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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Ten Writing Exercises

• Use stimuli such as music, photographs, a newspaper article, an object etc…to help you come up with the idea for a character or story.
  
  
  
• Start off by trying to write a stream of consciousness. With paper and pen (or computer) give yourself 15 minutes, and just write anything that comes into your head. Try not to censor or stop certain thoughts, just give your mind and pen freedom to wander. You may surprise yourself as to what you come up with. Some, or most of it, may not be of any use to you, however, you may find that you stumble across an idea, or a little nugget of inspiration that you could develop. This may be a good exercise to do each time you start writing, or even when you hit a brick wall and don’t know where you should go next.
  
  
  
• Listen to the way that people speak. Eaves-drop on conversations and note the differences in their voices and the way they speak e.g. accents; repetition; interruption; pauses; volume; vocabulary; what they say; what they don’t say; length of speeches etc… These ‘things’ are the tools that a playwright uses to create individual voices for their characters. It’s important that each character you create has a distinct voice.
  
  
  
• People watch. Whenever you are out and about observe other people, how they act and interact. Make notes, and attempt to write down an exchange you have witnessed, or think you may have witnessed, even though you couldn’t actually hear it. Think about them as characters and try to work out what their stories might be. Consider the 5 ‘w’s – who, what, where, when, and why? One of these characters, or situations just might provide the spring board for your play.
  
  
  
• Write a piece of dialogue between 2 characters, in which each character can only speak 3 words per line. The purpose of this exercise is to force you as a writer to focus on exactly what your characters want and are trying to say with each line of dialogue, and doesn’t allow for any rambling or exposing back story.
  
  
  
• Write a scene with 2 characters, in which the first character (A) wants a physical object from the second character (B), but B doesn’t want to give the object away. Create characters and decide why A wants the object and why B doesn’t want A to have it. Think about not only what they say, but what they don’t say, how they relate to each other physically, how they move etc…
  
  
  
• Re-write the above scene in a totally different location. What setting would raise the stakes for one of or both the characters? Could you switch from a private to a public setting or vice versa? Think about how this particular setting affects the dialogue, what is said and what is left unsaid, and the way the characters move /relate to each other.
  
  
  
• To develop a character, (or all the characters in your play), try to write a list of 50 things about them, without letting your pen leave the paper. You can write about anything, such as where they live, who with, what they like, what they dislike, what makes them angry, what they had for breakfast…absolutely anything. Try to let go of your imagination and write whatever comes into your head. You want to get to know them, and the world they inhabit, inside out and back-to-front.
  
  
  
• With a character you have developed, think about what it is that they want most in life. Think of a moment or event in their life when this ‘want’ is magnified for some reason – the stakes are heightened. What obstacles stand in their way (may be other people; something in themselves, such as fear; or a physical obstacle, such as being trapped in a room). Decide which other characters are in the scene and develop them (exercise above). What do they want? Write this scene.
  
  
  
• Once you have written a scene, read over it, or even better ask friends to read it out, and ask yourself the following questions: does the dialogue wander aimlessly, or is it driven by the characters need for something? Does the dialogue contain lots of back story? Are the characters believable as people? Do you think the scene will leave the audience wanting more? Answer as truthfully as possible and then re-draft as necessary. Be ruthless, even if it means cutting large chunks of writing you feel attached to.