Writing Your Own Play by Adhering to Aristotle's Six Elements of Drama
What are the six elements of Drama?
- Character
- Action (or Plot)
- Ideas
- Language
- Music
- Spectacle
Character: The people in the story.
Since your story will be told through the trials and tribulations of your characters, it’s important to make them watchable. A character can be the evilest person on earth, but as long as he is compelling to watch then he has earned his place on the writer’s page.
Action (or Plot): What happens in your play and in what order.
Classic three act Hollywood structure consists of this: take your protagonist, put him in a tree, throw rocks at him and then get him down, or in the case of King Kong, shoot him down. Keep your plot twisting and turning and avoid the embarrassment of an audience member snoring.
Ideas: Plays have to be about something.
What does your play mean? Does it have a central theme? If it doesn’t, then reconsider what you’re writing. Your central theme should manifest itself in every aspect of your script.
Language: When your actors open their mouths they’re going to need something to say.
How do your characters talk? Do they have an accent or use their own language or dialect? Is their vocabulary strange or unusual?
Music: “If music be the food of love, play on.”
Music can add atmosphere, create tension and heighten emotion so don’t be afraid of using it and if there is an opportunity to have a song or songs in your play then put them in.
Spectacle: Whether you’re watching a barricade spin around during a production of Les Miserables or laughing as Leonardo DiCaprio goes down with the Titanic, spectacle will always be compelling for an audience. Remember, everyone enjoys an explosion. Spectacle can also include other dramatic devices such as the use of magic or dance for instance. Although don’t confuse this with the David Bowie song, “Dance, Magic Dance!” in Labyrinth. Spectacle also includes the set and costume.
Combining Parts of the Six Elements: The most effective and dramatic sections in plays often combine more than one of the elements. (For example the opening scene of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.)
