Script Writing: How To Write A Monologue
When writing a monologue, there is usually one person speaking, so it can be difficult to maintain focus if the speaker does not tell you what they are thinking or doing next. This can get confusing for the reader!
It is best to create a storyline first and then write your speech as someone else in that story. Your character will feel more natural when they understand their place in the narrative.
Another way to avoid this problem is by using “stage voice”. Use this tone and style of speech for the characters like normal. Only then should you add in some layers to make it personal.
Intermediate writers often use third-person point of view (others’ perspectives) to help achieve this. The other person becomes the narrator who tells the story.
There are several ways to learn how to do this efficiently. For now, just know that creating a solid layer of narration can really enhance your writing.
Know your audience
As we said before, writing is an art form that relies on who you are as a writer and what you know about people. When it comes to written stories, one of the most important groups of people to understand are others’ monologues!
Monologues are just like conversations except there is only one speaker. For example, if I was talking to someone else about my life, that would be a narrative or story. A monologue, however, is when there is no other context for the speech - there is simply nothing beyond the individual speaking their mind.
In fact, some say that monologues are the defining feature of storytelling, because they eliminate the need for scenes.
Since a monologue has no break, it can go on indefinitely, so timing isn’t really a factor. This makes them great tools for writers who prefer more dialog-based books (stories with lots of dialogue) than movie scripts, which are almost entirely narration.
And although a reader may not agree with what the character says, at least they will get a sense of what he or she is thinking through his or her tone and body language.
Develop your theme
As mentioned earlier, developing your script’s theme is one of the most important things you can do before writing too much. Your theme should be something that people will recognize as being related to your story.
It can be anything from a character’s desire (for example, for someone to learn how to swim) to an event or situation (someone else’s accident). It does not have to be very in-depth, but it must relate to the rest of the screenplay.
Your audience cannot tell what your movie is about unless you give them a strong clue. If your scene contains nothing beyond who and where, then your theme has been eliminated!
Knowing your main characters’ goals and dreams is a good place to start when building your theme. Ask yourself questions like “What are they trying to achieve?” and “Why are they doing this?” The more you know about these individuals, the better able you will be to write their monologues.
Write out your script
It’s very important to write out your screenplay before you start writing scenes or story beats. This is called scripting!
Writing out the script will give you some solid fundamentals in how scripts are written. By doing this, you’ll learn how to organize the storyline, how to develop characters, and how to create interesting dialogue.
Once you have all of these things down, you can then move onto writing more complex scenes and stories. So, get into it!
The best place to begin is by reading our article: Start writing Scene One. Beyond that, there are several online resources with great tips for writers. You should also join writer forums and talk about writing so that you can pick up any tricks and tools they may offer.
Practice reading out your script
When you practice reading your script, it is important to do so with someone else. You can choose to read your monologues to yourself or to another person.
If you are reading your script for TV, then you will want to have someone who has little to no writing experience review your work. This could be a friend or family member, but they should not edit anything nor add any additional material.
They should only suggest changes in how you write an individual line or that you use more formal language, nothing beyond that!
When practicing your script, try to keep it natural by using real speech and setting it in context. No matter what kind of movie you make, there will be a lot of dialogue so having some basic conversation skills is very helpful.
Invite audience members to read your script
After writing a scene that features someone else, it is time to move onto another person! Creating a monologue requires introducing new characters who will need to be invited into the story by creating an invitee or call-and-response situation.
This can be done in several ways. You could have the character talk directly to the audience, ask questions of other characters, or tell stories to them.
The first way is to write what’s called a “opening speech,” which is when the speaker tells something important about themselves before getting into the main topic and argument.
In film, this is usually done as an introduction for each new character. For example, after filming a scene with Jack, we would get a short summary from his daughter Annie. This creates a sense of continuity between scenes and gives us more insight into their relationships.
Tell them about your script
After writing a short scene, it is time to move onto the next section of the screenplay! The second part of scripting a monologue is telling other people what happens in the story. This is called a “monologue” because you are only speaking one person at a time.
In most cases, this will be an audience member or another character within the movie. For example, let's say your movie is about two roommates who have a fight. Your camera would slowly zoom out as they yell at each other before coming back into close up shots of their face. Then, after some more yelling, the doorbell rings and they share a smile while walking over.
This sequence of events could easily be adapted into speech. You can use these examples or make your own if you like. When writing your dialogue, think about how you would talk to someone with similar emotions and situation so that the reader can relate.
Ask them to share their thoughts
As we mentioned before, a monologue can be any length depending on the story you want to tell. A short monologue is usually told within one or two scenes.
A longer monologue may consist of several scenes that connect together to form a continuous narrative. This could also be an extended conversation between only two characters!
Whatever kind of script you write, your audience will still need some sort of break after reading it. You should give them that by leaving a little bit of space at the end.
This way they won’t feel overwhelmed and will able to process what has just happened. They will also have time to reflect on the rest of the scene and move onto the next one.
Your writer colleagues are a great source of creative inspiration. By taking notes and studying how other writers wrote their mono-logue scripts, you will learn from their mistakes and triumphs.
Be consistent
As mentioned before, monologues should be written consistently, which means you must use your tone, style, and volume of voice every time you write a one-sided conversation.
This could be a problem if you are not used to writing dialogue. It takes practice, but once you get the hang of it, you will love it!
If you start to feel tired or uncomfortable when trying to write dialog, take some time away from it and come back later. You may need to break down the script into chapters and organize all the pieces separately before putting them together.
Also, remember that even though this article focused mostly on spoken dialog, there is no rule saying that everything has to be said out loud. Some examples include:
Interactions between two people can also occur through text messages, emails, etc.