Play Writing Ideas

Play Writing Ideas
In this clip we're going to cover how to get ideas. Now of course you can do research through search engines, you can read articles. One of the best places to start is right in your own home. Go to that picture drawer, bring it out and you'll be surprised the memories that come back and ideas that flow to you. You might bring out your ones about that Vegas trip that was so wonderful where you stop by and saw the Aunt and Uncle in their little cabin out in the middle of the desert there, and maybe you get location ideas, an idea of characters. Then you went up to Vegas and you found this charming little bar at the side of the strip that was so atmospheric and there were so many crazy characters in there and the photos are jogging your memory. Now don't forget about some of your not so fun experiences, like on the way back from Vegas your fan belt breaks. You end up sitting in this gas station for hours, maybe that's a perfect location. Some of the characters there are interesting, you never know where the ideas are going to be coming from. But explore the possibilities a little bit by brainstorming, and if it doesn't work toss it, if it works, hang on to it, and it might be good to develop. Now a lot of ideas you get that you're not crazy about, keep them in a file because maybe six months down the line you'll be doing a whole different project for a whole different kind of audience, and the idea would be perfect. I find a lot of new stories are possibilities, but there are some that really stand out, for instance the one of the college student who developed a social networking site and became a multi-multi millionaire. Now, the twist on it is, he sleeps on a mattress in his bedroom on the floor, and so you think of that idea, and how can you expand on it, what can you do with that? I had a young couple in my acting workshop where I couldn't find a scene to really fit them, so I wrote a special scene for them called Big Brother is Watching You. It happened to be the week that the sexual harassment laws where changing, and they were deciding it was sexual harassment if you asked out a co-worker more than twice if you'd been turned down two times. So, the scene is about an office worker who comes and pretends he's fixing this girl's computer and really he's trying to work out how to ask her out a third time because she couldn't go the last couple times, without getting caught. And so they end up whispering and sneaking out and finally making that lunch date. So anything like that might be a possibility. I also love the idea of a person who is selling an entire town on one of the online auctions, and that was always amazing to me, but then you think about it it's like what if you had that college kid who developed the social networking site, what if you had him buy a town and then you think, well, why would he buy a town? Obviously to impress some beautiful girl and then for conflict you have her come over and just as he's about to tell her what he did, she says "You know I really hate this town, I'm leaving, and I'm headed off for Europe." He goes with her and he leaves the town for his roommate to run, and his roommate of course has never left the house in like three years and he's unemployed, and so there is all kinds of possibilities there. Through your research you come up with the greatest idea, it's very important to make it your own, don't just copy that certain news story. Put a spin on it, make it your own special story. So take these new ideas and brainstorm, now if they don't work for you, file them. If they do work, develop them further and move ahead.