Notes: The Art of Dramatic Writing

 we all want to be important

premise, character, conflict

story must have a premise

examples of premises - faith conquers pride

shiftlessness leads to ruin

ruthless ambition leads to its own destruction

poverty encourages crime

the sins of the farthers are visited on the children

Jealousy destroys itself and the object of its love

blind trust leads to destruction

great love defies even death

emotion is as necessary to a play as barking to a dog

an unclear premise is as bad as no premise at all

exploring the ends of emotion is a way to find a premise

frugality leads to waste - a frugal character, 'leads to' suggests conflict, waste suggests end of the play

 premise examples: 

Bitterness leads to false gaiety. Foolish generosity leads to poverty. Honesty defeats duplicity. Heedlessness destroys friendship. Ill-temper leads to isolation. Materialism conquers mysticism. Prudishness leads to frustration. Bragging leads to humiliation. Confusion leads to frustration. Craftiness digs its own grave. Dishonesty leads to exposure. Dissipation leads to self-destruction. Egotism leads to loss of friends. Extravagance leads to destitution. Fickleness leads to loss of self-esteem.

all that is needed for a good premise is character, conflict and conclusion.\

and conviction. It is not 'does' egotism lead to loss of friends.

extremity leads to destruction

you can use other peoples premises

with more than one premise a play can become confused

playwright might work on a story for weeks before discovering that he needs a premise

must designate how great this emotional force is, show exactly what its destination is, and how far it will go

you should believe in your premise since you are going to try and prove it

Holding onto young love leads to nothing but suffering?

all plays, includig farces are better when the author feels he has something important to say

even in crime if someone is going to commit the perfect crime they must have a deep rooted motivation for doing so (this comes from premise)

steps of writing a crime play

What is the cirme (embezzlement, blackmail, theft, murder)

Why would criminal do it (lets say murder)lust, money, revenge, ambition, to right a wrong

P: escape from reality leads to a day rechoning.

P: ruthless ambition leads to its own destruction (this is the authors most mentined one so far)

CHARACTER

every object has three dimensions: depth, height, width. Human beings have an additional three dimensions: physiology, sociology, psychology.

pschology is the product of the other two

i. Sex a. Age 3. Height and weight 4. Color of hair, eyes, skin 5. Posture 6. Appearance: good-looking, over- or underweight, clean, neat, pleasant, untidy. Shape of head, face, limbs. 7. Defects: deformities, abnormalities, birthmarks. Diseases. 8. Heredity 

SOCIOLOGY 1. Class: lower, middle, upper. 3. Occupation: type of work, hours of work, income, con- THE BONE STRUCTURE 37 dition of work, union or nonunion, attitude toward organization, suitability for work. «. Education: amount, kind of schools, marks, favorite subjects, poorest subjects, aptitudes. 4. Home life: parents living, earning power, orphan, parents separated or divorced, parents' habits, parents' mental development, parents' vices, neglect. Character's marital status. 5. Religion 6. Race, nationality 7. Place in community: leader among friends, clubs, sports. 8. Political affiliations 9. Amusements, hobbies: books, newspapers, magazines he reads. 

PSYCHOLOGY 1. Sex life, moral standards 2. Personal premise, ambition 3. Frustrations, chief disappointments 4. Temperament: choleric, easygoing, pessimistic, optimistic. 5. Attitude toward life: resigned, militant, defeatist. 6. Complexes: obsessions, inhibitions, superstitions, phobias. 7. Extrovert, introvert, ambivert 8. Abilities: languages, talents. 9. Qualities: imagination, judgment, taste, poise, xo. l.Q.

a character is in constant change

everything is changeable, only change is eternal.

there must be a seed, a hint at what must change

if we plant an oak tree we dont expect an apple tree to appear

a character really should grow

do what exercise what are prevailing emotions before 'curtain' and then after final curtain.

characters need willpower

where there is no contradiction there is no conflict

any living creature is capable of doing anything, if the conditions around him are strong enough.

page 101 online, 86 in text

play is a living thing in which all of these elements have been fused

character leads to plot

You have a premise on the one side and a perfect character study on the other. You must stay on the straight road marked by these limits

the pateince of a martyr, despite torture, is. a powerful force that we can use in a story

negative and positive agression

negative is agression that provokes counter action

pivotal character (protagonist) is forced by circumstances within him and outside of him to become what he is.

