To begin...Finding Inspiration
Firstly I would like to dedicate this play series to my family and friends who believe that they could not write a play. This series is to show that you all that can CAN write, if you just sit down and try! This is dedicated to the wonderful audiences that have been so wonderful, and my church family that have back me up and made things all work out well! Thank you all. You are SO PRECIOUS to me! But most of all, this is dedicated to my Saviour. My plays are written for Him, and I want to honour Him in my writings.
Now, let's move on to the first lesson!
Writing a play may seem a bit daunting, but don't worry! You'll be fine. In fact, forget the writing part right now. What you need to do now is choose something that you are interested in. This post is about finding inspiration. Now, I personally have a drawer full of stories and story ideas, but I do occasionally get a bit of writer's block. Really, that can be a frustrating place to be-you want to write, but have no clue what you should write. And if you are used to writing stories and are trying for the first time to write a play, you may feel empty of ideas. Maybe you have never written much before-that's fine. Guess what? When I wrote my first play, I just knew from reading some plays how to go about it. Now I think of "One Lost Lamb" and am glad that I can write much better now! But the first ingredient for the recipe of a drama is an idea. I'm going to share several of my "techniques" to getting inspired, and maybe they will help you as well!
I am always getting ideas. I more ideas that time to write, and I'd even say more ideas than story lines! I agree with all those books and suggestions to write down ideas in a notebook (or on one of those million sticky notes or papers floating around in your bedroom; warning: these can be hard to find!). Save those ideas. Then, when you have writer's block you can get out that notebook or all those papers and go mining for that perfect idea. Guess what! Un-used story ideas can be transferred into awesome play plots! "Forgery!" is one of my examples. The police force was created for another story, but I decided to use those officers. Now that original story idea is actually in the process of being turned into a sequel to "Forgery!". In fact, as you all write your plays, I'm going to be writing that sequel-"Runaway". I'm excited to see how it works out. :D
I love finding inspiration at church or when reading my Bible. There are so many interesting phrases and intriguing verses, along with plenty of plots and story lines that could be used as the basis for a play. I generally end up scribbling phrases or verses down on the edge of my notes on the sermon so that I can save "that idea" for later, in case I need it.
With "One Lost Lamb", my afore-mentioned first try at writing drama (besides little skits as a kid), I actually got the idea for a middle scene, and wrote the play off of that scene. I knew Jennifer Allan, the main character, would be upset-she is an orphan, no one understands the pain that she feels, she feels alone and frustrated, and she desperately needs God. I had the scene of her getting upset at her sister-in-law in my mind, and the emotions that she struggles with there are the first climax in the play. I knew how Jennifer would act there, so I created a way for her to be brought up to that point, and a situation at the end of the play where she would find the Lord Jesus. So, if all you can figure out is a climax, save that thought! You can work from there. Any ideas that you get, save.
This idea is something that I read about as an activity to overcome writer's block (or something along that . When trying to come up with an idea, just writer down any idea that you can think of, no matter how ludicrous. I used this activity when I wrote my play, "Through Shepherd's Eyes". I had thought of various people in the Christmas story and how they might have viewed the events. I've always loved the shepherd part of the story. That part of the story has appealed to me since I was a child, and putting personalities (I had one as a pessimist, and another as an optimist) to those shepherds was fun. I believe that I also learned more about that time period. :D (Just a note: I love to learn as I write. What is called "researching your topic" is in reality learning!)
Other ideas to find inspiration are reading books (I'd suggest on a topic that you enjoy...but a play with horses or on skydiving may be a bit difficult to write, much less perform!), watching dvds, studying scripts of skits and plays, flipping through a history or geography book, or singing some songs (think about the lyrics and stories behind some of those wonderful hymns; have you ever researched "Amazing Grace" or "How Great Thou Art"? Lot's of inspiration hiding there!).
So, I've given you some ideas for how to find inspiration. Do not rush or stress yourself about it. An idea will come (perhaps at midnight, but you may be more lucky than I am!). I will try to post a short list of ideas to jog your imagination later on this week, in case your inspiration levels are a bit low!
At the end of each "Playing Around" post I will re-state the challenge of the week, and what I am doing with my plays to fulfil those goals. So, for this week, I have gotten the inspiration for my plays "Runaway" and "Look Out, Look Up". Both are plays about my police force. One will be about two runaways, in totally different ways, and the other is about Biblical teaching on the rapture (with a kidnapping event added in, just for fun! :D).
So, what will your inspiration be?! Let me know in the comments!
God bless ya!
Indi
John 3:16