Nine more writing exercises

TIME LOCK EXERCISE

1. Write a scene with two characters in which one character must get the red box from the other character before a certain time is up (i.e., the bus stops, the game is over, the old one dies, the paint dries, he marries her, the ice cream melts, the baby is born, etc.).
2. Keep the action in the same place (no change of scene).
3. Keep stage directions to a minimum.
4. Write a scene that ends when the character gets the red box or fails.
5. Write two to three pages.

HARMLESS/HARMFUL EXERCISE

1. Pick a harmless action, such as: eat a cookie, hug someone, jump rope, open a box, lick a stamp, shake hands, etc.
2. Pick two characters engaged in the action.
3. Give one of the characters an evil intent with the harmless action.
4. Write a scene that ends when the character carries out their intent or is thwarted.
5. Write at least three pages.

COMEDY EXERCISE

1. Pick a situation that the main character sees as tragic and two other characters see as comic.
2. Have the main character undergo a transformation from an unhappy state to a happier state.
3. Emphasize stakes the audience will see as inappropriate or ludicrous. ("If I sneeze, the spider will grow to six feet.")
4. Write a scene that ends when the main character undergoes their transormation.
5. Write at least five pages.

SYMPATHETIC EVIL CHARACTER EXERCISE

1. Create a character who wants to commit what you consider an evil deed.
2. Create a scene in which this character tries to persuade another character to help commit the deed.
3. Make the first character as sympathetic as possible.
4. End the scene when the second character agrees or refuses.
5. Write at least five pages.

CHANGE THE ENDING EXERCISE

1. Take the last scene of a play by another playwright and change the ending.
2. Begin with the original dialogue, then change to your dialogue.
3. Write at least three pages.
4. Turn in a copy of the original ending.

FLIP FLOP EXERCISE

1. Take a scene that you have already written from your play.
2. Change the sex of at least one character.
3. Write at least three pages.
4. Possible outcomes: you make a minor character more believable; you get ideas for better plot development; you decide your play is about a different character than you thought.

REVERSE POV EXERCISE

1. Take a scene that you have already written from your play.
2. Take the point of view of the character who opposes your main character.
3. Write at least three pages from the POV of the opposer.
4. Possible outcomes: you make your oppositional character more believable; you get ideas for better plot development; you decide your play is about the opposer.

MOVE OUT EXERCISE

1. Take a scene that you have already written from your play.
2. Put the characters in a different room, building, city, or universe, or outside.
3. Write at least three pages.
4. Possible outcomes: you make your characters more believable; you get ideas for better plot development; you decide your play is about a different charcter than you thought.

WHO IS THAT TALKING EXERCISE

1. Take a scene that you have already written from your play.
2. Cover up all the character names.
3. Read the dialogue out loud. Can you tell who is speaking by their word choice?
4. If you cannot tell who is speaking, give one of the characters a different way of speaking: more poetic or less poetic; with more slang or less slang; words that are more educated or less educated; in shorter sentences or longer ones; words in a different order within each sentence; or words from a different part of the country.
5. Rewrite the dialogue in the scene.
6. Possible outcomes: you make your characters more distinct and thus more real in their own world; you decide your play is about a different character than you thought.

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