Eric Bogosian
A Letter of Advice to a Student Playwright
December 17, 1998.
Dear Eric,
I am struggling to write a play. This is my first attempt and I am finding it very hard to do. I originally act, that is my main love in theater, but I would like to explore each aspect of theater. I believe that I have the capability and talent to write a play, but I need help in getting started. I am writing to you in hopes of any suggestions that can guide me over my first bumps. I live in a town of 5,000 in the middle of rural Nebraska. As you can imagine, resources are very rare around here to help me with my writing.
Sincerely,
A student in Nebraska.
Eric responds..
Dear student,
In the long run, no one can tell you how to write a play. Write as best you can and if the muse touches you, things will work out. Start with simple stories and characters you know well. Imagine yourself playing the characters, read your lines aloud.
Don't set out to write a full length play right away if that's too much for you. Write a sketch, like the kind you might see on Saturday Night Live. As Harold Pinter pointed out, all you need to start a story is two people in a room.
See as many plays as you can. Plays are about writing and performance and so differ in a basic way from films (which are about camera and capturing moments). The performances in the play must move out from the stage toward the audience and be exciting to perform.
Read the great playwrights and if you find one you find enjoyable, read everything he or she has written. I recommend for someone starting out, Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Harold Pinter (early stuff), David Rabe. The Samuel French Company has an enormous list of contemporary plays in very inexpensive editions. Their address is 45 West 25th Street, NY, NY 10010, phone is 212-206-8990.
If you are interested in theory, try reading Neil Simon's "Rewrites" or "The Writer's Journey" by Christopher Vogler. A classic text on playwriting is "Dramatic Technique" by George Pierce Baker. If you can't find these books where you are, get on the internet and search Amazon.com.
When I was in high school we staged plays we wrote ourselves. I think this was very good for me in getting started.
Good luck,
Eric Bogosian.
