Have to solve a mystery? Sometimes you can even have other people write the script for you . Go through a series of difficult events in order to achieve personal growth? Come of age by transitioning from childlike innocence to worldly experience? Go on a journey, like Odysseus’s perilous journey in The Odyssey?[2] X Research source Bring order to chaos? Overcome a series of obstacles to achieve a goal?
Story: The protagonist’s girlfriend broke up with him. Then the protagonist lost his job. Plot: The protagonist’s girlfriend broke up with him. Heartbroken, he had an emotional breakdown at work that resulted in his firing. You must develop a story that’s compelling and moves the action of the play along quickly enough to keep the audience’s attention. At the same time, you must show how the actions are all causally linked through your plot development. This is how you make the audience care about the events that are transpiring on stage.
Where does your story take place? Who is your protagonist (main character), and who are the important secondary characters? What is the central conflict these characters will have to deal with? What is the “inciting incident” that sets off the main action of the play and leads up to that central conflict?[6] X Research source What happens to your characters as they deal with this conflict? How is the conflict resolved at the end of the story? How does this impact the characters?
What are the relationships between the characters? How do the characters interact with the central conflict? Which ones are most impacted by it, and how does it affect them? How can you structure the story (events) to bring the necessary characters into contact with the central conflict? What is the logical, casual progression that leads each event to the next one, building in a continuous flow toward the story’s climactic moment and resolution?
Because one-act plays lack intermissions, they call for simpler sets and costume changes. Keep your technical needs simple.
Flash dramas are very short one-act plays that can run from a few seconds up to about 10 minutes long. They’re great for school and community theater performances, as well as competitions specifically for flash theater. See Anna Stillaman’s “A Time of Green” for an example of a flash drama.
For examples of two-act plays, see Peter Weiss’ “Hölderlin” or Harold Pinter’s “The Homecoming. "
The “inciting incident” should occur about half-way through the first act, after the background exposition. Follow the inciting incident with multiple scenes that raise the audience’s tension — whether dramatic, tragic, or comedic. These scenes should build toward a point of conflict that will end the first act. End the first act just after the highest point of tension in the story to that point. The audience will be left wanting more at intermission, and they’ll come back eager for the second act. Begin the second act at a lower point of tension than where you left off with the first act. You want to ease the audience back into the story and its conflict. Present multiple second-act scenes that raise the stakes in the conflict toward the story’s climax, or the highest point of tension and conflict, just before the end of the play. Relax the audience into the ending with falling action and resolution. Though not all plays need a happy ending, the audience should feel as though the tension you’ve built throughout the play has been released.
Act 1 is the exposition: take your time introducing the characters and background information. Make the audience care about the main character (protagonist) and his or her situation to ensure a strong emotional reaction when things start going wrong. The first act should also introduce the problem that will develop throughout the rest of the play. Act 2 is the complication: the stakes become higher for the protagonist as the problem becomes harder to navigate. One good way to raise the stakes in the second act is to reveal an important piece of background information close to the act’s climax. [14] X Research source Cowgill, Linda J. Writing Short Films: Structure and Content for Screenwriters. New York: Watson-Guptil Publications, 2005. This revelation should instill doubt in the protagonist’s mind before he or she finds the strength to push through the conflict toward resolution. Act 2 should end despondently, with the protagonist’s plans in shambles. Act 3 is the resolution: the protagonist overcomes the obstacles of the second act and finds a way to reach the play’s conclusion. Note that not all plays have happy endings; the hero may die as part of the resolution, but the audience should learn something from it. [15] X Research source Examples of three-act plays include Honore de Balzac’s “Mercadet” and John Galsworthy’s “Pigeon: A Fantasy in Three Acts. "
When are important characters introduced? How many different scenes do you have, and what specifically happens in each scene? Make sure each scene’s events build toward the next scene to achieve plot development. When might you need set changes? Costume changes? Take these kinds of technical elements into consideration when outlining how your story will unfold.
Don’t be afraid to use sentence fragments, either. Although we’re trained never to use fragments in writing, we use them all the time when we’re speaking: “I hate dogs. All of them. ”
Conversation cues: [long, awkward silence] Physical actions: [Silas stands up and paces nervously]; [Margaret chews her nails] Emotional states: [Anxiously], [Enthusiastically], [Picks up the dirty shirt as though disgusted by it]
Even as you’re adding detail, remember that the delete key can be your best friend. As Donald Murray says, you must “cut what is bad, to reveal what is good. ” Remove all dialogue and events that don’t add to the emotional resonance of the play. The novelist Leonard Elmore’s advice applies to plays as well: “Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip. ”[17] X Research source
