Okay. So. As many of you have noticed, I am not the sharpest spork in the drawer. I had hoped by reading the helpfile IG that I would figure out how to do plays, but it has reeeally just gone in one ear and out the other, so I have some questions about writing plays.

What format are you supposed to write it in? A normal story, or are you supposed to have something before it? Like.. "Richard lent into the bush, grabbed a rabbit and turned back to Pinky." Or is it supposed to have a stage command first?

Is there a limit on how long a line of the play can be?

How exactly does the prop thing work?

Or if someone could be an utter angel and make a basic walkthrough for those of us who can barely use a pencil that would be great

( Yes, that is a LFG reference. So what? It's a good comic. Don't be jealous of Richard!"

The way I learned how to write one is to look at others.

June had a couple of plays in the bardic: A Trip To The Library and Dark Hope Act I: A Greater Calling

They're done in slightly different styles, however, generally they're set up the same way.

The thing you have to remember is that you need to list your roles (characters), what they say and, if you want, what they do. You should also describe your scene, your characters' costumes (what they will look like if anyone does STAGE LOOK BOB), and any props you want to use (though you don't need a lot of props because you can describe pretty much anything in the scene, but you have the option).

One thing to remember, actions should be in the present tense. The audience won't be watching the play from the POV of the future. What they're seeing on the stage didn't happen a while ago, it is happening at that moment. So keep everything present tense in your actions.

Your example would be more like:

Richard leans into the bush, grabs a rabbit and turns back to Pinky.

In the script. However, your actor will need to do BACKSTAGE EMOTE leans into the bush, grabs a rabbit and turns back to Pinky in order to do it.

Any actions you have that don't start with the characters would be created by an effect instead of an emote, like, for instance:

The sun sets on Richard and Pinky as they continue along the trail.

You would create an effect and when the time came for this in the script, you would BACKSTAGE EFFECT PERFORM (effect). But, on the script, you don't have to name it as an effect if you don't want to. That's a style choice when writing your script.

I have to get ready to go to work now, but I hope some of this ramble was helpful.

edit: You can also include aethers in your play! Shouts, yells, city/commune tells, guild tells, etc.

edit edit: Oh, and there's no limit to how long a line can be, or an emote, or an effect. Just remember that someone's gotta read it. If you throw up a wall of text they won't have time to read it before the next bit of dialogue or action comes along and then there's scrolling and people getting lost. Also, you can color your effects, but don't go crazy with it. Too many colors are distracting. Us it sparingly, to make a point or something.

Never actually read it, but should check out Lendren's books about Play-writing. Ask him about the exact titles.

I've been told to try reading those, but as a Glom I've kinda had troubles getting my hands on a Seren book But thank you!

It's in the main section of the Glom's Library, you know. My Glom checked it out from there. Though, honestly, I learned more from just looking at how other plays were set up. But it is a good book to reference.

Just go to the library and do BROWSE AUTHOR LENDREN and you'll find it.

The best way to learn is to be a volunteer substitute actress in an upcoming play, and reading the script. You learn quite a bit more about it that way than you do just reading about it - even more if you actually have to perform!

Yeah, that's what I think. Looking at other scripts, seeing how they work or don't work, what you like about them what you don't, what's common to all the scripts you look at, what's unique to a particular author, that's the best way to learn. Plus, being an actress will make you some director's best friend!

eta: Not to knock Lendren's books! Cause they're awesome and very helpful when you're stuck on something.

I have two books on the subject, they're both prestige winners so you can find them in the World Library.

The one about writing plays is called Playwriting: it talks about the process of writing plays, both from the technical side (how to format it so it'll be clear for the actors), and the creative side (how to organize a story and choose those storytelling elements that work in a play).

The one about producing a play is called Stagecraft. I actually wrote a lengthy clanhelp with OOC stuff (directly telling you what commands to use), then I adapted it into this book. So naturally I had to take out the OOC stuff, but I did it in such a way that, if you read it and HELP THEATER, you will be able to see the OOC stuff written between the lines, it'll be pretty obvious the things I'm not quite saying.

I mention the books in this order since it makes sense to write the play before you produce it, but I wrote them the other way around.

That said, I entirely agree with the people who say just reading a script and watching a play, then traipsing through HELP THEATER, will do it. The format I use is intentionally designed to mirror the commands you'll use, too, so one of my plays might be a bit easier to use as a guide in how to produce a play (one of the shorter ones like Rossinon might be easier to work from -- and again, they're all in the World Library and also in bardics). The biggest obstacle isn't the trick of doing it, it's just not giving up immediately. If you look at it a little while you'll have an a-ha moment. Too many people give up before that moment.

I wrote the books partially because you gotta write something, and partially in hopes of getting other people to write more plays so theater would get more vibrant, but mostly just because I figured a book would help people get to the a-ha moment -- at which point they'd say, "bah, I didn't need this book", which is true, they didn't. The book just makes it less likely they'll give up before realizing that.