Writing and dreading exposition

One of the aspects of writing that I really dread is 'exposition'. Yes, I do know exposition is very important to a story or play because it establishes bits of information the audience needs to know and/or understand who's who and what's what.
I have read and heard very bad deployment of exposition in plays and stories, sentences such as:

Beatrice: "Oh! Look! Here comes Uncle Henry up the pathway. Uncle Henry of whom the family rarely speaks about since he drinks too much and lost his fortune at the race track. He appears to be limping also. It must be that old war wound he received long ago when he saved his entire platoon during his time France."

For the sake of the story, we now know critical information about Uncle Henry. Details that will hopefully, move the plot along as well as define this "Henry" character.
But in terms of this exposition sounding like a natural sentence or something you would hear spoken in everyday conversation, not so much. It pretty much screams out "Oh! Look! Here comes some very awkward exposition up the pathway!"
So, how do you avoid it? How do you make it sound a little more natural?
One trick (or cheat) I employ to establish exposition and make it sound a tad more natural is to use an "outsider", or someone who doesn't know much about the other characters. For example, in this scene about Uncle Henry, I would have someone in the scene with Beatrice, perhaps a new neighbor or someone "outside" of the loop of information. That way, Beatrice can deliver the same information in a conversational manner. Such as:

BEATRICE: Oh No! Here comes Henry.
OUTSIDER: Why do you say "Oh No"?
BEATRICE: Because, my dear Uncle Henry is a bit of a problem.
OUTSIDER: A bit of a problem? Why?
BEATRICE: Well, he drinks for one thing.
OUTSIDER: Ah! I see. And?
BEATRICE: And he always wants to borrows money. Money that he just blows at the racetrack. In fact he's blown his whole fortune at the track.
OUTSIDER: That's a shame.
BEATRICE: What's really a shame is that he was a War Hero! Saved his whole platoon over in France and got injured in the process. Shrapnel in his leg. Received the Purple Heart. And now, look what has become of him. A limping, broke old drunk.


In this scene, the same exposition about Uncle Henry was established but sounded a bit more natural. I picked up this outsider "trick" many years ago when I was a fan of the old "Doctor Who" series. (the original Doctor Who that aired in the States on PBS, not the New Doctor on SyFy)
Anyway, the character of the Doctor, who was immensely intelligent, was always paired with a somewhat less intelligent companion. The main idea behind this pairing was to a way to introduce exposition in a natural manner. When the Doctor would ramble off scientific jargon or figure out some complex plot point, the (outsider) companion would simply ask, "What does that mean Doctor?" or "How did you figure that out Doctor?".

This is also very similar to the plot vehicle Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used in Sherlock Holmes. The character of Dr. Watson was outside the loop of Sherlock Holmes' deductive reasoning. Watson would ask questions of Holmes and the answers were simply points of exposition. In essence, this "outsider" is essentially a representative of the audience. Their role is ask questions out loud of the characters so that we might understand. It's a great tool for writers and helps everything flow in a natural way.

More exposition cheats, coming soon.

Last Writes

I have completed a new murder mystery script called "Irritation To A Murder". A few blogs down you can read about the basic idea for the play and at the time of that posting, I was halfway finished. I am fortunate as playwright to have a theatre group willing to produce my plays as soon as they are complete. Actually, the group more or less "commissions" a new play from me and assigns a deadline, which I always try to meet. "Try" being the key word.

Yes, I admit, I work best under pressure. Ever since I can remember, it has been my "modus operandi". I can recall countless late nights as a kid in grade school, sitting at the kitchen table across from my grandmother, trying to squeak out a book report or an essay that was due the next day. My grandmother would constantly question my "last minute" writing habits and I never could supply a good answer other than, "I forgot about it."
If fact, I can even recall a few oral book reports, where I would have to stand in front of the class and tell everyone about a book I had read. I would always fail to mention that in actuality, I had only read some of the book. I developed a certain knack for 'filling' or 'stretching' certain aspects of the book and even "making up" subplots that didn't exist. I would talk until the teacher felt I was running too long and informed me my time was up. I believe this helped me later in my stage career to become adept at improvisation.


