CREATIVE WRITING
Lesson 1: Drama
A mode of fictional representation through dialogue and
performance.
A type of play which is written for theater, television, radio,
and film.
Its writer is known as dramatist or playwright.
Types of Drama
Comedy
This is known to be a broad genre of film, television, and
literature.
Its ultimate goal is to make the audience laugh.
A playwright often uses quaint circumstances, unusual
characters, and witty remarks.
What makes this category different from other types is that its
writer uses lighter tone.
Tragedy
It has darker themes and portrays subjects which include
death, disaster, and all sorts of human suffering that is
dignified and thought-provoking.
It involves two important elements:
(1) Its intense seriousness in dealing with matters in which
survival is at stake.
(2) Its involvement of the whole community in matters of
ultimate and common concern
Farce
This type of drama features exaggerated or absurd forms of
comedy.
It is a nonsensical genre of drama in which characters
intentionally overact and get themselves into a slapstick or
physical humor.
Melodrama
This is an exaggerated type of drama which shows classic one-
dimensional characters like heroes, heroines, and villains who
deal with sensational, romantic, and threatening situations.
It deals with sensational and romantic topics that appeal to the
emotions of the common audience.
Opera
It is known as a versatile genre of drama.
This type combines theater, dialogue, music, and dance to tell
grand stories of tragedy or comedy.
This genre requires the performers to be both actors and
singers.
Docudrama
This new genre involves dramatic portrayals of historic events
or non-fictional happenings.
Lesson 2: Elements and Techniques in Drama
Script – It is written pages of a play. It is divided into acts and
scenes.
Acts – These are long sections of a play, made up of multiple
scenes, usually designed to separate the play into its main
parts and to give the audience a “break” from the performance.
Scenes – These are shorter sections of a play, usually each
scene occurs in one location at a specific time. Multiple scenes
make up an act.
Set – It is the construction on the stage that shows time or
place.
Props – These are the items used onstage by actors.
Dramatic Scenes
A. Dialogue – It refers to the words written by the
playwright and spoken by the characters.
B. Monologue – It is when one character delivers a speech
to convey his or her thoughts, although other characters
may remain on stage in scene
C. Soliloquy – It is a speech made by one character but
delivered when he or she is alone on stage.
Conflict – It is the internal or external struggle that creates
dramatic tension.
Characterization – It is the playwright’s technique for
revealing the personality of a character. It can be direct or
indirect.
Plot – This is the series of events that make up the story.
Techniques – These are tools that a dramatist or playwright
may choose to use to enhance his writing to convey meaning
in a certain way.
Flashback – The dramatist or playwright reveals an event that
took place in the past.
Foreshadowing – It is when the dramatist or playwright gives
hints or clues to suggest what will happen as the story
progresses.
Symbolism – It refers to a symbol, such as an object, color,
person, or place, is used to represent an abstract idea or
concept.
Lesson 3: One Act Play
One-act play is a play that has only one act but may consist of
one or more scenes. One-act plays are usually written in a
concise manner.
It deals with a single dominant situation and aims at producing
a single effect.
It deals with only one theme developed through one situation
to one climax in order to produce the maximum of effect.
It treats the problems of everyday life
The one-act play, like the longer drama, should have a
beginning, a middle and an end. It may be divided into four
stages: The Exposition. The Conflict. The Climax and The
Denouement
The Exposition is usually brief, serves as an introduction to
the play.
It is through the conflict that the action of the drama develops.
It is the very backbone of the one-act play
Climax is the turning point of the drama. It is an important
part of the one-act play and constitutes its moment of supreme
interest.
The Denouement is very brief and often overlaps with climax.
Action begins right at the start of the play.
CREATIVE WRITING
There are no breaks in the action, that is, it is continuous
since it’s a short play, no intervals.
There are three dramatic unities which are observed in the
one-act play the unities are the unity of time, unity of place
and the unity of action.
It aims at simplicity of plot, concentration of action and unity
of impression. It does not rely on spectacular effects and
common dramatic tricks of old.
The characters in a one-act play are limited in number.
Generally, there are not more than two or three principal
characters.
There is no full development of character. All the different
aspects of a character are not presented.
There is an influence of realism.
Its language is simple and can be followed without any strain.
Lesson 4: Exploring Different Staging Modalities vis-à-vis
Envisioning the Script
Staging – It is the process of picking out, designing, changing
or adjusting the spaces for the performance for a play or a
movie. This does not refer only to the stage but it includes
everything that you do in order to bring the drama to life.
Types of Stages
Proscenium – The audience can view the performance
through the fourth wall or picture frame. In this type of stage,
the audience feels disconnected from the actions but it is easy
to stage your work in this space.
Arena – The audience can view the performance from all
sides. This is also called theater-in-the-round.
Thrust – The audience can view the performance in three
sides, in this stage , the audience feels being part of the actions
and there is an intimate atmosphere created. The performers
can utilize the backstage.
Traverse – The audience is in two sides of the stage and are
facing each other. They can see the work that happens on both
sides but may see entirely different shows.
Experimental – This is also known as an informal stage or
promenade theater. The performance can be done in front of
the store, in the forest, supermarket, beach and others or
indoor. The world is your stage as they say.
Stage Directions/Layout – The nine positions on a stage
above are from the performer’s perspective on a proscenium
stage.
