In depth second blog post “act one, scene one”
Progress report:
In the last few weeks I’ve completed several tasks, firstly, I met with my mentor for the first time. We discussed the different types of script writing and screen writing vs. Play writing, and decided that for the sake of this project and my goals, I will be focusing more on play writing. We discussed in this meeting the key difference between the two types of script writing and how they apply to my project. As well, in the past few weeks, I have decided on the genre of play I will be writing and the theme. The genre will be a comedy, as they are an area I have an interest in writing in the future, and also I have experience acting in comedic based plays. There plot of my play will be a comedic take on a heist of sorts, this basic plot will definitely require some revisions, but at least I am starting to get some character ides on paper as well as ideas for the climax of acts one and two. Luckily, at this point in my project, I haven’t run into any obstacles, I am having a great time planning out my characters and plots.
Since my first blog post, there has been a relatively large change to my project however. In my initial learning contract, some of my personal criteria had been at least 3-4 main characters and 6+ side characters. After meeting with my mentor and reading through many of the references that she supplied me with, this quantity of characters would be impossible for the length of play I am planning to write. I am making adjustments to my personal criteria, and that is to have 1 main character that the play centers around and 2-4 side characters that will be flushed out. My mentor warned me against more characters as “even if they’re mainly there for comedic purposes, all characters need to be useful to the plot” (my mentor, Michelle). Having more than one, or possibly two main characters would not allow for all of the characters to be useful to the plot, and six side characters would be almost impossible. This is the only major change to my project at this time.
Evidence:
I have, of course, had to cut some characters, which is difficult however, after some work I have come to my final list, bellow are the characters and some of their likes and dislikes, their main role in the play, and their archetype.
Lian, the main character “the brains of the operation, the dreamer”
Age: 19
Pronouns: they/them
Likes:
The color blue
Reading
Sweaters
Movies
Bugs
Dislikes:
Disorganization
Spaghetti
Water color painting (accidentally drank water color painting water as a child)
Kelsey, the antagonist
Age: 22
Pronouns: she/her
Likes:
Sports
Bright pink
Conning people
Cats
Dislikes:
Rule followers
Romance
Tea
Strawberry jello
Ryan, side character “the voice of reason, the cynic”
Age: 17
Pronouns: he/him
Likes:
Robotics
Coffee
Baseball
Math
Marine biology
Dislikes:
Stairs
Cheese puffs
People who don’t like green apples
Pineapple on pizza
Autumn, side character “ the risk taker, the rebel”
Age: 18
Pronouns: she/her
Likes:
Halloween
Dirt bikes
Astronomy
Sunflowers
Dislikes:
Pumpkin spice
Pears
Chemical smells e.g. Nail polish
Aethylla “the one who doesn’t wanna be there, the innocent”
Age: 20
Pronouns: she/they
Likes:
Science
Reading
Skirts
French cuisine
Dislikes:
Pizza
Ducks
Flowers (pollen allergies)
- How did your mentor gain their experience/ expertise?
My mentor has gained experience by taking many creative writing and directing classes at Gleneagles, and has taken university courses in creative writing and screen/script writing.
- What were those experiences like for your mentor?
They really enjoyed their time working as a student director in the drama department, and have learned a lot from they’re time at university.
- What wisdom have you gained from your mentor so far?
I’ve learned a lot about the writing field at large, and how different screen writing and play writing are. I have also learned a lot about character development
- What have you learned so far, in terms of facilitation strategies, that might contribute to your own development as a mentor?
My mentor often checked throughout our meetings to make sure I was following everything she was saying, she also provided me with many great resources.
Resources
The creative writing text book used by UBC class 206 screen writing