What do you want your Play to do?
It’s a simple question. It’s something that writers, in this case playwrights, forget to ask.
What do you want your play to do?
What do I mean by that. You have a play, it’s being produced, there’s an audience, they are on the receiving end of your words and…. what?
- Do you want your play to inspire?
- Do you want your play to enrage?
- Do you want your play to inform?
- Do you want your play to make them laugh? Forget their troubles?
All of these answers are valid, so long as you choose one. Knowing what you want your play to do gives your work a purpose. A drive. There has to be more to your work than just – you know, I want my stuff done, just getting it out there, it doesn’t mean anything, you know.
No. I don’t know. You need to know why your writing, what you want to achieve with your work, how you want your audience to act. And it doesn’t have to be political or epic or grandiose. To bring joy is a great action for your play.
This knowledge will give focus to your writing. It will curtail writers block. If you have the why and you have the endgame you can reference each when addressing a problem. If character X does Y will that accomplish Z?
Are you working on something right now? Ask the question. Write it at the top of a fresh piece of paper. How easy or difficult is it to answer?
What do you want your play to do?
