Troubleshooting

Ways to get past the feeling, "This can't work."

Stereotyped characters.
Point out that people think of themselves as individuals and as pretty good people; it's only outsiders who label them "geeks," "goths," or "villains." If a student writer insists on playing a stereotypical character, ask what the character thinks about himself or herself. You might ask for some research, too.

Dialogue with pointless conflict.
Two questions solve most problems in playwriting: "What Could Happen?" and "How Would it Happen?" These two questions work wonders to get students to point in the right direction. One pair of actresses improvised a play that went like this:
DAUGHTER: I like this dress.
MOTHER: You can't have that.
DAUGHTER: Why not?
MOTHER: It's too expensive.
Well, why would the Mother bring the Daughter to this shop if they have to save money? And why should we care what dress a girl buys? What could explain this behavior? The girls came back with this scene:
MOTHER: I like this dress. It's perfect for you.
DAUGHTER: I can't take that.
MOTHER: Why not?
DAUGHTER: It's too expensive. I know you can't afford it.
MOTHER: Nothing's too good for my girl.
DAUGHTER: Look, I know you lost your job. Dad told me. He takes care of me all right. You don't have to buy me things to show me you love me, Mother.

Antic, pointless dialogue. Try an improv where one character says nothing for the first minute that the other speaks.

Slow progress. Suppose your play needs a scene in which one group rescues another from a trap, and then the bad guys surprise them. Improv, all twenty-three of you, by asking each group, "Where would you be at this moment? Doing what? Okay, come in when I tell you." You direct like a movie -- yelling, "All right, now discover them in the cave. How?" With "cuts" and "Take Two, Take Three," this is hectic, but good things will emerge. You'll laugh a lot.

In another play, we ran out of plot, but two weeks were supposed to pass in our story. Students sat down to write letters to family "in character." I prompted them to tell what's happened, and then to include a phrase like this: "But things may be getting better. Today. . ." In the final draft of the play, kids spoke those letters in overlapping monologues, while they mimed routine activity (calisthenics, games, cooking dinner. . .), and that comprised all of the middle act.

Cars, planes, chases. . .
Kids think fast cars and chase scenes are exciting because, in movies, they can be. Here's a typical example of a beginner's first draft:
GIRL 1: Let's go to the party!
GIRL 2: I'm not allowed!
GIRL 1: C'mon, your parents aren't home. (turns to audience) Later. . .
GIRL 2: This party is so boring. Let's go somewhere else.
GIRL 1: There's a rock club downtown.
GIRL 2: Let's go! (to the audience) Later. . . etc.
Now, we can still have scenes in cars and planes, but the real action isn't in motion, but in emotion. Someone's overcoming emotion to do something difficult.

Usually, you can convince a student to start the scene at the point of arrival. Let the characters stagger through the door saying, "I'll never let you drive me anywhere again! You were doing 95 around those curves!"

Kids blame others in the group for not working.
Take that with a grain of salt. Often, students accuse others of not cooperating when it's the bossy accuser who won't accept the consensus of the group. Arrange for a work session with you before school - usually, one session does it, and the kids become excited about what they develop in that time.

Dull Dialogue.
Ask, "Can you make each line tell us something about character, plot, setting-- or all three?" Ever-popular lines are all what people say when they don't have much to say: How are you? What are you doing here? Hey. Hello.

Despair.
Everyone feels this, around the fourth week. It's normal. Work through it. Keep in mind what was good about this idea at the beginning; keep focused on what you have already done, and make it better. Don't forget to ask, "What could happen?" and "How would it happen?"

Despair, II.
"Courage is the memory of past success." Here's a link to descriptions of plays that my classes wrote and performed, and some of these were very fractious groups. Read more.