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Part 2- Dynamic Monologue Writing

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For your next step, we’re going to talk about what makes the most dynamic monologues.  What makes the best monologues so great?  How do I learn about and deconstruct monologues in order to learn how to write my own?
  • To help with this step, I made the Dynamic Monologue Writing Guide.
  • You can download the guide, or work through the steps below along with the video.
Download guide as PDF
  • Speaker
  • Listener
  • Urgency
  • Problem
  • Turn
  • Doing
  • Want
<
>

Speaker

We, as an audience, become invested in the speaker
  • The person talking in a monologue is called the speaker
  • ​It’s important that we care about the speaker’s life, problem, and story
​
Questions:

​Did you care about the speaker in In My Dreams?  What about Turning Point?  What I Will Tell You? 
​
Why or why not?

Listener

We are clear, at least by the end, whom the speaker is speaking to
​
  • It’s important that you think about whom your speaker is speaking to: this person is called the listener.

Questions:
Could you
identify the listener in each of these example monologues?
Who was the listener in In My Dreams?  Turning Point?  What I Will Tell You? 
How did you know who the listener was?


  • The listener is who the audience becomes as they listen to your work

Urgency

There is urgency in the monologue - these words must be spoken, and they must be spoken in this very moment

  • Urgency in your speaker’s problem is what makes an audience feel the tension that makes them invest in your speaker very quickly
  • We have to want the speaker to succeed, overcome obstacles, make a choice in their life, solve their problem, etc.

Questions:
Did you feel the
urgency in In My Dreams?  What about Turning Point?  What I Will Tell You? 
​Why or why not?

Problem

There is a problem in the monologue.  It is not necessarily solved by the end of the speech, but it must be explored
​
  • The problem is what makes an audience feel hooked into your speaker’s story.  Hoping for them to solve the problem is what keeps an audience engaged for the 3-6 minutes it takes for your speaker to speak it

Questions: 
What was the
problem in In My Dreams?  What about Turning Point?  What I Will Tell You? 
How did you know what the problem was?
 

Turn

The most dynamic monologues have a turn, which changes things dramatically from the beginning of the speech through the end of it
  • This turn is otherwise known in fiction as a twist.  Something changes, usually late in the monologue, that helps us understand the whole thing differently.  It might help us understand the whole piece in a new way

​Questions:

Was there a
turn in In My Dreams?  What about Turning Point?  What I Will Tell You? 
Why or why not? 
If so, what was the turn in each one?

Doing

What is the speaker DOING:
  • Often, but not always, a speaker is physically doing something while speaking.  It helps give the actor something to do while speaking
  • This action should be related to the monologue in some way

If you don’t want any action, that’s okay.  A monologue in which the speaker just says the words while facing the audience is often referred to as a
Stand and Deliver monologue.  These can be very good too.


Questions:
What was the
speaker doing in In My Dreams?  What about Turning Point?  What I Will Tell You? 
​How did you know what they were doing?

Want

In many great monologues, the speaker wants something, and there is usually at least one thing stopping them from getting what they want
  • Wanting something we can’t have is a universal human crisis
  • Have you ever wanted something you couldn’t have?  Remember how it felt? That sense of unfulfilled desire is the key to many great monologues

Questions:
What did the speaker
want in In My Dreams?  What about Turning Point?  What I Will Tell You? 
​How did you discover what the speaker
wants in each of these monologues?
Now that you know what great monologues all have in common, and how to identify each of the characteristics of a great monologue, it’s time for you to practice writing some monologues for yourself, to try to practice what you’ve learned!
Next--->
Part 3 : Practice

Links to help you pickup where you left off!
Part 1
Excellent Examples
Part 2
Dynamic Writing
Part 3
Practice
​Writing
Part 4
Brainstorming
​
Part 5
First Draft
​

Part 6
Revision
​

Part 7
Sharing
​

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

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  • About
    • Mission & History
    • Programs >
      • In School Programs
      • Annual Playwriting Festival
      • Classes & Mentorship Programs
      • Community-Based Programs
    • People
    • Podcast
    • Alumni
    • Supporters
    • Press
    • Careers
    • Donate >
      • Works in Progress: Dourdan
      • Works in Progress: Pryor
      • Works in Progress: Jackson Jr.
      • PYP Store
  • Classes
  • On Stage
  • Resources
    • PYP at Home
    • Quarantine Challenge
    • For Students >
      • Submit your Play or Monologue
    • For Educators
    • For Parents
  • Blog