Today’s the day to plunge in, playwrights! Over the next two days we’re going to write our opening scenes. If you need it, here is a formatting refresher: “The Standard Stage Play Format,” a guide by Laura King, MFA, MA, Instructor of Theatre at Gordon State College.
Days 27-28 – Write your opening scene. This is the one that sets everything in motion. How are your characters introduced? How is the conflict revealed? Adapted from The Playwright’s Handbook, by Frank Pike and Thomas G. Dunn (Revised Edition, 1996).
Remember that this is a DRAFT. You are not asking “how will this play start?” but “how might this play start?” Don’t treat this as a final product and resist the urge to edit. You want to get in the groove and finish the scene. You can evaluate it later. You can throw it in the trash and rewrite it later. Whatever. But write now, you start it, you finish it. You see where it goes.
And remember to keep an open mind. You’ve done a lot of planning but this is where you hear your characters speak for the first time. You may be surprised with what they say, how they say it, and the direction in which they want to move things. Don’t be so rigid in following your plan that you miss the opportunity to write something spontaneous and surprising!