Copyright © 2017 Jerry Dunne
Introduction
The length of the short story discussed here is not much more than 10, 000 words and the length of the shorter play not beyond a 90-minute performance and often shorter. Here I show the similarities of the storytelling elements for these two disciplines and why this knowledge is of great use in helping the writer work from one form to the other using the same idea. For emphasis, one of my own pieces serves as an example.
The 3-act plot arc structure is a tried and tested formula (not to be confused with formulaic (derivative) writing) that can be used to structure both the short story as well as the play. Use the link to it here (the story’s 3-act plot arc structure or the play’s 3-act plot arc structure) in order to shine greater clarity on the strong connection between the two writing forms.
The story idea
Here is the blurb of my 90 minute play The Civilian Zone, a psychological thriller:
Bee’s new boyfriend, Frank, a military man, in the past helped rape victims in a combat zone kill their attackers. This revelation prompts Bee to tell him that she herself is a ‘stranger-rape’ victim, and is still being ‘casually’ stalked by her attacker, as due to poor evidence, the police never brought a prosecution against him. The two lovers hypothetically discuss his execution, until the rapist makes another but unsuccessful attempt at raping her, and then the hypothetical becomes the very possible. The combat soldier will help Bee kill the rapist, but only under certain conditions. Once the man is in their power, he must be killed and Bee must do the killing. Feeling she has run out of options, liberal-minded Bee willingly agrees. However, agreeing to Frank’s conditions and actually carrying them out may not be as easy as she imagines.
The idea for the play originated as a play idea but below I show how easily it might be turned into a short story, especially by using the finished play as a template.
Storytelling elements of the short story and shorter play
The main storytelling elements are setting, character, plot, conflict, point of view (POV), theme and drama. We will also mention time period here, though it is not strictly a storytelling element.
Character
Character definition and development is limited in the short story and shorter play, and ought to be completely plot and theme related. Unless it is specifically plot related, in both disciplines character depth is more hinted at than drawn, as there is simply not enough space/time in which to develop the character in other directions. However, in both writing forms character must be three-dimensional. Usually, one major protagonist is in conflict against one major antagonist, and the fewer the characters/actors, the greater the ability to focus on the internal conflict of the play.
The early drafts of The Civilian Zone included three characters, Bee, Frank and the rapist. But after professional feedback, I rewrote the play with only two characters, Frank and Bee. The psychological drama (and theme) really revolves around Bee and Frank, and, so, after dropping the rapist as a character, the play became tighter, tenser, and more focussed. A further by-product of doing this is that the physical absence of the rapist enables an air of greater malevolence and mystique to surround him as he is still someone very much to reckon with offstage in the play.
In a short story version, I’d have originally worked it as a three-character story, too. But now, with the experience of the play behind me, I’d make it a two-person setup and for exactly the same reasons as in the play.
We discover very little about Bee’s background and absolutely nothing about Frank’s that is not plot related. This would not change in the short story. Bee has phone conversations with her mother about her father’s failing mental condition, and though these two older people are not a direct part of the story, at one point they are used as a plot device to help ratchet up the tension and force Bee to make a decision. The conversations also serve the purpose of creating a contrast between two very different worlds. It would be easy in the short story to introduce her parents as new characters but I would not do so, as it would introduce new scenes and lengthen the story unnecessarily, thereby distracting from the increasingly claustrophobic and dangerous world in which Bee finds herself during the course of the play.
Point of view (POV)
Point of view in fiction doesn’t work in quite the same way as in drama. Nevertheless, we can easily imagine similarities for our own purposes here. POV must be restricted in the short story with usually one inner perspective (called the third-person limited style). A play with a single person’s set of monologues may be considered the equivalent of the third-person limited style of the short story. Otherwise, and in general, the play is the equivalent of the third person objective of the short story, where we get no character’s inner voice, just the narrator’s ‘objective’ POV or perspective.
As the play is really about Bee and her moral decisions and as she is in every scene, the short story would be from her POV. In the third act of The Civilian Zone, the dialogue consists solely of a monologue by Bee. I think I would keep it this way for the short story, except she would not be talking out loud for the audience but thinking out loud for the benefit of the reader.
Plot
Plot strands or subplots are considered a no no in the short story and shorter play. The introduction of a plot strand impedes on time/word length, and may end up involving the creation of more characters, themes, scenes and settings. Too much ‘noise’ in our short pieces only encourages us to take our eye off the main purpose of the writing. Plot strands also often weaken the tension of the main plot. The work may soon start to look sluggish, even confusing. Of course, exceptions exist but few good short stories have more than one plot strand and it will be directly related to the main plot.