the growth of the pivotal character is much less than that of the other characters for the simple reason that he has reaached a decision before the sotry starts

Because ninety-nine per cent usually give up before they have a chance to achieve anything. They have no perseverence, no stamina, no physical or mental strength

pivotal character is forced to be a pivotal character out of sheer necessity

The ANTAGONIST

anyone who opposes the pivotal character

is as strong and, in time, as ruthless as the pivotal character.

cannot have all characters with the same temperament, the same outlook on life, there will be no conflict - and no story

whenver see a story try to find out how the forces are lined up

eg. fascism vs demoncracy, freedom vs slavery, religion vs atheism. 

in every big movement there are smaller movements

love to hate might be the big movement

samller movements within  tolerance to intolereance maybe, which could be broken down into indifference to annoyance

as the author you have to kow eery characters exact status becuase you will orchestrate him with his opposties. well defined strong uncompromising charcters in conflict commensurate to the movement of the play

contrast in characters can make the play even more interesting if it means there is a contrast in the way characters speak

unity of opposities

science—superstition 

religion—atheism 

capitalism—communism

facism-- democracy

these are perfect unity of opposties but characters do not have to be in perfect opposties for it to work

eg. 121,122 in text pages have good examples

Criminals are people whose backgrounds have thwarted them, making crime necessary in the absence of more normal action

Characters so bound to each other that compromise is impossible. 

deadlock can be broken. only if one of the adversaries or both are exhausted beaten or annihilated completely at the end

affection, abusiveness, arrogance, avarice, accuracy, awkwardness, brazenness, bragging, craftiness, confusion, cunning, conceit, contemptuousness, cleverness, clumsiness, curiosity, cowardice, cruelty, dignity, dishonesty, dissipation, envy, eagerness, egotism, extravagance, fickleness, fidelity, frugality, gaiety, garrulity, gallantry, generosity, honesty, hesitance, hysteria, heedlessness, ill-temper, idealism, impulsiveness, indolence, impotence, impudence, kindness, loyalty, lucidity, morbidity, maliciousness, mysticism, modesty, obstinacy, prudishness, placidity, patience, pretentiousness, passion, restlessness, submission, sarcasm, simplicity, skepticism, savagery, solemnity, suspicion, stoicism, secretiveness, sensitivity, snobbery, treachery, tenderness, untidyness, versatility, vindictiveness, vulgarity, zealousness. Any of these, and thousands of other traits, can be the soil from which a conflict springs.

opposites face to face and conflict is inevitable. Let each of these adjectives represent a man, and imagine the possible conflicts when they meet: frugal—spendthrift moral—immoral dirty—immaculate optimistic—pessimistic gentle—ruthless faithful—fickle clever—stupid calm—violent cheerful—morbid healthy—hypochondriac humorous—humorless sensitive—insensitive dainty—vulgar naive—worldly brave—cowardly

If a character starts from "virtuousness" and goes to "villainy," let us see what intervening steps she has to take: 1. Virtuous (chaste, pure) 2. Thwarted (frustrated in her virtue) 3. Incorrect (faulty, unbecoming behavior) 4. Improper (she becomes indecorous, almost indecent) 5. Disorderly (unmanageable) 6. Immoral (licentious) 7. Villainous (depraved, wretched)

If a character stops at the first or second step and lingers there too long before taking the next step, the play will become static. Such staticness usually occurs when the play lacks the driving force which is the premise.

155 online

drunkenness to sobriety sobriety to drunkenness

timidity to brazenness brazenness to timidity simplicity to pretentiousness pretentiousness to simplicity fidelity to infidelity, and so on. // you know your character has to travel from one pole to another, you are in an advantageous position to see that he or she grows at a steady rate. You are not fumbling around; instead, your characters have a

jumping, too fast

static, nonexistant or rather very slow

are two conflict types to avoid

Whenever a conflict lags, rises jerkily, stops, or jumps, look to your premise. Is it clear cut? Is it active?

