of fiction

In the past, there has been famous cases of translations becoming works on their own. Many dramatic plots were copied from country to country (Elizabethan dramatists used to translate Spanish plays for instance, many french plays started as an…
ogerard
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I am trying to write a Shakespearean-style play, but my “ideas” are always something I remember from Hamlet?

How does one come up with original ideas? Hamlet was amazing, but every time I think of a plot point or character, it just is not nearly as good as Hamlet or is a direct copy of the play. Is there something I could read to help me work this out? If…
FIREREED
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How do I make a repetitive element in a play interesting?

I am writing a playscript these days which includes various characters that are frequently related throughout the story. They all hold special orbs/keys that help the main protagonist progress further in his quest. It's kind of like the Matrix and…
August
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