← Speeches & Workshops

Writing scripts, 2013 IESA

A problem to solve Interesting characters…. Humor of character plays better than humor of plot. Powerpoint? Interesting situation: two boys in hallway versus McDonald’s freezer Think VISUAL…action Variety of personalities…interesting personalities rather than character, occupation, etc. Play with genres… Open to Interpretation In a good drama, someone must change Your main concern is not being funny or dramatic, but giving the kids a good acting opportunity Why I began Don’t tell about it, Do it Dummies book Vary length of lines (short: hard) Best humor…humor of recognition: Potluck

Getting published

Sources for scripts: Consortium, Edna Means, Wetmore… Most available

I began 42 years ago...much like most of you....found that poor material was my main problem...began writing....

Writing your own scripts

I’ll talk mostly about writing humorous scripts since that’s the bulk of what’s used in contests.

It’s not as hard as you think...they key is usually a clever idea. I’ve written some that weren’t even clever. My partner Bob Crowe has written for years without a single clever idea.

Your goal: to make kids look good....to challenge them with rewarding material

We all need your material...so stale for so many years...it’s only brightened up recently...kids will get a kick out of doing something original.

And have your kids try their hand at it..mostly English teachers here so teach them the form then let them go...Hardly any will be contest-ready but with polishing up by you, they can be.

May say: A worthwhile writing project? YES! Much more valuable and salable and interesting than “What I did on my summer vacation” and “What I’d do with a million dollars.” AND...it help fulfill your state mandated goals in the Fine Arts. Have them perform it and you have two areas covered.

Needs to be: -------something they can relate to..topics which appeal to them...there are people out there writing scripts who don’t know Jr High kids nearly as well as you. ------------something they can enjoy working with. ------------challenging enough to keep their attention...A Warning Sign: Something that’s easy at first. -------------action: Jr High are not adults...give them something to do. -------------keep your audience in mind...keep it moving

AND......no matter what you’ve told your students for years, you do not have to have the ending in mind when you begin. And don’t think Shakespeare did...Why else did he end Hamlet three times? Why does Hamlet die twice?

Finding the Topic: Comedy: DOES NOT COME FROM PEOPLE TRYING TO BE FUNNY. Just turn on television tonight and watch the sit-coms.

COMEDY COMES FROM PEOPLE CAUGHT IN TENSE OR ANXIOUS OR EVEN DESPERATE SITUATIONS.

Think of the funniest plays or movies or television shows you’ve seen....they all come from a tense situation. Most successful sit-com of all time: MASH...in the middle of a war! Forrest Gump....mental disfunction, war, civil unrest... Any you can name...

So....the hardest thing in the world to do: putting two people in a neutral situation and asking them to be funny.

A PLUG AND AN EXAMPLE...this year’s Consortium offerings:

--puppeteer doesn’t show --five girls in a wilderness camp without their makeup --Travel Channel goes to Mother Good land --mouthy cabbie..guy in back seat fantasises on his death ---Man at bus stop.. other : End of the world! --two girls.. wedding party --girl, babysitter, bored, Jack and Jill • famous women in history in 8 min • --the American family 175 years.. 8 min • Sunday School teacher • Boys: Coke, 50’s • Girls… dude ranch • Westminster Dog show… Vet •

LOOK FOR TENSE OR ANXIOUS OR SCARY SITUATIONS... Works you may know better: “A Beautiful Friendship” “Eagles Scream, Too” “Missy and Her Guardian Angel” “Holy Kemosabee...or Partners”

EMBARRASSMENT........a great starting point.

FEAR.....

NERVOUSNESS....

HOW TO WRITE THEM

Decide what combination you want to write for: A question to you: what are we shortest on? BB BG or GG?

Don’t let your lines get too short.. Short lines are harder to memorize.

Make it run about seven minutes...read it and time it or have two kids do it. Don’t put it too many stage directions...leave that up to the director. Professional scripts have very few.

Head toward irony at the end...BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP....dating cousins. HOLY KEMOSABEE, BATMAN...asked to do the very thing they’re best at as punishment. TALENTED YOUNG NEWCOMERS...wanted a part to asked to play a horse. THE GRANDEST LARCENY...the burglar ends up not wanting to steal anything and the owner ends up wanting him to steal something.

Look at the dull endings without irony....FIRST BUS RIDE “Let’s get off” “HUCK FINN’S CURE FOR WARTS” “Let’s get out of the cemetery” JOE’S PIZZA PARLOR “I don’t think I want any pizza.”

Idea could come out of an Improv..that’s how “A Chorus Line” was born.

I try to often provide situations where characters can impersonate various others....SOMETIMES THE JUDGES DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS!...Ex: Holy Kemosabe, Batman....The Ham Curing...Talented Young Newcomers..Knight Dreams... .(new ones:)...He’s a good Boy (really stretches a pair).....Hood-Winked (explain)...

