OCT
5

Helping Students Find Their Voice, Part 1

By Flip Kobler and Cindy Marcus 

Bob Dylan was right.  The times, they are a-changin’.  The way we gather, the way we learn, and the way we perform.

Whether your class is online, in person, or existing in some impossible hybrid model, at least it’s giving us a way to continue to connect with our students and hopefully find an avenue for performing.  It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s better than nothing.  Monologues and small scene work can still be very effective, even if virtual or socially distanced.

We like to think positive that this school year is also rife with exciting opportunities.  Things we wouldn’t have considered a few years ago, like having your students write and perform their own original material, are definitely on the table now.  Why not help kids turn their inner thoughts into monologues or scenes?  Will there ever be a better time?  Maybe we can offset some of the losses of big, live theatre productions with something just as valuable (or maybe even more so!):  helping students find their voice.

For several years now, we have run our own teen theatre, so we’ve been down this path many times.  We’d like to share what we’ve learned about helping teens through the process of writing their own monologues or scenes.  We will do this in a pair of articles.  In this article we will address how to encourage your students to find what they want to write about and get started.  In part 2 we will share the questions we ask to help teens shape what they have written into an effective monologue or scene.

The best place to start is, as Oscar Hammerstein wrote, “at the very beginning.”  So let’s begin with the single greatest question a writer can ask, “Who am I?”  Below is how we work with students to guide them to a place where they’re full of ideas and excited to start writing.

The Character Bio

Many actors will write stories upon stories about their characters.  Who are they?  Where did they come from?  What was the name of their dog in second grade?  That’s all great stuff for character development.  So, take that same curiosity and turn it inward, on you.

Now many of you are shaking your heads, “I don’t think I have an interesting enough story to tell.”

Ah, not so.

In all of time and all of space there is only one you.  Wait, that’s so important we’re going to repeat that:  “In all of time and all of space there’s only one you!”  So how can you be anything but totally fascinating?  What makes you you is completely unique.  OF COURSE you have something wonderful to say.  Learning what that is requires just a bit of digging.  And that’s where the character bio is such a big help.

Here are a few questions to get you started (and the list can go on and on and on):

• What was your least favorite birthday?
• What was your favorite holiday celebration?
• Who is your favorite person?
• What was your first day of middle school like?
• What does it feel like to go onstage?

As with the stories we write to develop great characters, our lives are composed of moments.  What we need to do is start asking ourselves about those moments.  But we don’t want to stop there.  Once we’ve begun asking ourselves who we are, the next most important question is —

Why?  (also known as The Character Bio 2.0)

“Why?”  is what drives every story, because it’s the reason a character does what they do.  It’s the reason an audience will stay with you.  It’s the drive, the purpose, the guide.  That “why” question can open the door to oodles of stories.  And the best part about it, it totally comes from you!

Here’s an example.  Let’s say you took the character bio question of “What was your least favorite birthday?”  and answered, “When I was ten.”

That’s a perfectly good answer.  But if you stop there, all you’ve got is a piece of information and nothing to connect you or your audience to the story.  However, if you add the “why,” look what happens:

I’d gotten sick, strep throat.  At the time we didn’t know it, but I had a fever.  But I also had a bunch of friends coming over, and my parents, always strapped for money, couldn’t afford to “waste” the party.  They insisted we go on with the event even though I was sick.  This put an incredible strain on my dad, who was already prone to mood swings.  Everyone in the house could feel the temper brewing inside him...

See how the “why” drives the story?  So start with a question, but don’t settle for a simple answer.  Always follow with “why?” 

Scene or Monologue?

Now that you’ve mined your life for stories and provided answers that include the why, the next question is, “Where is the tension?”  This will determine whether you have a monologue or a scene.

If the tension comes from outside the character, then it's a scene; if the conflict comes from inside the character, then you’ve got a monologue.

Let’s go back to that birthday story as our example:

The character mentions her dad, how he was prone to emotional blow ups.  If she and her dad end up fighting and that’s what makes it her least favorite birthday, then that would be a scene.  The conflict is external to the character.

However, if the character kept her feelings bottled up, afraid to confront her father or maybe too sick to do so, then that would be a monologue.  The tension is internal.  Her battle is within herself.  Or perhaps her father’s moods or her illness weren’t what was driving the character, it was her insecurity about her friends not liking her.  That would also be a monologue.

A monologue is having the character express how they feel about whatever event is happening.

A scene is a force meeting an immovable object.  Two or more characters who have something they need to say to each other.

To be clear, both are great ways to go.  The question you want to ask yourself is which one most speaks to you?  And then, of course, why?

Index Cards

So, hopefully by now you’ve actually got some ideas on what you want to write.  Snippets and pieces whisper in your ear.  “Do this, try that.”  But you have no idea how to put this all together.

The answer:  INDEX CARDS!  These little white rectangles of joy are a writer’s savior.  Now that you’ve got a few ideas, put each idea on an index card.  Even if the card only has the name of a character, that’s something.

Eventually, what you’re going to do with these cards is lay them out on the floor in front of you.  Read them.  Study them.  Some cards will seem to fit with other cards, so put those cards together.  Some cards will repeat ideas.  This means that there’s something to that idea that keeps bringing you back.  Ask yourself, “why?”  (That “why” question fits in a million different ways, doesn’t it?)

Who knows?  You might even find you have a whole play with a group of scenes put together.  The scenes might be a linear story or a group of related ideas.  If we go back to the birthday party as our example, the birthday party could be the catalyst for change for the main character.  Maybe she no longer wants to be controlled by her emotionally volatile father, and the play tells about what she does next.  Or perhaps in the play all the girls at the party are talking about their own worst birthdays, and the play is a series of vignettes and monologues.

Monologue, scene, or play — any could make a wonderful piece of theater.  It’s just a question of what story do you want to tell, driven by the “why.”

Show Up

Writing begets writing.  There’s no other way to write something but to write something.  What’s most important in the writing process is that you finish!

You’ll hate some of the words you choose, or you’ll want to turn a phrase differently, but just keep writing and moving forward.  Do not go back, JUST KEEP WRITING until it’s done.

The self-editing will come later, but remember you can’t fix nothing.  So get it written down.

Once you’ve completed your piece, celebrate!  Treat yourself to something that honors the work you’ve done, whether it’s a nap, a Coke, or a run in the park.  Whatever it is, take time to give yourself a pat on the back.  Writing takes courage.  Many writers talk about writing but don’t actually do the writing.  And you were brave enough to show up.  Way to go!

Continue here to read about the steps we take from here to help students find their voice and create a meaningful monologue or scene.