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How to write a play? 3/5 Building a plot

You want to write your first play but you don't know where to start ? We are here to advise you!

Writing is an exciting activity that can take many forms. But when you want to tackle writing a play, the work can quickly become laborious and you don't know which way to approach it. 

Let's take a look at some tips to guide your first steps in the field! 

First, here are some tips to help you choose a theme ! Once you've settled on a theme, you can get started on building your characters. 

Now it's time to start working on your story. 

Building your plot 

The basic techniques for building a story require you to follow a specific sequence. To do this, you'll need to start by defining your basic situation. 

Your character evolves in a balance, a given situation that constitutes his or her daily life. It's up to you to define his normality. Does he or she live in a normal or dystopian world? Is he or she in a relationship, engaged in a busy job or overwhelmed by his or her family? 

The presentation of the situation allows your readers/viewers to get acquainted with your universe and your characters. 

In a second step, an element will disrupt the balance; this is called a trigger. 

Does your character get fired ? Does his lover leave him? Has a child run away? Does an alien show up at his house? Something will happen to upset the balance of daily life and force your character to take action to fix the situation. 

Your character is now entering the phase of more or less difficult trials that he/she will have to overcome in order to get out of the situation. 

You may have to hide the alien from the rest of the family. Should they investigate the city to find the missing child ? Or will getting fired give your character a new lease on life, a new dream to fulfill, and a chance to sell his house and pack his bags to discover a new country ? 

It's up to you to invent events that will allow your character to face the darker sides of his character and his history. 

Now comes the last stage of your construction.

The resolution 

The various trials overcome by your character will allow him to overcome the initial problematic situation (or to fail definitively in his project). 

A new balance is thus created in which your character has evolved. He has learned from his mistakes. His or her goals and conceptions have changed. Your character has come a long way and you can now conclude your story!