From: Jonathan_B_Bellack@yccatsmtp.ycc.yale.edu (Jonathan Bellack)
Subject: Re: Novel or Play??
Organization: Yale University
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1992 01:37:09 GMT

In article <sbb1.717534371@Ra.MsState.Edu>, sbb1@Ra.MsState.Edu (Shay B. Berthelson) writes:
> 
> Hi I have been working on writing a novel.  But my writing could almost
> lean towards the scripting and dialogue of a play.  I really like theatre
> and wouldn't mind writing a play.  Should I ditch the book and go for 
> the stage?  The problem with changing, it would take much revision to 
> break the setting down to just a couple of locations.  
> 
> Shay B.
> 

  I actually went through this process, but in reverse.  I'd written the first
act of a play for a workshop, but wasn't very satisfied with my characters'
development.  After about 50 pages of character and thematic notes, I realized
that my concept was too complex to fit into play format, so I started again
from the beginning, but as a novel.  I'm now well over fifty pages in and am
much more satisfied with the novel than the original play.
  Introductions aside, off the top of my head I can think of four basic issues
you should consider: Settings, Characters, Length, and Voice.  (OK, OK, it's
not all that original, but they're still important. 8) )


1)  Settings--like you said, novels tend to have more locations than plays.
    You shouldn't let this stop you, though--many plays, and especially
    musicals, have different locales for virtually every scene.  One-room
    family dramas might be more typical, but they are by no means a limiting
    factor.  The only danger is loss of focus--if the audience is too busy
    trying to figure out where they are now, they won't appreciate the show
    itself.

2)  Characters--My novel has 6 main characters, which makes for an
    enormously complicated narrative structure.  Since there are only so
    many lines you can give a given character in a given play, it can be
    difficult to fully flesh out a large cast.  The ability of the actors
    has a lot to do with this--a good actor or actress can give depth to any
    character.  I still found that I couldn't do justice to all 6 chars in a
    normal play length, which brings us to #3...

3)  Length--A novel can be 120 pages, or 1120 pages.  Play length is much less
    flexible, especially at the upper end.  Too short and it's doomed to one-
    act oblivion; too long and the audience gets fidgety.  I directed a
    production of "J.B." by Archibald MacLeish last year, which is almost 3
    hours, and one of the chief complaints of reviews was that it took
    too long.  Again, the ability of the actors and director can make this
    less of an issue, but it's still a problem to be dealt with, unless
    you want to write a trilogy or somesuch (a la "Brighton Beach Memoirs",
    "Biloxi Blues" and "Broadway Bound", all by Neil Simon).

4)  Voice--A play is, obviously, almost always all dialogue.  Passionate
    characters in passionate conflict can be more breathtaking on stage than
    on the page, but you lose internal reactions, unshared memories, and so
    on.  Again proving there's always an exception, memory plays such as
    "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennesee Williams or "Aunt Dan and Lemon" by
    Wallace Shawn have narrators that step out of the action.  You could also
    give your characters monologues a la Shakespeare, but to my mind they
    tend to be very much set pieces, while in a novel internal monologue
    can be integrated with the overall flow much more easily.  Novels can be
    much more intimate, especially if you want to focus intensely on a single
    character.

  I decided on a novel because I had a large cast and was primarily interested
in internal reactions.  Hopefully your interests will guide you to the right
choice for your piece.  And remember, 'typical' plays and novels are only
typical because they've been done to death in the past.  As I explained above,
there are ALWAYS exceptions.  If it feels right to you, go for it.


                       --Jonathan Bellack
Newsgroups: misc.writing