My creative powers seem to shine under the pressure of an impending deadline. I can only write with a 'Sword of Damocles' hanging over my head. I remember a composition class in college that further fueled my last minute tendencies, by providing actual proof that I produced better under pressure than with preparation. (sorry about the alliteration there.)
Anyway, for one essay I chose a topic and set about writing a paper in the 'proper fashion'.
I went to the library and did research. I compiled notes on 3x5 cards, formed an outline, spent several weeks writing, revising rough drafts into a first drafts into a second draft, until I created a worthwhile essay complete with footnotes, references and a bibliography all contained in a slick plastic binder. I got a "C" on it.
For our next assignment, we watched a short film in class and then were required to write a paper within the short time remaining. No preparation, no 3x5 index cards or drafts; just straight forward, stream of consciousness composition. Just like my hero at the time, Jack Kerouac. I got an "A" on it. Of course, I had to show my Grandmother that one.

So, as I was saying, I finished the new script. Most of the play was on paper, I would say 3/4th by the time my theatre group held auditions. I frequently hold off finishing a script for a few reasons, one is to prevent the auditioning actors from reading "how it ends" and the other reason to see what actors the director will select for the various roles. Sometimes, a selected actor will influence the script. On several occasions, I have refined a character in a play based on how a particular actor read for the role. I may have envisioned the character one way, but an actor takes it in a different, new and better direction.

So it seems, having said that, I have finally constructed a reason not to finish something on time. Although, I no longer sit at the kitchen table across from my grandmother frantically trying to finish, at least now I begin writing plays in advance and revised as I go. However, I leave just enough to bring Damocles' Sword into view above my head and get the creative juices to flow.
I sometimes pictures my grandmother up in Heaving sitting at a kitchen table across from Jack Kerouac asking him, "Why?".

The Write Idea Redux

I posted this a while back but have re-written it and added a bit.


You would really like to write a novel, a short story, a play or something but are really not sure where to start or how to go about it. Well, there are endless "How To" books and some great College Courses you could take to get you started. Some of the books and the classes will have you sit down with a piece of paper and just start writing. Others may have you write a detailed outline before you start. The bottom line is there are countless ways you can learn about writing and the creative process. But one of the first things you need before you sit down and write, or even outline, is an idea.

What's The Big Idea

For example; In order to write on this subject, I had an idea. You see, I write Murder mystery plays and many times, after the productions, people have come up to me and asked questions such as:
"Where do you get your ideas?"
"How did you come up with that?"
Each time I hear those questions, I try to provide an easy answer, but the truth is, I really don't know how to explain it in an easy way. In the simplest terms, I get ideas and they become stories or plays. But to really explain the whole creative process of how an idea pops in my head, the transformation it goes through until it makes it onto paper, would take a while.

Over the years, the more that people asked me about my ideas, the more I was forced to actually think about the ideas and the process I go through. I've thought about the "where I get ideas" and the "how I get ideas" and the deeper I thought about it, I realized there are probably an infinite number of answers, just as there are an infinite number of "How To" books and methods learning to be creative and get ideas.

I also noticed that the same people who posed the "where do you get your ideas?" question, would inevitably go on to tell me about an idea they had for a story or a play, so it was clear they were able to get ideas, in much the same way I did. I also noticed that most of the time the questions turn from the "creative" to the "technical". The question "where do you get your ideas?" was really an icebreaker that leads to:
"Do you write in morning or the evening?"
"Do you use a pencil and paper or a computer?" If I used a pencil was it a Number 2 or did I prefer a pen.
"What kind of pen?" If I used the computer, "what software did I use and which is best?"
I believe every person who starts out writing is eager to know how other writers write. I confess that I asked those same questions and read every book I could on creative writing. You see, writers who are start out , want to know if they are doing it right. I can tell you, after asking all of the usual questions and reading most of the books, and you may have heard this before: there is no "right way". You simply need to try different methods and find the one you in which you are most comfortable.

I find that writing in the early morning is the best time for me. My brain is not overloaded with the crap of the day. My thoughts are just waking up and are still tainted in dream like state. I'm not thinking about what a lousy day I had at work and the rude guy that cut me off on the highway or that my lunch was dreadful. But maybe the end of the day works for other people when all the events of the day provide a catalyst for their creative process.

I've read that Marcel Proust had a padded sound proof room that he locked himself away in to write. He has issues with outside interference such as people or sounds. He needed it quiet to remember all things past. On the flip side, I read that Charles Dickens was the complete opposite. If there were a dinner party going on at his home, he would simply bring his writing table out into the room and continue to work in the the midst of the party. Two great writers, but two completely separate styles. Again this proves the point, that there is no right way.

