As Long As It Needs to Be

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.

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!

Revisiting the debate about format

With 10 days until the script submission deadline, I thought I would publish the link to one of our most visited posts: "The Debate About Format". Every year there are many questions about how to format a script submission. Please use the information in this post as a guide. You will find the link below.

http://njyoungplaywrights.blogspot.com/2009/12/debate-about-format.html

Happy writing!

Words of wisdom

A few days before Thanksgiving, I sat in on a playwriting residency being taught by Ben Clawson, one of our teaching artists. He was leading the class in a session where each student pitched an idea for their story and discussed the possibilities (and any questions) with the class. Ben gave some great advice to the students that may be helpful throughout the writing process, but especially so if you are experiencing a block, or still do not know where to begin. I asked Ben if I can share these with you. Here are a few...

"You're telling a story that you want to hear. You are your first audience member."
Often some of the first questions and inevitable uncertainties expressed by our young playwrights include what to write about and whether their idea will be "good enough". The answer to that depends upon the intended audience. If you work from the view that you are the first and most important audience for your play, write one that you enjoy and it will certainly be "good enough". Plus...

"There's the story and then how you present it."
Chances are that when you first sit down to write, you already have a story idea in mind. For example, you might describe the idea by saying: "This a story about a girl who..." or "This is a story that takes place in..."

No matter what idea you start with there are likely to be infinate directions that it can take. This can feel daunting, which may lead to burnout, or writer's block, or an anxiety that you won't be able to start... or finish. If you set some parameters for yourself with number of characters, scenes, locations, then you begin to establish some limitations and focus your writing. I'm not surprised to hear some grumbling here as I don't like an outline any more than the next person does, but the way in which Ben put this idea to the class makes it something more of a framework for how you want to tell you story than a rock-solid outline.

This can also be a fun challenge and may provide some interesting story ideas that you may not have thought about previously.

Still not convinced that a framework can be helpful? Consider this...

"You can take a walk in the woods. It's not too dangerous... if you know where you are going. If you just start walking that's when you get lost."

and

"[Its] always good to leave room for your story to surprise you."

Have a good sense of where you want to go and be open to some diversions along the way. Just keep in mind the end goal and you'll make it though alright.

Happy writing!