Playwriting 101: The Stage and Character Name Element. The Stage Notice the use of the terms "right" and "center," which along with "left" are theatrical shorthand for Stage Right, Stage Left and Center Stage.
Right and left always refer to the actors' right and left, and center is the center of the stage. Sometimes you'll also see "upstage" or "downstage," or their shorter forms, *up and *down. The latter terms get their names from the early days of theatre, when stages were raked, and if you walked toward the back of the stage, you literally walked up, and if you walked toward the audience, you were walking down. Few raked stages exist, but we still use the terms. Character Name Element Characters' names may appear in two ways: before dialogue and contained in the stage directions. PERRY They were your dogs. For character names that appear in the stage directions you have the choice of two formats. (Late afternoon. But later in the play, I write (Marla strokes the cardboard dog.)
25 Insights on Becoming a Better Writer. When George Plimpton asked Ernest Hemingway what the best training for an aspiring writer would be in a 1954 interview, Hem replied, “Let’s say that he should go out and hang himself because he finds that writing well is impossibly difficult.
Then he should be cut down without mercy and forced by his own self to write as well as he can for the rest of his life. At least he will have the story of the hanging to commence with.” Today, writing well is more important than ever. Far from being the province of a select few as it was in Hemingway’s day, writing is a daily occupation for all of us — in email, on blogs, and through social media. It is also a primary means for documenting, communicating, and refining our ideas. So what can we do to improve our writing short of hanging ourselves? 1. Don’t just plan to write—write. 2. [The] Resistance knows that the longer we noodle around “getting ready,” the more time and opportunity we’ll have to sabotage ourselves. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method.
Do you make these 3 disastrous book-writing mistakes? I’ll say it again: Most people think that writing a book is incredibly difficult, time-consuming, and of questionable value.
But actually, if you just follow my program, it can be doable (if not easy), quick, and a really good use of your time. I’ll save the value part for another blog post; what I want to focus on here is what makes book-writing difficult and time-consuming for most people. Jumping in without a complete plan. If you want to build a house, you don’t begin driving a truck to the Home Depot and filling it with 2×4′s, dry-wall panels, and other materials. Obviously you don’t know how much to buy, of what materials. Researching as you go. Have you discovered any mis-steps that slow your book-writing or get you off track? Like this: Like Loading... eBook Publishing & eBook Distribution. Self Publish a Book - Lulu.com.