Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

The Grapple Hook Analogy

The Grapple Hook Analogy

Writing the class for the One Act Play has been a very revealing experience. I wish I had known ten years ago what I do now. All literature involves telling a story and perhaps that is the common denominator but from that point things start to get a bit more complicated.

One of the points I will be stressing in the class is an analogy that applies not only to just stage plays but to writing in general. This is that a story has a beginning and an end and the journey is to get there. Duh! (Are you deliberately boring me Percy, or trying to insult my intelligence?) The analogy is that in writing the author is like an adventurer leading a group of followers and they come upon a chasm. The writer is the adventurer, the audience are the followers and the chasm is the story that's being told. The Adventurer has a grapple with a long rope and he keeps throwing it across the divide until it catches on the other side and he ties it off. Then the writer nimbly scrambles hand over hand to the other side and decides if he/she is there. The single rope span signifies the first draft. If it is successful there comes a sigh of relief and work starts on turning the thread of that draft into a bridge that the audience can cross.

This is a great analogy because the inexperienced writer thinks they are almost done when the first draft is completed. This is completely false because there is still a whole lot left to do. Even if the draft gets the writer's seal of approval there are still a lot of potential pitfalls. First is the story line itself…It has to be matured… certain things that worked need to be expanded and embellished...things that didn't ruthlessly deleted. These include the arraying of the conflicts so they build from beginning to the climax at the end. Next is the focus close enough to the Central Character’s (CC) life changing event for the drama to arrive at the right moment…, not too soon or too late. Another is the development and maturity of the CC as they get roasted in the fires of adversity. Last but not least is the climax and a sense of closure for the audience….There are many more but these spring to mind as I watch the sun come up. As you push the story to the end of a first draft it will mature and head in unexpected directions and sometimes getting there on the first draft shows little more than a dead end….

Is the playwright ready go back to the beginning and buy a new rope and grapple? And what if the playwrights preconceived notion of how the production will play out reveals that the true path the drama should have taken another direction? Is He/she prepared to end the obstinate struggle for control and follow the natural flow of the story? I haven’t even mentioned the influence of the characters yet and what happens as they mature….I will reserve that for tomorrow I think.

The point is that this course is designed in two phases in order to bridge the gap and then build the bridge. Learning this valuable lesson is huge in the development of anyone aspiring to be a writer.

Introduction to the One Act Play  (E) Introduces my course "The One Act Play" #1755910 by percy goodfellow