Lesson 5: The Script and other Influencing Circumstances
on Staging a Play
Scenery – It includes any non-costume visual element used in
support of a production.
Script – It is a form of writing in the form of drama. It
consists of dialogues and information about the characters like
their age, occupation and the relationship of the characters.
Dialogues – They’re what the characters says to each other.
Structure – It is the order that action and scenes are placed
for dramatic effect. This can be linear and non-linear.
Set – This is the scenery and the furniture on stage.
Props – They are the items held or used by actors/actresses
onstage to make the action more realistic
Transition and Flow – This is the movement from one scene
to another.
Proxemics and Level – This is how the characters are on a
stage. The distance or level between character/actors shows
their relationships and feelings and give clues of the situation
or the people within the situation at that moment.
Costume – These are the special kind of clothing on the body
of the characters on stage to help in the dramatic action and
the interpretation of the script contents.
Blocking – It is not just the movement of the performers on a
stage but this also reveals the relationship of the actors and
actresses between each other and one and another.
Audience Awareness – Along with interpreting the script, it is
important to think of who the audience is. This is a group of
individuals gathered together at a certain period and place for
without any other purposes but to see the performance.
Note:
A drama is written in a format called a script. It is the text
version of the dialogues in the drama.
The script is consisted of two main parts: the dialogues or the
lines that characters say and the stage directions or the
instructions given to the actors and actresses (as well as
prompts on lights and sounds and special effects).
Aside from the two main parts, there are also other elements
of significant importance like title of the drama, the cast of
characters and the scenery which gives a description of the
setting in every act. In the case of a one-act play, the scenery
will be written only once.
Technical Pointers in Writing a Script
1. The title is written at the topmost enter of the paper
(though other writers write this flushed to the left).
2. The cast of characters follow right after the title.
3. The scene follows after the cast of characters.
4. The dialogues of characters will then follow.
5. Embedded into the dialogues are stage directions.
6. Close Curtains that signifies end
Intertextuality
It is the manner in which one text influences another. This
borrowing can be done by an author in either direct or indirect
manner.
CREATIVE WRITING
It is a literary device that creates an interrelationship between
texts and generates related understanding in separate works.
Inter is a prefix which means “between”, “among”, “in the
midst of” or “together”.
Textuality refers to all of the attributes that distinguish the
communicative content under analysis as an object of study.
Allusion It refers to an indirect reference in one text to another
text, place, historical period, or author for the purpose of
enriching or developing meaning.
“He was lying so obviously; you could almost see his nose
growing.”
Quotation It involves a direct reference to another text, giving
citation to the owner of the text.
In the end, Albert Einstein was right when he said, “Life is
like a bicycle. You need to keep moving.”
Adaptation It entails creating a film, TV drama or stage play
based on a specific written work.
Parody It refers to the writer’s imitation of another text for the
purpose of exposing and discrediting one’s vice or follies.
Often, a writer uses this type to mock its targets who are
usually celebrities, politicians, authors, a style of trend or any
subject which arouses anyone’s interest at the moment or at a
specific period of time.
Awareness and Sensitivity to the Different Literary and
Socio-Political Contexts
Social and Political Context - features of the society sets an
impact on the meaning of the text.
a. Social issues – issues concerning national aspect of
human life.
b. Politics – a prolific theme that concerns to
movements, corruptions, political dynasty, and
government system.
Historical Context - underlying norms and conventions are
historically specific.
Cultural Context - way of life such as religion, race
nationality including food, dress code, manners.
Ideological Context - system of beliefs and ideas that
underpins our behavior and attitude.
Literary Online Portfolio using Multimedia Forms
Multimedia is a form of communication that combines
different content such as text, audio, images, animations, or
video into a single presentation.
Multimedia categories:
1. Linear active content is not dependent on the control of
the viewer. An example of this is a movie presentation.
2. Non-linear is dependent to the control of the viewer like
video game or computer. based training
Hypertext attempts to share control of literature with the
reader. A reader can click through a document without
conforming to any linear order the person who created the
hypertext document might have intended.
Blog comes in two words: Web and log. It is a log or
compilation of thoughts and writing posted on the World Wide
Web.
Blogging is just one of the many multimedia forms that you
can make out of your literary compilations.
Things to Consider in Making Blog
1. Know your audience. Before you start writing, it's
crucial that you know who your audience is, and
what they are looking for. Instead of guessing what
your audience needs or wants, try to make data-
driven decisions by doing industry research and
competitor analysis.
2. Write captivating headlines. If you don't have a
compelling headline, then there's a very good chance
that your blog post will not be read or shared. As
humans, we are shallow. We judge a book by its
cover and a blog post by its title That is your blog
post title is crucial for the success of that article
3. Add subheadings and shorter paragraphs to break
up the page. Formatting is super important for blog
posts. There's nothing worse than reading a blog post
that is just one giant paragraph. Most of the time
people skim through the content before they actually
decide to read it, so it is recommended to break up
your article with subheadings.
4. Use bullets. People tend to skim blog posts before
they decide to read it. That means you need to make
sure to highlight your best information. That way,
they can quickly see that your post is worth their
time. Bullet points are an excellent way to spoon-feed
your audience in a way that keeps them coming back
for more.
5. Add images. The human brain processes visual
content a lot faster than text- based content. That's
why adding captivating images can help boost your
engagement. Take your own photos or create your
own images.