On the technical side, I use computer to write most of the time. I don't have a particular brand of software that I use, I've used plain old Notepad and Wordpad. Sometimes I use a pen and whatever I can find to write upon. These writing methods are the habits I have developed and that I am comfortable with. Whatever method you develop will become your habit. The possibilities are endless, however, the basic stories you can come up with are not endless. Only the way you tell it.

What Do You Mean?

As far as ideas for stories or plays, it has been proposed that there are a limited number of plots or formulas that a writer has to choose from. Every book, play, movie etc.. is just a variation of those basic plots. As an example, Murder Mystery: someone gets murdered and someone figures out who did it. Pretty straight forward.

Other genres such as romance has the standard boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back. And there's the "Hero's journey" where a common person is suddenly thrust into some type of adventure where maybe he or she has to travel a great distance, over land, sea or even within to overcome an obstacle, solve some problem or defeat a force such as evil. Most fantasy/ adventure books and movies use the hero's journey as it's core: Star Wars, Lord of The Rings, Rambo etc...

So when someone asks, "Where do you get your ideas?" it's pretty safe to say, I get them from the formulas that all ready exist. The trick is taking those ideas and create a variation that is so unique, people won't recognize it right away. An idea is in essence, a method to reinvent a story that has all ready been told. It like taking a cliche and wording it so that it sounds brand new. You can bring your horse over to the creek. But if he's not very thirsty, odds are he will will just look at the water.

Song Remains The Same

I thought about this the other night as they were promoting the new season of "Lost". I made a joke by saying, "I liked this show the first time, when it was called 'Gilligan's Island'". Granted, Lost and Gilligan's Island are completely different TV shows but the basic formula is the same. Take a bunch of different character types, put them through a catastrophic event: ship wreck/plane wreck, throw them onto an island that's cut off from the rest of the world and watch how they interact.

Disaster movies use the same basic formula of throwing different "types" together and have them work toward a common goal which is survival. To make the plot interesting you must have "Conflict". Conflict -which is the 'stuff' that moves the story along and makes it interesting, will come from the different characters as they work toward something. One character want to solve a problem this way, while another wants to do it that way. Conflicting types of characters make it interesting. The Captain and his first mate. A Millionaire and his wife. A movie star. The Professor and Mary Anne...etc.. A key ingredient of any good story is having different types of characters who will interact, clash and argue. If seven people who were all passive vegetarians were shipwrecked on an island, it would get dull after 5 minutes. They may fight over the last coconut but that's about it. Throw in an aggressive meat eater and you create conflict. The conflict is the substance you use to hide the bare fact that the plot has been used a million times.


Building ideas Outside the Building

So, I maintain that the key to creative writing isn't so much in your idea but how you present it. Here is an example of my spin on the murder mystery formula:

I wrote a play called "I'm Getting Murdered In The Morning" and the setting was a wedding reception. I got the idea when I was at a friends wedding reception. I wrote another mystery play called "Stay As Dead As You Are" that was set at a High School Reunion. Any guesses where I got that idea? Ideas are easy.

My Process

For most of the murder mystery plays I write, I get an idea for the "setting" first. The setting can be also thought of as - a plot of land in which I'm going to build a house. The play is my house and I need somewhere to build it: a wedding reception, a corporate meeting, a talk show and so on. Next I need to fill the house with characters. I ask myself what kind of characters would be in this house or setting? For example, a wedding reception of course would have the bride and groom, the best man and maid of honor and so forth. Since it will be a murder mystery play, someone will have to be murdered and someone will figure it out. In this case, my A to B to C is pretty much laid out in advance. My goal is to take the standard formula of a murder mystery and the stock characters that you would find in these settings and shake them into something different so it becomes creative. I need to reword the cliche.

Anyway, while I was at the "real" wedding reception, which was held in a large banquet hall that had 4 or 5 other reception rooms and on this particular night, there were at least 3 or 4 other receptions going on at the same time, I had noticed a funny thing. As you may know, some people at wedding receptions tend to consume various beverages that impair their judgment and if you're impaired and chances of getting lost and ending up in an wrong room at a different reception are very good. This was the funny thing I kept noticing. People at the "Smith Reception" ended up in the "Jones Reception" etc.. So, while the basic idea of Wedding Reception murder mystery entered my mind, so did this idea of people wandering around, getting lost and ending up in the wrong rooms.