Brain-Storming in audience:

You give me some ideas...we’ll come up with ideas today that you can go home and write, then bring them next year or send them to Edna Means or The Consortium.

(to audience) Like Donahue---------------- Toughest thing about being in elementary school or Jr High

What do you remember scared you in your first days of school?

What did you father used to do which embarrassed you?

Name something you did which your parents still don’t know about?

Horrible dating experience?

The most trouble you ever got in, in grade school?

Your most embarrassing day of grade school?

What is the number one fear of your students? (other than you)

Tell about an argument you had with your best friend in Jr High or elementary school.

NOW...DO THIS SAME SORT OF BRAINSTORMING WITH YOUR KIDS....

NOW...THE WRITING....

An intriging opening...don’t be blatant in announcing your subject matter...tease your audience a little... If it’s about a little girl who wants to get out of going to school, don’t have her begin with “Oh, I don’t want to go to school.” Spend some time getting to the crux of the matter. “What’s the matter?” “Nothin’”

Get their attention right off the bat...pique their interest. TALENTED YOUNG NEWCOMERs...”Tea for two”

Sometimes you can get away with beginning with exposition...ex: A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP and KNIGHT DREAMS.... (explain)...only if you need it.

BUT...the general rule: SHOW IT rather than TALK ABOUT IT...or at the very least...DO BOTH.. Always avoid the narrative type opening...BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP...EX: “This is a scene between a 7th grade boy and a 7th grade girl...they are at a dance and the boy is very bashful.” IF YOU GOTTA EXPLAIN IT, THEN IT AIN’T WORTH IT. Besides, you just missed out on dramatizing the best part. Again...action, action, action. Show it, rather than talk about it. EX: Beautiful Friendship...Lots of clever lines but the thing that always gets the laugh is when these two try to couple up and dance awkwardly. THE HAM CURING...some funny lines but the real humor comes by the trials and tribulations Dan goes through as Skip reads all the stage directions. SCARE ME gets its humor from two girls stuck inside a crowded tent and rolling over each other in fear.

COMMON MISTAKES IN SPEECH WRITING:

1. We have sit through an entire duet for one clever idea at the end.
2. Too talky....Ex: OUR OPERATIONS...and YOU TELL ME, I’LL TELL YOU....and SCARE ME
3. Too Hokey.
4. Too short.
5. Young kids talking with adult language.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO BE A BIT BAZAAR.... EX: BIRD OF A DIFFERENT COLOR.....Squawking, etc. THIS MAN NEEDS HELP...

The key to nearly all of these duets is beginning with a good idea. Being able to write well is nice, but you must have a clever idea or you’re sunk.

Misc: Many of you out there want cutsie girl-girl duets like First Bus Ride, and Wishes do Come True. I don’t know a thing about cutsie duets..I’ve been stuck in Jr High for 23 years. You Write them!

In a duet, put your character names along the left-hand side so you’ll have a good idea of how long you’re running..Centered on top of each speech gives a false impression of length.

My best method...get the grain of an idea then just sit down and write. You know better than anyone in the world, the elementary and Jr High mind. Just write...hide your delete button and white out...just write...don’t edit until you’ve written something.

BE SPECIFIC...DEAL IN CONCRETE TERMS....Ex: HEY DUMMY> The boy doesn’t just say his sister gave him a hard time...he names specifics..”Smurf Underwear....Dukes of Hazzard...pepsi and left-over pizza” words that make pictures in the audience’s mind. THIS IS A VALUABLE PIECE OF ADVICE which will keep you from getting too verbose. In another way, you are SHOWING instead of TELLING.

CONFLICT...

Whether it’s the First Bus Ride, Les Miserables, or The Declaration, most memorable pieces of literature have CONFLICT at their heart. Conflict is necessary for all drama. To write a duet about two people who want the same thing in exactly the same way and don’t conflict with each other in any way in how they get it is just about the most boring play I can imagine.

Monologues: Inner conflict....HEY DUMMY...I WANT TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT PARENTS.... THIRTEEN.....

An easy serious monolgue to write...think of a time in your early years when you wanted two things at the same time...when you were being tugged in two directions at once.... What your friends want you to do versus what your parents want you to do. What you want, versus what your parents wanted. What you want versus what you know is good for you.

NOW...I’m no fool...I know that the hardest part of this speech is not showing you how to write it but to convince you that you have the courage, and skill and time to attempt it. SIMPLY GETTING YOU TO DO IT.

----Don’t ever stop growing....as a teacher or as an individual. If this is your first year of teaching then it’s the perfect time to try writing your own material. If it’s your last year of teaching then it’s the perfect time to try writing your own material. If there is now way in the world you have time to do this, then it’s the perfect time to write your own material.

---Once you play for your first audience, you will get an education in dramatics and writing that no university and no Ken Bradbury could every give you.

Besides, it’ll help break my students of the idea that every speech coach writes his or her own material. They come up at contest and whisper to me, “Did you know that somebody from Greenfield is doing one of our speeches?”

Questions?

