Saint James High School

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Creative Writing
Information Sheet No. 7

Topic: Reading and Writing Drama

MELCs:
1. identify the various elements, techniques, and literary devices in drama
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2. conceptualize a character/setting/plot for a one-act play HUMSS_CW/MPIj-
IIc-17

Objectives:
At the end of the module, students will be able to:
1. distinguish the various elements of a drama;
2. determine techniques and literary devices in writing a one-act play.

Drama is a form of writing that originated in ancient Greece. While today’s dramas have
moved from Greek amphitheaters to Hollywood sound stages, the basic elements of
writing a drama screenplay still remain the same.

What Is a Drama Screenplay?

Drama marks the division between tragedy and comedy. A drama can take place
anywhere with any characters in any time period; it’s not the setting that makes a movie
a drama, but the tone. Dramas are serious, full of conflict, and continually push the
boundaries of the plot by raising the stakes. Depending on the sub-genre of the drama,
the story can range from a forbidden romance to a murder investigation.

What Is the Basic Structure of a Dramatic Screenplay?

Drama movies follow a clearly defined narrative plot structure and contain literary
elements—like characters, setting, and style—that help viewers analyze and interpret
the story:

Exposition: Set up and introduce everything through exposition, which lays out the
background information of your story. Outline the main characters, setting, and time
period. One way to get through exposition in your screenplay is to have at least one
curious character act as a proxy for the audience: That character can ask questions that
the audience might have, thus clarifying various plot points.

Rising action: Introduce the story’s main conflict with the rising action, which are a
series of events in the story that create tension and build to the climax. For example, in

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Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the rising action happens when Hamlet’s father’s ghost tells
Hamlet that Claudius murdered him. Hamlet’s intention becomes clear—to avenge his
father’s death—and the story begins.

Climax: Build to the height of tension, and reach the turning point for the main character.
Usually, the climax of a story takes place when the main character has to face the truth
and make an important choice.

Falling action: Show the result of what happens when the main character makes an
important choice. The falling action is when loose ends are tied up, the tension
dissipates, and the conflict gives way to resolution.

Conclusion: Close the loop on the story. Show how the tension affected the characters
and the world around them.

Aristotle’s 6 Elements of Drama

The laws of storytelling were first outlined by the Greek philosopher Aristotle in his
Poetics (c. 335 B.C.), the earliest surviving philosophical treatise on dramatic structure.
Storytelling evolved with technological advances and the introduction of motion pictures,
but Aristotle’s laws of storytelling and six main dramatic elements are still relevant:

1. Plot: the storyline, and what happens during the film. Learn about plot here.
2. Theme: the overall meaning of the film.
10 Classic Movie Themes and Why They Matter
Good themes speak to profound and shared elements of the human experience, so it’s
only natural that certain common themes reappear in many movies. Here are some
examples of common themes:

 Love. Who doesn’t enjoy a good love story? The movie Titanic is built around
the theme of love (right down to its Oscar-winning theme song). Love can conquer
incredible obstacles, like class divides, disapproving family members, and disaster.
The experience of love sparks transformation in a film’s characters. Rose awakens
in her understanding of the world’s inequities and discovers her independence. Jack
evolves from a charming and directionless wanderer to someone with a deep
purpose, risking everything for the person he loves.
 Humanity vs. technology. Science fiction offers particular opportunities to
explore anxieties about technology. 2001: A Space Odyssey provides a masterful
example. In the prehistory sequence, the bone club, an instrument for killing,
appears as the first major technological breakthrough of our species. In the future,
much of the human interaction we see has been reduced to long-distance
communication through viewscreens, and a spaceship’s intelligent computer
attempts to murder its human crewmates. Finally, a god-like alien intelligence

