WRITING A MONOLOGUE (1)

STEP 1 – CREATE YOUR CHARACTER

STEP 2 – PLAN YOUR UNITS OF ACTION

Check that the character info is communicated and decide on what impact this will have.

Example Units of Action: Character info revealed Impact on the audience

On phone to wife who wants him to pick up some shopping for the kids – some

food for their tea. Family, Relationships, Job, Age

Audience introduced to the character in an informal way.

Explains where he has been today – to an important business meeting that will

possibly lead to him losing his job.

Job, Angry emotion, Boss

Build tension – audience feel empathy for character

Tells the audience about his dreams as a child – to be a soldier.

Family, Friends, History

Give audience more character detail. Show the audience different emotions and a

different side to the character.

Tells the audience about an exam he took at school that meant he could work in

Business.

Joyful emotion, History, 1st Job

Give audience more character detail. Show the audience different emotions and a

different side to the character.

Tells the audience that he has lost his job and is going home to tell his wife.

Upset emotion, scared, Family

Shock the audience. Build tension. Leave the audience on a cliff-hanger – what will

happen?

The order can be changed – what is the most interesting order for the audience?

Character Information

Name:

Age:

Family:

History:

Job:

Personality:

Emotions:

More?

WRITING A MONOLOGUE (2)

Your character – the narrator:

who is this character?

what is his/her background?

what is his/her state of mind?

why does he/she want to talk?

The character’s story:

What is the story he/she has to tell? Eg.:

a crime committed by him/her

a crime committed against him/her

a betrayal

a secret

something that has changed his/her life Write down ten details about this story that the character would think important.

The situation – a setting allowing the narrator character to tell that story, eg:

a police interrogation room/psychiatrist’s consulting room

an intensive care ward

a pub

an aeroplane

a hitch-hiker in a car Write down ten details that would help the audience to picture this place.

The listener - for this narrator character to tell his/her story to eg:

policeman/psychiatrist

someone in intensive care/coma

a sympathetic drinking buddy

a fellow passenger

the driver of a car who has picked up a hitch-hiker

Write down ten details about this listener that will help the audience to picture him/her or become him/her

The structure of the narrator character’s story: - Divide the story into sections - The most efficient way to do this in a very

short story is by flashback technique: 1. start near the ending 2. go back and take us in stages through

the build up to the ending 3. return to the ending and finish it off

with one of these possible endings: a) a revelation/decision b) a dilemma c) a sense of the inevitability that

something will happen

WRITING A MONOLOGUE (3)

KEY IDEAS You can use these bubbles to write the main points that you want to cover in your piece –

you can change the order / add things / take them away etc.

KEY IDEAS Use the lines to write down a draft script – use the margin to write yourself stage directions.

Introduction:

Conclusion:

Climax:

WRITING A MONOLOGUE (4)

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Your Character’s Name:________________________________________________________

Scene situation:______________________________________________________________

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1. Internal aspects

Background (family, education, environment etc)

________________________________________________________________________

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Mental (intelligent, average, slow etc)

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Spiritual (ethics, beliefs, ideas etc)

________________________________________________________________________

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Emotional (happy, sullen, confident, confused etc)

________________________________________________________________________

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How is (s)he similar to you?

___________________________________________________________________________

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How is (s)he unlike you?

___________________________________________________________________________

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What is his/her motivation in this scene? Why is (s)he doing what (s)he is doing?

___________________________________________________________________________

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2. External aspects

Posture

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Movement and gesture

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Mannerisms

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Voice

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Dress

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WRITING A MONOLOGUE (4)

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Your Character’s Name:_______________________________________________________

Where does the scene take place? _______________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

What do you think your character likes? _________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

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What do you think your character doesn’t like? ____________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

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Do you think your character is happy, sad, angry? Or feeling some other emotion?

__________________________________________________________________________

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How is he or she similar to you?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

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How is he or she different to you?

___________________________________________________________________________

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How does your character move? Slowly? Fast? Any other way?

___________________________________________________________________________

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What is your character’s voice like?

__________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

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How does your character dress? What does he or she like to wear?

___________________________________________________________________________

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WRITING A MONOLOGUE (5)

EXAMPLE MONOLOGUE

Linda: (Sit down on the chair and open magazine). My daughter can be a right pain sometimes. She never never, no matter how often I tell her, remembers to clear the mugs from her room. It drives me mad. One cup I found had so much mould in it, it had started evolving into a more intellectual species! (Puts magazine down in a huff, looks at audience) And you know what? She never has her phone on, there’s me worrying about where she has got to and I can’t even phone her! I am not trying to check up on her, but it would be nice to know where she was occasionally. (Pause) But you know, I will miss her when she leaves home. She will always offer to make me a cup of tea when I am feeling tired, bless her. She always does the cooking on a Friday night as well – a lovely spag bol. The only thing she can cook mind, but it is lovely. I know I complain and nag at her, but I will miss her so much when she goes… What I am looking for:

1. Use of stage directions 2. Use of repetition to emphasise points 3. Use of imagery and metaphor 4. Use of pause and silence 5. Changes of tone

WRITING A MONOLOGUE (6)

REHEARSAL TECHNIQUES

Walk around the space and pause on punctuation for different length of time

Walk around the space changing direction at punctuation

Do monologue as you are throwing things

Do monologue as you are being chased/chasing

Do monologue moving chairs as you say your monologue

Do monologue tidying up – so these and various other things that make the pace change artificially

Take each line and decide which one word per line you will put the stress on,

o I want to go out o I want to go out o I want to go out o I want to go out o I want to go out

Stand in the centre of the room – when someone else passes you have to adjust your volume as to keep your monologue a secret

Do monologue as different types of characters - e.g lawyer, teacher, judge, politician

Do monologue with different audiences - children, old people etc etc

Simplify your monologue down to just Freeze frames

Take away the words and communicate the meaning with just gesture

Create a mime that sums up your monologue

In pairs say your monologue to a partner, they must try to mimic you

completely in body, face, space and voice

In a group say your monologue and other members of the group echo

elements of the monologue that they find significant. They can vary how

they do this, perhaps adding stress or repeating a word or phrase more

than once.

Minimise your monologue to just the:

o Nouns and pro nouns

o Verbs

o Adjectives

Minimise your monologue to make it just the significant words – do this as a short version and then keep it the same length.