Welcome to our Introduction to Playwriting workshop, written by playwright Kelly Jones. Over the course of this workshop, you will explore ways to generate ideas for a play, how to structure your story, how to develop dialogue, how to get to the end of your draft and how to redraft your play.

This workshop is broken down into sections, so you can complete it in your own time and at your own pace. If you get stuck and need any assistance you can contact us at education@oldvictheatre.com. Remember, this workshop isn’t about getting things right – it’s about your artistic ideas. Nor is it a complete guide or rigid structure. Take what works for you and have fun.

Give yourself two minutes to answer each of the questions below. Don’t overthink your answers, just write the first things that come into your head. If after two minutes has passed you want to keep writing that’s fine – keep going until you have exhausted all your ideas.

You may find it helpful to play some background music during this exercise or move to a different space to answer each question.

• What brings you the most joy?
• What’s something that no one knows about you?
• What makes you angry about the world?
• What are you most scared of?

Once you have answered all four questions, read your answers back and underline anything you find interesting or any answers that you find surprising. Could any of these be an interesting start of a story?

Pick one thing from either the ANGRY list or the FEAR list. This will be your focus for the rest of this workshop.

Using your line as a starting point, think about the types of stories that could help articulate your frustration best. For example: Fear = Being forever single. Idea = A quest story that ends with the protagonist finding love.

Now you try!

Write four possible versions of this story using the prompts below. Write for five minutes per prompt. Remember there is no right or wrong – this exercise is all about playing with your idea and finding out what sort of stories you want to write.

• What is the worst version of this story?
• What is the movie blockbuster version of this story?
• What is the smallest version of this story (for example, a one person show)?
• What is the biggest version of this story?

Once you have written your four versions of the story, read back over them and reflect on what you have written.

This exercise may have shown you what you don’t want your idea to be, or highlighted any preconceived ideas you might have of what a play is supposed to be like. This can be useful to identify early on to help you avoid cliché and to hone in on the things that really matter to you.

Continuing with your line from the previous two exercises, write for five minutes about your personal relationship to the thing you are interested in. You do not need to be an expert in the thing you are writing about. Instead, draw on your own thoughts, feelings, and relevant experiences.

Once your five minutes are up, read back over what you have written.

I always find I write my best work when the story I’m telling fuses something big about the world with something from my own personal experience.

For example, my play BUMP looks at the rise of right-wing extremism in working-class communities paired with my autobiographical experience of being a teenage co-parent.

Consider what is the version of the story that only you can write? How can your personal experiences contribute to wider discussions happening in society? What is the relevance of this story today?