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appears not as feeling and anthropomorphic, but as a cold, black monolith, as
efficient and inscrutable as any machine.
 Sacrifice. The Lord of the Rings trilogy has several different themes throughout
it, but the most unifying is that of sacrifice. While Sauron and Saruman are defined
by their lust for power, the heroes—like Gandalf, Sam, and Frodo—distinguish
themselves through their willingness to sacrifice themselves for others and the
greater good. Even flawed characters like Boromir are redeemed through the virtue
of sacrifice.
 Good vs. evil. The main theme of the Star Wars saga is good vs. evil, and the
series provides an excellent demonstration of how all the elements of cinematic
language can support a central theme. The good and evil characters are identifiable
not only by their words and actions but by visual design. The Rebels and the Jedi
are a diverse group of humans and aliens, clad in earthy, natural tones. Darth Vader
and the rest of the Empire are cold, shiny, and uniform, a machine-like hegemon
that crushes the individual.
 Death. Certain types of themes lend themselves to certain genres. In the
heightened reality of the American Western, disputes quickly escalated to gunplay,
and death was dealt casually by white hats and black hats alike. Traditional
Westerns sometimes rely on death merely for stakes or as an efficient plot
resolution, but revisionist Westerns have offered deeper explorations of the theme.
In Lonesome Dove, Unforgiven, and No Country for Old Men, we’re reminded that
death isn’t always just or fair—inevitably, it comes for us all.
 Perseverance. In Rocky, the main character is an underdog who triumphs over
long odds through determination and hard work. Again, this theme is reinforced not
only through the plot and dialogue, but with tools unique to the movie medium, like
the montage. (Who can forget the memorable montage of Rocky training, punching
slabs of meat, and dashing up art museum steps as a choir on the soundtrack sings
an anthem to tenacity: “Trying hard now… Gettin' strong now… Gonna fly now.”)
Ultimately, the film declares that perseverance is a victory more important than
winning in the ring.
 Coming of age. The Harry Potter series illustrates this theme not only because
the cast literally ages in front of our eyes throughout the films, but also because the
fundamental experiences of growing up are woven into the narrative. Harry grows
beyond depending on older people and steps into an adult role when he becomes
the leader of “Dumbledore’s Army”; he experiences a loss of innocence when
witnessing the deaths of Cedric and Sirius; and, perhaps most importantly, gains a
more complex understanding of the world when he learns more about both
Dumbledore and Snape.
 Family drama. Tolstoy famously wrote that “Happy families are all alike; every
unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Perhaps it’s no surprise then that so
many engaging stories revolve around family strife. We all struggle to become
independent from our parents and invariably inherit a great deal from them, both

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 literally and metaphorically. The Godfather begins with Michael Corleone firmly
committed to a life distinct from his father’s, but over the story’s long arc, Michael
assumes Vito’s mantle. In Back to the Future, Marty McFly feels an unbridgeable
gap between himself and his parents and scorns their ideas for his future—until he
travels back in time to meet them as teenagers, and realizes he has much more in
common with them than he thought.
 Reason vs. faith. Raiders of the Lost Ark is as thrilling and action-packed as
any James Bond movie, but its thoughtful theme elevates it above most other
adventure films. Indiana Jones is an academic and a skeptic, a man of reason (for
all his derring-do) who rejects “superstitious hocus-pocus.” But over the course of
the film, he’s forced to confront a divine force that defies explanation, embodied by
the Ark. In a quite rare turn for an action hero, he seems to fail in his quest to defeat
the villains and save the heroine when he can’t bring himself to destroy the holy
relic. And yet in the film’s climax, Indy succeeds by closing his eyes and accepting
an otherworldly power. The musical motif that John Williams dedicates to the Ark is
simultaneously haunting, ancient, and grand, perfectly evoking this feeling of a God
who can never quite be known or rationally explained.
 Justice. Decade after decade, film adaptations of the Robin Hood legend—The
Adventures of Robin Hood, Disney’s Robin Hood, and Robin Hood: Prince of
Thieves, among many others—spin an adventure story around this deeply resonant
theme. In a time when the normal systems of justice have been corrupted, allowing
the powerful to exploit the weak and the wealthy to leech off the poor, the hero
becomes an outlaw so that true justice can prevail.
3. Characters: the players who move the plot forward.
4. Dialogue: the words the characters speak in the film.

What Is Dialogue?
Dialogue is what characters in fiction say. It is how characters express
themselves verbally—usually in conversation with each other.

It might look like this:

“What do you want for dinner?” Jack asked his friend John.
“I don’t know—you decide,” John replied.

What Does Dialogue Look Like?

Dialogue usually appears in quotation marks, as in the example above.
However, some writers get creative with their punctuation. Some use an em-
dash to notate a line of dialogue, like this:

—What do you want for dinner? Jack asked his friend John.

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 Some writers don’t notate dialogue at all. For example, Nobel Prize-winning
author José Saramago treats his dialogue just like the rest of the narration, like
this:

Jack asked his friend John, What do you want for dinner, and John replied, I
don’t know, you decide.

If you put your dialogue in quotation marks, note that punctuation—like periods
and question marks—go inside the quotation marks.

If a character is quoting someone else, you put the quote inside single quotation
marks, within the double quotation marks, like this:

“When I asked Jane about it, her response was, ‘Just not sushi.’”

What Is the Difference Between Dialogue and Exposition?

In fiction, there are two types of narration: dialogue and exposition.

 Dialogue refers to the things that the characters say in a story.

 Exposition refers to sequences of descriptive narration.

Unless you’re writing a film script or a stage play, it’s best to maintain a balance
between dialogue and exposition. Try breaking up long passages of exposition
with short dialogue— even a sentence or two can be refreshing. If you have a
very long section of dialogue, it’s good to insert brief sections of exposition to
keep your reader grounded in time and place.

5 Rules of Dialogue Writing

There are a number of rules to keep in mind if you want to use dialogue well in
your writing.

1. Dialogue should reflect your character’s background. To get dialogue

right, you must understand how your characters speak. This is likely influenced
by where they come from, their social class, upbringing, and myriad other
factors. Speech and tone are always bound up in what has happened and is
happening to a character. William Shakespeare was exceptionally deft at
encoding his characters’ speech patterns with these social markers, and for
blending these idioms within a single play.