Isles School, April 2011

5th grade..monsters, space ships.. terrible. Mrs. Smith.

Grandpa, three fingers. Pop goes the weasel The teacher liked it! My friends liked it! 2 donkeys… one bucked Aunt Lizzie into a tank full of water Same! Grandma… cutting chickens head off… backed her into a bush Same!

First poem… Huh? What’d you do last night? I caught lightening bugs..fireflies.

The Boy with the Firefly Eyes

To the boy with the firefly eyes we said, “Boy.. with the firefly eyes. You shore can, yes you shore can catch them fireflies whether on or off those lights would go that boy would catch them high or low to the ground don’t you know that boy was fast!” Now fire----flies… the strange little things, Don’t come out in the day But they come out at that peculiar time When the light’s just fadin’ away

And you won’t find that firefly bug in a mug or a rug or your grandpa’s jug or anywhere else it seems. And you gotta grab fast or the light won’t last and the firefly’ll get away clean.

Oh, none could match his speed, he grace, and the way he caught those things. And in the firefly catchers club he was the absolute King. They’d go up and up he’d go! Fly low? He’d hit his knees… They’d whirl, he’d whirl…. They’d flash, he’d dash.. As easy as you please.

The trick he found, was to sit on the ground and pretend he wasn’t there Then just when mister lightening bug would glow he’d jump up in the air. And I’ll bet you think he killed ‘em when they were tryin’ to glow.. I gotta confess, he hated the mess and he always let ‘em go.

I got it published in my school newspaper! 25 copies! Wow! Why? Because I found out that everybody liked catching fireflies! I wrote about the things I knew about.

A book publisher came to me and asked me to write a book. I remembered my fifth grade teacher and I wrote about the things that had really happened to me. Now…six books! Each of you has stories inside you… In a few minutes, we’ll dig some out.

Maybe you’ve got this problem: My friend…Japanese restaurant. Dumplings.

Maybe…just maybe…if you don’t like to write, it’s because you’ve been eating chop suey instead of crab Rangoon… maybe you might like writing about real things in your life. Maybe you haven’t given the other topics a chance.

1st thing….Write about the things you know…

2nd thing you need to become a writer The answer is right here in front of me…. Him!... (talk to him)… People are the most interesting things in this room. Get to know them. Chances are, they’re a lot like you. (Who covers us everything but your mouth?.. take one large step into bed)Ball Toss.--What were you most afraid of when you were little? ---Your favorite toy when you were little. --Name one person other than your Mom or Dad who you really admire. --If you could be anywhere in the world right now?

People! People are Interesting! People are awesome! Get to know people! Write about people! Anybody have a really weird Uncle? Anybody have a grandma who likes to squeeze your cheeks? Anybody have a dad who does really embarrassing things to you? (My Dad: sings to the music in WalMart.)

Probably the main reason I’m a writer is because I think people are really cool.. I always want to know about them.. For example, right now I’d love to know… (audience)

Audience! You need an audience. You need somebody to read what you’ve written or to listen to it!

Last week: Income taxes..no audience. Planted flowers, Oatmeal. Any fun to write something knowing no one would ever read it?

Get an audience. Tell your teacher you want to read your stuff everywhere.. for everybody.. Read for mom and dad. Read for Grandpa and Grandma. Read for your classmates. Read for your dog. Two roughnecks……Jeremy and Josh. .. all they could think about was skateboarding… I teamed them up and let them write together… Every weekend they met to write. They loved to perform it. One is now owns his own tractor business and the other is a Xtreme Wrestling Champion.

When you write something you like, tell someone to sit down and listen to you read it. Tell your teacher you’d like to read it in class.

Watch this! Magic! I’m going to read your minds! I’m going to hear the little thoughts inside your head. PRETEND: I’m a teacher and this afternoon I give you a writing assignment for tomorrow. Wait! Wait! I can hear the thoughts! “I don’t know what to write about.” “Oh, it won’t be good enough..” “Oh, they’re all gonna laugh at me.” “Oh, I can’t spell.” “Oh, I don’t know where to put the commas.” “Oh, if it’s not perfect, I’ll just die!” “Oh, I might have to listen to some bald guy talk about writing.”

….. Stop writing like your afraid of making a mistake. Write because it’s fun and you like to do it! When you begin writing, don’t worry about making mistakes…just write. After you’ve written it the first time, then you can go back and make it better. Basketball coach. Must be perfect in first game! Make every shot! Get every rebound! Block every shot! No… you try to play basketball then you keep working to get better. You don’t have to be perfect the first time.

Now…let’s work on getting ideas… Koosh ball.

----A time when you were very scared. ---A smell...that every time you smell it, it makes you feel good --- The funniest member of your family --- The biggest mess you ever made --- The nicest thing somebody ever did for you ---The funniest thing that happened at school yesterday.

Improv: The Brain Word Tennis Sound Circle Who Is? Simul-Talk Statue Line Talk Late for School

Questions?