Sunday, August 1, 2010

August topic: My life as a stage direction.

Take any aspect of your life - your daily schedule, a hobby, a recent telephone conversation, an incident that happened to you the other day - and describe it as a stage direction in a play. No dialogue.

Here's an example:

(Sunday evening. SPOTLIGHT POPS on JEFF, who is sitting in a recliner in his bedroom typing on his computer. He's having difficulty concentrating. He's on a writing deadline, yet his attention is diverted toward a show on the TV - a series set in New York City in the early 1960's advertising world. His arm is still sore from spraining it on Friday and he can't seem to zero in on the best way to simulate a rainstorm for his play reading in the fall. He hears his brother's dogs barking. Someone must be at the door. The knocking continues and no one answers the door. JEFF gets up and runs downstairs and finds the house empty - mother, father and brother - gone. He goes out onto the porch and finds his parents and brother milling around, pointing to the street. A car ran off the street and hit a light pole. That's why the dogs were barking. JEFF goes back into the house. He still has that writing deadline to finish. And the TV show. And that arm still aches...)

Sort of like that. But more exciting. Make sure you italicize your stage directions.

2 comments:

weakknees@gbpackersfan.com said...

anyone? Buehler?

flutterby said...

I'm workin on it. Won't get it format perfect, but I'll give it a shot.