The Civilian Zone has no plot strands. Bee’s parents might have been introduced as one for the short story but as already stated, it would not help the story grow stronger, only weaker.
The plot of the short story is also broken into dramatic scenes just like in the play.
What I might change about the plot for the short story would be to start the whole thing at the point where Bee and Frank already have the rapist in the cellar, which then allows Bee to reflect on how she happened to arrive at that particular junction. This could tighten up the story even more. This option isn’t available in the play.
Conflict
Once we have the set-up (see the 3-act plot arc structure) the story’s conflict should begin with the inciting incident and continue until the climax in the third act. Conflict has no particular restriction in the short story/shorter drama in and of itself. Other elements will naturally restrict its development. Without conflict, there’s no story, not on the page and certainly not on the stage.
The play’s conflict revolves around Bee’s and Frank’s very different worldviews. He is the hardened mercenary and she is the typical middle-class liberal woman. Will Bee accept Frank’s offer to help her revenge herself against her attacker? And, if so, once she has accepted the offer, will she finish off the rapist in the way Frank insists she must? The play’s conflict centres not only on the dialogue between Bee and Frank but also on Bee’s monologues – otherwise the third act would be without conflict. In the short story, the conflict would develop in the same way, around their conversations and within Bee’s inner voice.
Theme
The theme, a very powerful element of the tale or drama, is often easier to explore and highlight in shorter pieces of writing where we have far less ‘noise’. The theme of The Civilian Zone hinges on whether it is okay for the protagonist to exact lethal retribution on her offender after society has failed to act on her behalf, with further consideration to the fact that she genuinely believes she is continuously in danger of another attack by the offender. It is a simple and universal theme and one as easily explored in creative as dramatic writing.
Drama
Here I define drama as conflict fuelled by the addition of moral choices. Most modern fiction has drama as an intrinsic element of the story, unless the story is aimed solely at humour. Obviously, this also holds true for the play. Thedrama or morality (theme here) of the play is woven into every aspect of the conflict. The same would hold true for the short story because we would also be writing only as much as we need in order to make the story work well.
Setting
The setting may be incidental or critical to the story/drama. If the setting is not necessary for character, plot or conflict development, or for the creation of tension or suspense then the setting is incidental and described very briefly in the story or on the stage. A critical setting may be important to character, plot or conflict development, and if so, then it will certainly also help evoke mood and build tension and suspense. But setting is much more likely to be critical in the written word for obvious reasons – much of a written story can be built on its setting, the mood it evokes and the characters which emerge from it. Think of an historical or science-fiction story, for example. It would be hard to recreate the way the setting saturates the whole story on the stage as it does on the page. The detail will simply be lacking. However, descriptions of critical setting should be used strategically and sparingly in the short story; restrictions on the stage will be more to do with practical or financial considerations, or even taste.
The setting of The Civilian Zone is incidental. The whole play is set in Bee’s kitchen, so the short story version is hardly in need of lots of detailed description of setting. We already know what the average kitchen looks like.
Time period
The time period (the time over which the story/play takes place) is generally restricted in the shorter works in order to help keep the story focussed and immediate (just like with restrictions on character, POV, plot, scene, setting and theme). With a shorter time period, the writer is less inclined to introduce new scenes, characters or plot points, which, again, may only weaken the focus of the story. However, if other storytelling elements are kept tightened, the time period may stretch, and the story may still keep its focus. Much depends on the original idea and the skills of the storyteller.
The Civilian Zone stretches over several months, but because all other storytelling elements in the play are kept tight, this time stretch does not feel particularly emphasised. In other words, the play’s time period does not weaken the focus on the plot, the theme, the conflict or the tension and suspense in any way. The time period for the short story would remain the same as in the play.
Conclusion
Obviously, not every idea is going to work in both writing forms. But many will, and if you are a short story writer considering the possibility of writing a play from your original short story (or the reverse), then an understanding of the similarities of the storytelling elements between the two forms will indeed serve you well when putting together the new piece of work from your old template. Basic mistakes you made while developing your original story or play will not have to be repeated in the new form. One is already a well-rounded plan for the other. Good luck with your experimenting!
Links:
Inspiration from inside an empty matchbox
From stereotype to rounded character with speed and ease
Intellectual versus emotional inspiration in the creative writing process
The trickiness of writing the children’s short story (for the middle reader)
The short story’s storytelling elements
Why writing drama is harder than writing a novel
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