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March 29, 2016

2 Types of Kick-ass Old Characters That People Love

Has anyone else noticed how much people love old characters who kick butt and/or defy social norms? They tend to become favorite characters because they’re so unexpected – they break our concept of old people. As a rule, we expect older characters to be weak, confused, and either excessively grumpy or sweet. When they say shocking things or suddenly destroy someone...
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March 12, 2016

Making Children’s Movies Appeal to Adults Part Two: Double Meaning

Sometimes, the lines that make kids movies appealing to adults are not simply allusions like in part one – sometimes, they add meanings that aren’t necessarily kid-friendly. In fact, some of the double meaning, innuendo, and double entendre (to be redundant) that gets thrown in is downright dirty. But don’t worry, it’s not explicit. In fact, the dirty comments in kids movies...
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March 11, 2016

Making Children’s Movies Appeal to Adults Part One: Allusions

Watching a movie written for kids only can be awful as an adult. Let’s face it – a movie doesn’t have to have great writing or characters to entertain children. If you re-watch a series you loved as a child, there’s a good chance you’re going to be seriously disappointed. Similarly, if you have kids or are babysitting and get stuck watching a...
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March 8, 2016

With Dialect, What Words You Say Are as Important as How You Say Them

One reason that some authors say not to write in dialect at all is that syntax and word choice can be used to suggest a dialect, region, or first language without modifying the words whatsoever. For example, in the U.S., specific kinds of pronoun errors are common to more rural areas (also often poorer areas with worse education though not always)....
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February 6, 2016

5 Ways to Improve Your Writing with Improv Exercises

Have you ever done an improv exercise as part of a camp or icebreaker? If you did, you probably thought it was either 1. hilarious, energizing, and fun OR 2. ridiculously hard, stressful, and embarrassing. Well, that’s improv for you. As a rule, improvisation training involves intense scenarios, fast-paced responses, and a lot of strained brain cells – which is...
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February 4, 2016

Double Your Character List with Doubling

Technically, I suppose that doubling (or double-casting) isn’t a playwriting technique: it’s more a casting/directing technique. On the other hand, if your story requires a decent number of characters (especially bit parts), it can sure help to keep doubling in mind when you’re writing the play. Doubling: when the same actor or actress plays multiple parts in the same performance For the most part,...
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January 13, 2016

People Always Use Irony Correctly (Oh, the Irony of That Statement!)

So. Irony. A major literary device that is often misunderstood or just plain missed. Possibly because there are different kinds of irony. The big idea of irony, however, is that the literal/actual meaning and the intended meaning are opposites. (The title of this article, for instance.) Often confused with sarcasm, verbal irony is when a speaker says the opposite of what he/she...
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