Rewording the Cliche

In the script, I had various odd characters walking into the play and realizing they were at the wrong place. I took this idea all the way down to the final "who-done-it payoff at the end. If someone at a large facility could wind up mistaking one room and one reception for the other, why couldn't a murderer mistake one room and one person for another? So at the traditional ending, where we discover the murderer's motive, which are traditionally things such as greed, lust or revenge, the killer in my script admits it was a mistake. Wrong room, wrong person. While I stuck with the basic formula, some one gets murdered and someone does it, I changed up the 'resolution' to make it different.

So the essential answer the question, "Where do you get your ideas?" would be, I take standard formulas and rework them into something that appears different. But then the question that would follow, or at least one I would ask is, how do you do that? How do you take something that has been done a million times and get a an idea on how to mold into something that appears brand new?

Stuck in the Muck

To that question, I will use a old cliche and that is "free your mind". I will explain, a good friend of mine reads every vampire book that comes out. Is a fan of every TV show and movie related to Vampires. He knows all you can know about the subject. He writes stories and screenplays all about vampires, which is fine because right now, there is a huge market for vampire related stuff. Problem is, he knows nothing else. His mind is totally and utterly locked into the Vampire genre. In the vampire genre of story-telling, since there are so many stories, movies etc.. all the really good "spins" are being taken and beaten into the ground. Since that is all he reads and watches, his chances for creating something new are getting smaller and smaller every day.

So what should he do? Simple. Read or watch something other than vampire related material. Something completely 180 degrees the other way. Why? Because new inventive ideas are applied to all genres: drama, comedies, action adventure, romance, sci-fi and so forth. As strange as it may sound, even though I write murder mysteries, I do not read or watch any murder mystery related materials.

Long ago, I have learned to open the creative side of my mind up to all possible sources of input. I became a fan of everything. I rarely watch prime time television or mainstream movies. Instead I watch old foreign films: French, Italian, Swedish, Japanese etc.. New foreign films. Documentaries. I don't listen to popular music. I listen to classical, Jazz, Blues, World Beat, Alternative, experimental.

The basic idea is to absorb everything that is out there. Because everything that is out there is doing the same thing and that is taking cliche idea and reinventing them into something different. Being open to all forms of stories, films, music, whatever, opens you creative channels to new and different possibilities.

Same Old Song and Dance

I remember enjoying the movie "The Magnificent Seven" when I was a kid. I took a film course in college and saw the Akira Kurosawa film, "Shichinin No Samurai" (Seven Samurai) and realized that the "Magnificent Seven" was actually remake of that film. I went on to learn that another Kurosawa film called "Yojimbo" was re-made 3 years later as an "Spagetthi Western" called "Per Un Pugno Di Dollari" or "A FistFul Of Dollars" with Clint Eastwood. And then in 1996, it was re-made yet again as "Last Man Standing".
The funny thing about this, is that the original story of "Yojimbo" was taken from a novel called "Red Harvest" by Dashiell Hammett.
So, here is a case where an old detective novel was read by a great Japanese Film maker who reworked the basic idea into a Samurai film. Granted, Kurosawa has made many Samurai films, but the point is the source for this film had nothing to do with Samurai material.
Seven Samurai was seen by another great film maker from Italy named Sergio Leone. Leone reworked the Samurai idea into a Western. Eventually, the American director Walter Hill reworked the Western idea into a gangster movie.
The same idea, spun three different ways into something new. If Akira Kurosawa hadn't opened himself to other ideas or literature beyond his Japanese heritage and found an American Crime Novel called "Red Harvest" , "Yojimbo" would never had been born. And if Sergio Leone had only stuck with traditional Italian cinema, he never would have seen "Yojimbo" and we may never have heard the term "Spagetthi Western".

New Site For Playwrights

I've been building a new website called www.playedwell.com and it's time to get the news out. The basic idea came to me as various groups, colleges and High Schools all over the world would ask me if I knew where they could find a drama, children's play or funny one-act. I do know a few independent playwrights but not nearly enough to fill the need.

Therefore, I decided to create a new site that would host the works of any playwright who wanted to list his or her work and make them available to the theater world at large.

I know there are many "publishing" companies and websites out there, I found them when I had a bunch of plays I wanted to submit to the world, but I wanted to maintain my own control and be a bit more independent that's why I started my own site, www.play-dead.com. I want to offer the same control to other writers who which to remain independent but may not have time to maintain their own website and marketing.
If you are playwright and want to get your work out there,let me know.