.jpg)
If you've read my previous post, you'll know that I wrote several short, two page scenes for a Creative Writing Drama class. I'd never really tried to write scripts before, so this was my first go.
The prompt was "Persuasion – Write a two-page scene for two characters. A is trying to persuade B to do something self-destructive."
Because I know scripts can be odd to read if you're not used to them, and from what I hear the format the class had us use was not standard, here's just a quick guide to reading it:
All stage direction, such as actions of the characters and scene description is in italics.
The name of the character who is speaking is in capitals on the left.
Pause means there's, well, a pause between dialogue.
Beat is like a rest in music: basically just a short pause.
Also, normally scripts have better spacing in the dialogue, but this was what the professor asked for. We were also told to only list the characters' names, ages, and gender, but you'll see I added more to that in some later scripts.
THE BIG STUNT (a play)
CHARACTERS
JOEY: a man in his mid-twenties.
MIKE: a 29 year old man.
ACT 1 SCENE 1
The scene is set in a small flat. A few gold trophies sit on a shelf, and various take-away containers litter the coffee table. MIKE sits on a sofa, his left leg in a cast propped up on the table, and a bandage wrapped around part of his left arm. A pair of crutches leans beside him. He is staring at a damaged BMX helmet in his hands with contemplation.
Rapid knock at the flat door.
MIKE: It’s open!
Enter JOEY.
JOEY energetically gives MIKE a heavy pat on the shoulder. MIKE winces.
JOEY: Hey man, how’s the leg today?
MIKE: Still broken. The headaches are worse, believe it or not.
JOEY: Ah, I’m sure they’ll go away. They usually do.
JOEY sits on the arm of the sofa, facing MIKE.
JOEY: So look, I was out for my morning ride today when I had this idea. Boom! Like lightning, straight to my head. If we adjust the angle of the ramp up a few degrees, I bet we could get the air needed to clear the jump.
Beat.
MIKE: I don’t think that’s going to happen.
JOEY: (laughs) Obviously we’ll wait for your leg to heal. And it shouldn’t be too hard to change the—
MIKE: No, I don’t think the stunt will happen again. I can’t…won’t…do it.
Pause.
JOEY: Hey man, it’s okay to get the shakes after an accident. Happens to the best of us. Best thing you can do is to heal up and try it again.
MIKE: That’s not what this is, though. I’ve been hurt from falls before but this…I mean look at this.
MIKE shows JOEY the helmet.
MIKE: Without it I wouldn’t even be here. I’ve never…come that close before.
JOEY: Ok, so you found out why we wear helmets, genius.
JOEY tosses the helmet back on the sofa. MIKE stares incredulously at JOEY.
JOEY: Remember why we did the stunt in the first place? You wanted to be a legend. I wanted to be a legend. We can make it happen. So we made a mistake somewhere in planning the jump. It sucks that you went first and found that out, but next time we’ll be better.
MIKE: But we spent months prepping for one jump—
JOEY: The biggest jump of our lives!
MIKE: I still almost died!
JOEY stands up and takes a step away from the sofa.
JOEY: Dude, accidents happen. We break bones, get a little concussed. You don’t get a thrill like races and stunts without some side effects.
MIKE: Side effects?
MIKE takes a crutch and stands up.
MIKE: You wanna talk side effects? My 30th birthday is next week and I almost didn’t live to see it! And for what? Trophies and local fame? Scar tissue and medical bills?
JOEY: So what? You’re just gonna quit bikes, quit our community?
MIKE: I’m not…I’m not saying that. I don’t know. But I’m not going to throw myself off some ramp for the hell of it.
JOEY: The he—We’re going for glory, man! Sponsors, fans, the adrenaline of flying in the air.
MIKE: That just doesn’t seem like enough reason to do it. Not anymore.
JOEY: Now I know you really hit your head. Give it a few weeks, let your pain killers wear off and you’ll see. This is our dream. The second you get on that bike again you’ll agree with me.
MIKE shakes his head.
MIKE: Not this time. I’m still confused about how I feel but I know that stunt isn’t worth it.
Pause.
JOEY: No. I know what this really is. You coward. You’re going to throw away all our hard work just because you got a little hurt? The Mike I know wouldn’t hesitate to try again.
MIKE: Maybe I’m not that Mike, anymore.
Pause.
JOEY: Damn right you’re not. Not if you won’t do this with me.
MIKE: It’s not about you at all, dude. But I won’t do it.
JOEY stands still, not knowing what to say, then turns to leave.
JOEY: Chicken.
JOEY exits, slamming the flat door behind him. MIKE carefully sits back down on the sofa. Solemnly, MIKE looks at his helmet next to him.
Fade to black.
So that's my first script. My first thoughts on the prompt went to more obvious topics like drugs, but I wanted to do something a little more unique. It's not perfect, but I already was enjoying the challenge of conveying practically everything through dialogue (as opposed to my usual prose).
I was tempted to give it a full edit before posting here, but instead only took out a few unnecessary stage directions.
I'll try to post a script every 2-3 days, and then the final project in parts. If there's anything confusing about the play format that I didn't explain earlier please let me know.
Thank you for reading! 😊
We are a safe harbor for every writer and poet. Freedom, solidarity, quality, inclusion: these are our values. Keep an eye on our weekly contests and grow with us in a friendly environment!
This post has been manually selected, curated and upvoted by CI mod staff team. Supporting all posts that are in high quality and don’t get enough recognition.
This post was voted: 100%
Congratulations @zeldacroft! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:
Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!
I shall be back to post a comment, but I just saw this (I'm Comrade Prof. Dr. Victor from a few days ago)!!!!~ See you in maybe a half-day from now!~
Now I can't see why your theatre director despised this to all hell. A good drama comedy script if I so say so myself. Like I just like the tension under-built by Joey who's economically interested in getting fame and chasing money and Mike that actually wants to not tempt a death-stunt. And so the splitting contradiction rooted in hobbies and chasing dreams which may become nightmares later and regress the lovable hobby into a stale job over time. Joey that's thinking forward on advancing himself and using Mike as that limb, Mike trying to recover and make his move from there before he does something crazy again. Really good one that has passion written all over the scene, then again I love play scripts thanks to Shakespeare and love picking apart things in general. So thank yah with providing us the script!!!!~
Thank you, sorry for the late reply! I should have clarified more: this is actually the first script from my first week of class. I’m not sure the teacher even bothered to read it. I’m going to post the final project last, and I’ll be more clear in the future on what I’m posting.
Thank you for your kind words! Even though it was my first I was already feeling “passion” for the medium, so it’s really nice to hear that it’s apparent in the story 😊
-OwO- OOOOooooooooooooooooooo!~ Dziekuje for the information good anon~ Keep at the delineation betwixt scripts.
Prosze!!!! <<<<3333!!!!~ Keep letting that fire burn mój towarzysz, "for nothing great has ever been done without passion" as to quote GWF Hegel~
you set yourself far more of a challenge than asked for here as well! The depth of history between the characters, having invested their lives in this together, and one of them having the shock fear of nearly dying making Mike question everything so far, and at nearly 30, facing that what he had spent all his time on was not only a waste of time, but now endangering his life. To hear someone who feels like a life friend not care about his life or his health, thinking only of the glory - it's a thought process he must have wrestled with himself. Joey insistence and almost anger makes it feel like they were the last two standing, from a group of teenagers who used to jump their BMX’s in the park, and he’s unable to accept the last one of them moving on and leaving him behind. Very well told!
Thank you so much! I’m glad Joey and Mike’s history came through. Joey’s fear about being alone and Mike’s “wrestling” as you put it with his decision were things I particularly hoped were clear 😊