(upbeat music)
-: Hello, my name is Rachel Atkins.
I'm a playwright and a teaching artist and this is a lesson
about helping you to write your own play.
Today we're going to be looking at character objectives.
All you're going to need is something to write with
and something to write on.
This could be paper and pen or it could be a computer,
something electronic.
You could even use your phone if you want.
In a play, characters should always have objectives.
An objective is a goal.
It's something that the character needs or wants,
and it's especially strong if they need it
or want it from another character in the play.
Characters having different objectives in the same play is
what creates problems or conflicts,
and that's what makes a play interesting.
Now, there are four elements
that make an objective really strong.
The first element is that an objective
should be personally important.
If the character wants something,
but it's okay if they don't get it,
it's not that big a deal, it's not strong enough,
it's not important enough.
The characters should really, really want it
and they should have a reason why.
The second element that makes an objective
a really strong objective is that it should be specific.
The more specific, the better.
So for example, a character might want world peace.
That's a big objective.
It's a big, it's an important objective,
but it's big and broad.
How do you achieve world peace
over the course of a single play?
Thinking about how you can break down that big objective
of wanting world peace into something smaller
will help your character's objective be stronger.
So for example, in this play,
this character who wants world peace,
their objective in the play might be
they want permission to attend a rally,
or they want to get somebody to donate money to a cause.
That makes the objective more specific
and it's still related to that big objective of world peace.
The third thing that makes an objective really strong
is that it should be immediate.
They should need it and want it right now.
If they can get it later, or next week,
or sometime next month, it's not.
It's not as important.
It's not as pressing.
So it should be something that they
need and want right away.
The fourth element that makes a really strong objective is
that there should be consequences.
If the character doesn't get what they want,
something's gotta happen.
Something's gotta happen that the character
does not want to have happen.
So again, they've got a really strong reason
why they need that important, immediate,
specific objective, why they need that right now.
So again, a strong objective, important,
immediate, specific, consequences.
And this is kind of built in, I don't even count it
as a fifth, but I probably should.
They need a good reason why they want it.
(upbeat music)
No matter what a character's objective is,
there are certain things that we all do
to try to get what we want.
These actions are called tactics.
So think for a minute about what the things are that you do
when there's something that you want from somebody else.
We're gonna brainstorm a list of these
because these will help you in your writing.
I'm gonna give you a few suggestions to start,
but you should definitely think about what are the things
that you do and add onto this list.
So some tactics that we might use,
no matter what it is that we want,
we might ask for what we want.
We might try to convince somebody else
to give us what we want
or to believe in our point of view.
We might beg, we might demand,
we might blackmail, we might cry,
we might bargain, we might negotiate or make a deal.
Those are not all the possible tactics there are,
but those are some to start.
So I'm gonna pause for a moment while you jot those down
and add onto the list for yourself.
(upbeat music)
So now you know what makes a strong objective.
You have some ideas about things that characters
might do to get their objective.
Now I'm going to give you an objective
and you are going to come up with
two different characters who might want it.
The objective is you have two different characters
who each want $100, they need $100.
So think about who might those people be?
What might they need it for?
Remember, the reasons that they need that $100
should be immediate, they should be specific,
and they should be important.
There should be consequences
if the characters don't get the $100.
You're going to come up with two different characters
and those characters actually don't
need to be connected in any way.
In fact, it's better if they don't have
anything to do with one another.
If you did the previous lesson with me
and you've got a brainstorm list of characters,
you could look back on that list
and see if it gives you any ideas,
but you don't have to if you didn't do that lesson
or if you have some new ideas right now.
You're going to come up with two different characters.
They each have the same objective.
They each need that $100, but they should have
totally different reasons for wanting it.
I'm gonna give you a minute to come up
with your two different characters,
and then we're going to do
some writing with those characters.
So really think about coming up
with two different characters who are interesting to you,
who don't have to have anything to do with one another,
who have really strong immediate, specific,
important reasons for needing that $100.
(upbeat music)
Okay, so you have two different characters
who each need that $100, who each have that same objective.
Now you're going to write a scene
between these two characters.
In this scene, they both spot a 100 dollar bill
on the ground, in between them, at the exact same moment.
So you're going to write the dialogue between them,
the thing, the conversation that they have
going back and forth where they each try to get
the other one to give them that $100.
You're going to decide which character speaks first,
and then the dialogue is going to go
back and forth between the two characters for each line.
I'm going to be giving you a particular structure
that gives you kind of an arc for the scene.
So you're gonna follow the structure to write the scene
and it usually helps you come up with a resolution
to the conflict or resolution to the problem by the end,
although it's fine if you don't.
You're going to be writing one continuous scene,
even though what I'm about to show you
has the dialogue broken up in different sections.
So you're writing one continuous scene
between these two characters.
That's a conversation between them
where they're each trying to get what they want.
They're each trying to get that $100.
When you write dialogue, the way you write it is,
you put the characters name, and then you put a colon,
and then you write what they say.
You don't need to use quotation marks in dialogue.
I'm going to show you the structure of the scene
and I'll also talk you through it.
This way you can copy it down
or you can take a picture of it,
and then you can write the scene at your own pace.
If you happen to be doing this lesson with somebody else,
you can actually do this scene where you each
take one character's point of view
and you pass the paper back and forth between you.
So instead of having one writer write for both characters,
you can each write from one character's point of view.
So it would be sort of like you were having a conversation
except you'd be doing it in writing
instead of by talking to each other.
If you happen to have somebody else to write with
and you feel like doing it that way,
that's great, do it like that.
If you don't, no worries.
You can do this whole thing all on your own
and you get to represent both characters' points of view.
So now I'm gonna show you the structure,
and while you're looking at the structure on the screen,
I'm gonna talk you through what it does.
Here we go.
In this structure, the first 10 lines
going back and forth between the characters,
each character gets four to six words per line.
So the first character speaks,
and again you're deciding who's speaking first.
The first character speaks,
they say something between four and six words.
Then the next character answers
and they get four to six words.
Then the first character answers them four to six words,
and this goes back and forth for the first 10 lines.
For the next four lines, lines 11 to 15,
each character gets one to two words per line.
So again, they're taking turns speaking back and forth,
but each time they can only say one or two words.
In the next set, lines 15 to 18,
they can say one word each going back and forth.
Then they each get a little bit of a monologue.
So they each get one line where
they can say 20 or more words.
So they're gonna talk for a little bit longer.
So this can be an opportunity for the characters
to really say what they have to say.
After the two short monologues,
lines 21 to 26 get four to six words per line.
Again, just like in the very beginning of the scene.
And then the last four lines, lines 27 to 30,
each character gets one to two words per line.
By the last line, by line 30 your scene is over.
Now you know how you're going to write your scene.
So you're gonna go and write it at your own pace.
When you're done,
try to find somebody who will read it out loud with you
because plays are meant to be spoken out loud and it would
be great for you to get to hear what your words sound like.
Even better would be if you could find two people to read it
out loud for you so that you can just listen.
That's the end of this lesson,
but if you want to bring this scene with you
to my next lesson, we're going to actually do something
with this scene that you are about to write.
So I hope to see you next time with this scene
so we can do some adding onto it.
Again, my name is Rachel Atkins.
Thank you so much for joining me
for this playwriting lesson,
and I hope to see you next time.
(upbeat music)