The
most frequent questions and concerns I receive from young playwrights preparing
their scripts have to do with the limits that we place on script format and
page count. In fact, this was the most troubling thing to the writers in a
playwriting class I just finished teaching. They were constantly checking the
number of pages and double-checking to see if I thought they might have enough,
or too much. I tried to ease their worries by answering the question “How long
does it need to be?” with the open answer “As long as it needs to be to tell
the story.”
I completely understand the anxiety about these things.
The majority of the submissions we receive each year come from students who are
writing a play for the first time and what we request for a manuscript is
different from the way a script looks when published in the books that they
read and use to rehearse the school play. Luckily, script formatting comes
pretty easily with a little practice. (You can find more information about the
format requirements on our blog here.) While format can be managed, it is page
count that causes young writers the most anxiety.
This makes sense to me, too. Young playwrights spend
most of their time writing working on papers and projects for class, which often
have limits and requirements. I get it: When there is a page limit, or a page
minimum, you want to make sure you are saying enough, but not too much, while
still writing something good. I worried about this when I was a student and,
truth be told, it is something I still think about now that I’m writing my
dissertation.
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| Screenshot from our Guidelines Page |
The NJ Young Playwrights Festival asks that script
submissions be “longer than 20 minutes in performance
time (roughly 20 typed pages)” because that’s what we are able to
manage in the production of the Festival. We choose about 9-10 plays and only
have a total of three hours between the two performances to present that work. And
I want all of you writers to know that while we ask for scripts that are no
more than 20 minutes in length (roughly 20 pages of typed dialogue), that isn’t
an exact measure of what accounts for 20 minutes on stage. Please keep in mind
that if your play reaches the final round, and even if it is selected for the
Festival performance, you will do a lot of rewrites and revisions to it. So,
there is room to go a little over the limit, if you
need to. (Please note the emphasis on little!) But please don’t go
overboard. Reaching beyond 25 pages is probably too much.
But really, rather than worrying about how long or how
short your play might be, try to focus on telling a good story. Make this a
play that you feel confident and passionate about – a play that you are proud
to share with the world and a play that you yourself would really like to see.
Because in the end, that is what is most important. Tell the story first. Then
edit to fit the guidelines later.
Happy writing!