Be sure that your pivotal character is relentless

If your play jumps or becomes static, see to it that the unity of opposites is solidly established

bond between the characters cannot be broken, except through the transformation of a trait or a characteristic in a person, or by death itself

rising conflict is the goal

well orchestrated, three dimensional characters among whom unity is strongly established

177 online

lots of examples of conflict through dialogue

have not fully understood yet

rising conflict means a clear-cut premise and unity of opposites, with three-dimensional characters

characters strive to reach their goal: the proof of the premise

in dialogue mark lines as attack, counter attack, static, jump, transition etc (examples in 180s online text)

If you must read your work to someone, ask that person to tell you the moment he begins to feel tired or bored

conflict is the heart beat of all wriiting 

if conflict is not foreshadowed people become bored even quicker

sacrifice is the sign of true friendship, not politeness and smart talk

When the curtain goes up, the audience wishes to know as soon as possible who these people on the stage are, what they want, why they are there. What is the relationship between them?

A good point of attack is where something vital is at stake at the very beginning of a play.

The point of attack must be a point of decision or preparation for a decision.

first line spoken should start the conflict and the inevitable drive toward the proving of the premise.

no tension because there was nothing important at stake

friendship—disappointment disappointment—annoyance annoyance—irritation irritation—anger anger—assault assault—threat (to greater harm) threat—premeditation premeditation—murder

starts with irritation and ends with rage. In between the steps lead up from the first to the last.

(really great dialogue at page 225 online and 210 in text)

transition to make the steps between a change believable and not jumping

jumping when the author determines his fate, instead of letting him figure it out for himself.

If you desire to depict how a man burns himself to death in bed through carelessness, first show him smoking, falling asleep, and the cigarette igniting a curtain. At this moment you've arrived at crisis. Why? Because the careless man might awaken and put out the fire, or someone might smell the burning material; and if neither of these happens, he'll burn to death. It is a matter of moments in this case, but crisis can be longer

extend crisis

Dolls house -

climax was inherent in the premise: "Inequality in marriage breeds unhappiness

A man steals: conflict. He is pursued: rising conflict. He is caught: crisis. He is condemned by the court: climax. Transferring him to prison is the conclusion.

shortest scene contains all the elements of a three-act play

does not agree with obligatory scene as argues every scene is obligatory

Orchestrate your characters, and their dialogue will take care of itself

Necessity makes characters do things they would never think of doing under normal circumstances.

Personally, we suggest that you stay here, in the twentieth century, perhaps in your own town or city, and write about people whom you know. Your task will be much easier

otherwise you need to know the time you are writing as your time and place now

People can't wander in and out without rhyme or reason

Entrances and exits are as much a part of a play's framework as are windows and doors in a house

When someone comes in or goes out he must do so of necessity. His action must help the development of the conflict and be part of the character in the process of reveal' ing himself.

lack of transition produces melodrama

genius is only a genius in a certain field. 

Genius is a keenness

summary 

formulate premise

choose pivotal character who will force conflict

The pivotal character must be a person who will go all the way to avenge his injury, whether it be real or imaginary

line up other characters - these must orchestrated

unity of opposites must be binding

select correct point of attack - must be the turning point in the life of one or more of your characters

You want only rising and foreshadowing conflict

No conflict can rise without perpetual exposition, which is transition.

Rising conflict, the product of exposition and transition, will ensure growth.

Characters who are in conflict will go from one pole to another—like hate to love—which will create crisis. If growth continues in a steady rise, climax will follow crisis. The aftermath of climax is the conclusion

unity of opposites is so strong that the characters will not weaken

Every character has to have something at stake, as, for example, property, health, future, honor, life

-

premise must be discernible from the beginning

prove the premise through conflict

characters must be so well drawn that we can make out histories for them, whether or not we have been told them

if no transition then explains why story progresses by leaps and bounds, instead of growing naturally.

dialogue must indicate the character's background, personality, and occupation

If you write about love, you should write about great love. If you write about ambition, it should be ruthless ambition. If you choose affection, it should be possessive affection. They generate conflict.

traits and how they can lead to conflict 282

Were you ever so angry that people thought you were losing your mind? No? Other people were. Were you ever so jealous that you thought you couldn't bear it any longer? If your answer happens to be "no," you are a rare one,

online 292 - tv terms

from there analysis of plays