I teach myself to write plays, one tweet at a time. Plays: Trap, This is a Test. Ghostlight. The Neverland Project. MacDowell Fellow.
Venice Beach
Joined March 2012
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Stephen Gregg retweeted
If you struggle with daily screenwriting goals like "Write 3 hours" or "Finish 5 pages," try something more specific like:
• Write the airport scene.
• Polish Sequence 2.
• Restructure neighbor subplot.
The more specific the goal, the more likely you are to accomplish it.
Stephen Gregg retweeted
Paddy Chayefsky: “If I have anything to say to young writers, it’s stop thinking of writing as art. Think of it as work.” #screenwriting
ALT Paddy Chayefsky
Stephen Gregg retweeted
The three most fundamental elements of all drama.
1. ) Someone wants something.
2.) They're having trouble getting it.
3.) Something will happen if they fail.
If you can't identify all 3 in your narrative throughline, your sequence, and your scene, you likely screwed up.
Stephen Gregg retweeted
If you can’t define your SCENE as:
Get / Escape / Convince / Survive / Choose / Reveal / Hide / Connect / Break / Prepare / Take Control / Stop / Protect / Attack / Test / Prove / Deceive / Uncover / Deliver / Resist
You don’t have a scene.... you have talking
#screenwriting
Stephen Gregg retweeted
Writing tip I learned/stole from a showrunner I worked with:
Before you start a scene, jot down your protag’s emotional state as they enter
When you finish the scene, revisit what you wrote down
Has their emotional state shifted at all?
If not, should prob go back/ask why!
Stephen Gregg retweeted
Self-publishing means cutting out the middleman, so you can experience all five stages of grief while waiting for your first royalty payment.
Stephen Gregg retweeted
Lynne Tillman: “The whole 'Can I call myself a writer?' question I found so odd, as if it’s some sort of identity that is separate from the actual act of writing. There is no secret password to being a writer. No secret code. You just do it." #writing
Stephen Gregg retweeted
Dream sequences are dull because dreams have no stakes.
But what if they did?
Teyve's Dream from Fiddler manages to be both goofy and terrifying. (More thrilling on stage than screen.)
Teyve relates his dream to his wife because he wants something.
facebook.com/watch/?v=447465…
Stephen Gregg retweeted
Susan Sontag: "Pay attention. It's all about taking in as much of what's out there as you can. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager." #writing
Stephen Gregg retweeted
If I want to show people what I do for a living, this minute-long trailer from Bartlett High School in Tennessee does a wonderful job.
youtube.com/watch?v=0qnT_uHE…
@high_bartlett
Stephen Gregg retweeted
1/8: 3 TIPS ON CHARACTER INTROS THAT MAKE US CARE ABOUT YOUR CHARACTERS: 1) Break the Rules to Help Someone Else -- In the THE GOOD NURSE (Netflix), when we meet AMY LOUGHREN (Jessica Chastain), she’s tending to a sick patient. It’s late at night in a hospital room and-- (cont.)
Stephen Gregg retweeted
THAT'S A WRAP FOR THIS POST!
If you enjoyed this post and are interested in screenwriting:
1. Follow me @storyandplot for more of these.
2. Click the post below to share it. Just two clicks!
Stephen Gregg retweeted
@playwrightnow The line was going around the building for Stephen Gregg's new play "The Footage." Probably a hundred people were turned away - completely sold out. Sorry to miss his talk tonight. Playing through the weekend at @OxnardCollege.
Stephen Gregg retweeted
imagine the playing space as a platform balanced on a single central pole. If one person moves everyone else has to respond to keep the balance or fall into the abyss. Keeps stakes high and all in the space invested in the scene. I use this for scene work with students
Stephen Gregg retweeted
Strike the chairs ! It’s a good starting point when writing or staging a scene to start without chairs. Characters on their feet are more easily impelled to dramatic action. Get up, get going ! (Nuanced obv by actors/characters who are wheelchair users) .
Stephen Gregg retweeted
@VermilionSchool Performing Arts will be performing TRAP! by Stephen Gregg @playwrightnow on Nov 10 & 11 at 7pm. You won’t want to miss this!! “Unnerving, exhilarating, and wildly inventive, you’ve never walked into anything quite like Trap.” (allaboutthestre.org/producti…)
Stephen Gregg retweeted
Quite a few students in my class say ‘I wrote the scene but it was rubbish’. I ask them to choose one line or moment in the scene that has potential to grow into a good scene. Lots of them not only pick one line but then see there’s lots of other useful material in the scene!
Stephen Gregg retweeted
Don’t tell the secret.
Trap by
@playwrightnow
October 20th and 21st
Bordentown Performing Arts Center
search.seatyourself.biz/webs…