2. Be true to the period. If you are setting your story in the past, your dialogue
should accurately reflect word choice, idioms, and speech patterns of the period.

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 Words, like clothes, go in and out of style. Conversations need to be specific to
the time you’re writing in without seeming contrived.

3. Desire should motivate your characters to speak. When your characters

are speaking, they should be trying to get something from one another, or make
a power play. When writing dialogue, ask yourself what your characters want.
(This is a crucial aspect of character development.) Ideally, you will know your
characters well enough to sense not only what they want but how they would
express their desires verbally. Will they be blunt or subtly manipulative? Will
they be angry, or do they always keep their cool?

4. Fictional characters don’t say “uh.” In real life, speech has lots of padding
or “stuffing”: words like umms and yeahs. But good dialogue in fiction must be
both more incisive and selective. It is shorn down to reveal what people want
from one another, reveal character, and dramatize power struggles. One of the
most common mistakes when writing dialogue is to write down exactly what
people say most of the time. This will probably be dull, as it will be full of “um”
and “ah” and “you know” and “like” and so forth. Rambling, repetitious, and not
very sparky. Pay careful attention to dialogue punctuation, particularly things like
exclamation points (which should be used sparingly).

5. There’s always subtext. There are often wide gaps between what people
say and what they are thinking, between what one understands and what one
refuses to hear. These gaps can collectively be referred to as subtext, and they
are valuable territory for the fiction writer. Stay alert to them, and let them
generate drama in the scenes you write.

5. Song: traditionally, the rhythm of the actors’ voices as they deliver their lines.
6. Spectacle: the visual elements and technical elements of the film, including body
language, facial expressions, sound effects, and special effects.

6 Modern Sub-Genres of Drama

As you become more familiar with writing dramatic works, experiment with the various
sub-genres to find your niche:

Historical drama: a dramatic period piece set at least 25 years in the past about a
historical event or time period.

Romantic drama: a drama that focuses on a complex romance where there’s

something preventing two people from being together, like family tension or being
married to someone else.

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Crime drama, legal drama, and procedural drama: dramas about how crimes are
solved.

Medical drama: a drama set in a hospital, clinic, or another medical environment.

Sci-fi drama: a drama enhanced with elements of science fiction, such as a futuristic
setting or advanced technology.

Docudrama: a drama that features dramatic reenactments of real-life events

10 Tips for Writing Drama Screenplays

Here are a few tips to help strengthen your scenes:

1. Lay out the theme to your entire movie right away in the first scene.
2. Every scene and series of events should move the plot forward.
3. Clearly show each character’s intention and obstacles right away at the start of a
scene.
4. The exposition should be clear in every scene, but it shouldn’t impede the story.
5. The stakes should be high and clear in every scene.
6. Grab the audience as soon as you can. Try dropping them into the middle of a
conversation between two characters—it forces them to pay attention and play catch-up.
7. If you’re introducing a character in a scene for the first time, show the audience what
that character wants.
8. If a character doesn’t want anything, they’re cluttering up your screenplay.
9. Not every scene needs to end dramatically, but you should feel satisfied with how it
does end.
10. If you’re struggling with what the next scene should be, try using it to answer a
question posed in a previous scene.

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 Self-Check No. 7

WRITING PROMPT!

Using the elements, literary techniques and devices, craft your own screenplay script.
Consider the tips given on how to effectively create a drama play that will hook readers.
Refer to rubric below in making your craft. You are given the freedom to choose what
drama theme to make as long as it follows the elements. Please do not forget to provide
a title of your screenplay.

You may refer to the APPENDICES for a sample a screenplay script.

 You may encode your work using this standard: Short Bond paper, Garamond -
12. See to it that your work will be done creatively. There should be a coverpage
which contains the title of the play.

 If handwritten, still use a short bond paper provided that it’s written neatly

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 Working
Exceeds Meets Below
Towards
PLOT makes sense. 4 3 2 1
CHARACTERS are believable for the situation. They
4 3 2 1
are well-developed
and have motivations for their actions.
EXPOSITION provides enough background on the
4 3 2 1
characters and setting
for the play to make sense.
Has a CONFLICT that gets introduced in the INCITING 4 3 2 1
INCIDENT
Tension/suspense increases through COMPLICATIONS
4 3 2 1
in RISING
ACTION
Has a CLIMAX that is the highest point of
4 3 2 1
suspense/tension or a turning
point.
FALLING ACTION ties up loose ends and possibly
4 3 2 1
shows how the
conflict is won or lost.
The RESOLUTION gives the play an ending and
4 3 2 1
includes a BUTTON at
the end to give a feeling of satisfaction or completion.
The play shows action rather than telling us about it. 4 3 2 1

The play can be produced on a stage in front of a live 4 3 2 1

audience.
Formatted correctly:
 Includes a title and list of characters
 Character names in ALL CAPS at the
beginning of the line of dialogue,
4 3 2 1
followed by a colon (:)
 New scenes begin if there is a change in
LOCATION or TIME