u/JakkuJac

Hello everyone!
I’m currently making a play centered around the question: “What really happens inside a playwright’s mind while they’re trying to write a story?”
It’s going to be an absurd, surreal meta-comedy where the audience essentially gets to see the chaotic creative process happening in real time.

I’d love to hear from other writers and playwrights: what does your creative process actually look like?
How do your ideas start? How do you choose which story to pursue? How do you come up with names for characters and places, or decide on the time and setting? Do you talk to yourself or argue with yourself while writing? What exactly goes on in your head when you’re trying to create a story?

I’d love to hear different experiences and perspectives that could inspire the play. I want it to be fun, but hopefully relatable to people who create stories as well.

Some ideas from my current drafts:
The play is set in a place called “Writer’s Block,” portrayed as a literal neighborhood. Plot holes are actual holes that characters can fall into, while other parts of the writing process could exist as physical places or objects. However, I’m still hesitant about this idea because I’m considering how feasible it would be to stage.

The playwright is also accompanied by a “friend” who helps him brainstorm and decide what happens in the story. They debate ideas and constantly bounce things off each other. Later, we learn that the friend isn’t exactly a separate person, but rather an externalization of the playwright’s own internal dialogue—the way our brains sometimes seem to have conversations with ourselves.

I have this meta-theatrical play idea and I’m not sure where to take it

I’m a first-time playwright developing a 35–40 minute one-act play for a theater festival, and I’d like some feedback on the concept because I can’t genuinely decide.

**The basic premise:**
A playwright hears an announcement for a playwriting festival and begins creating a play. He chooses people from the audience to become his characters and assigns them roles: a Main Character, Lover, Sidekick, Rich, Poor, and the Eye/Authority.
MC and Lover are from a Poor family
Sidekick from Rich

At first, they simply follow his script. But as the story progresses, they start questioning their roles:

The Lover doesn’t want to simply be the hero’s “shadow.” Symbolizing women who are reduced to supporting roles

The Sidekick wants recognition beyond the role assigned to him, his sexuality also connects him to LGBT discrimination.

The Poor - central question is not merely how to survive, but when he gets to actually live.

The Rich doesn’t want to be reduced to a stereotype.

The Eye/Authority, initially just a puppet enforcing the script, eventually becomes aware enough to being the first character to confront the Playwright.

The Playwright doesn’t see himself as evil. He genuinely tries to **fix** their problems by rewriting the story, but his solutions still don’t satisfy them because he’s still deciding what is best for them.
Eventually, the Playwright breaks down, and his tears symbolically cause a flood across the manuscript. While the Main Character goes to confront him, the other characters deal with the flood themselves. (A reference to the flood control issue here)
The Playwright finally starts listening to them rather than simply rewriting them. They begin working toward a new story together.

Then an alarm goes off:
**“And that is 40 minutes! Our maximum time given!”**
The Playwright argues that he hasn’t finished the ending. Finally, he gives the **Pencil**, which represents power, to the audience. To remind that the audience, the people has the power. Asking “what will you do now

**BLACKOUT.**

I can’t decide how it should end. My draft where:
The one above, or The flood drowns all the other characters to signify the lives taken by the real actual flood. I don’t know even know what the mc and playwright we’ll talk about during that confrontation.

I have this meta-theatrical play idea and I’m not sure where to take it

I’m a first-time playwright developing a 35–40 minute one-act play for a theater festival, and I’d like some feedback on the concept because I can’t genuinely decide.

The basic premise:
A playwright hears an announcement for a playwriting festival and begins creating a play. He chooses people from the audience to become his characters and assigns them roles: a Main Character, Lover, Sidekick, Rich, Poor, and the Eye/Authority.
MC and Lover are from a Poor family
Sidekick from Rich

At first, they simply follow his script. But as the story progresses, they start questioning their roles:

The Lover doesn’t want to simply be the hero’s “shadow.” Symbolizing women who are reduced to supporting roles

The Sidekick wants recognition beyond the role assigned to him, his sexuality also connects him to LGBT discrimination.

The Poor - central question is not merely how to survive, but when he gets to actually live.

The Rich doesn’t want to be reduced to a stereotype.

The Eye/Authority, initially just a puppet enforcing the script, eventually becomes aware enough to being the first character to confront the Playwright.

The Playwright doesn’t see himself as evil. He genuinely tries to fix their problems by rewriting the story, but his solutions still don’t satisfy them because he’s still deciding what is best for them.
Eventually, the Playwright breaks down, and his tears symbolically cause a flood across the manuscript. While the Main Character goes to confront him, the other characters deal with the flood themselves. (A reference to the flood control issue here)
The Playwright finally starts listening to them rather than simply rewriting them. They begin working toward a new story together.

Then an alarm goes off:
“And that is 40 minutes! Our maximum time given!”
The Playwright argues that he hasn’t finished the ending. Finally, he gives the Pencil, which represents power, to the audience. To remind that the audience, the people has the power. Asking “what will you do now

BLACKOUT.

I can’t decide how it should end. My draft where:
The one above, or The flood drowns all the other characters to signify the lives taken by the real actual flood. I don’t know even know what the mc and playwright we’ll talk about during that confrontation.