“The first draft really ought to be quite horrible.” A passionate masterclass in playwriting with Ian Finley, playwright and arts educator. Dramatic structure, writer’s block, revision, adapting historical events, the value of arts education, working with what you have, and the importance of “Just Finish it!”
Ian Finley holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from the Tisch School at New York University. He served as Resident Playwright for Raleigh’s Burning Coal Theatre Company from 2004 through 2012, when he was named the Piedmont Laureate in the field of Playwriting and Screenwriting by the arts councils of central North Carolina. He is the author of plays, including The Nature of the Nautilus (winner of the Kennedy Center’s 2002 Jean Kennedy Smith Award), And There Was War in Heaven (Finalist, O’Neil National Playwrights Conference), Native, The Greeks, 1960, Jude the Obscure, Suspense, 11:50 and the Our Histories cycle of site-specific plays for Burning Coal.
Finley is also a theatre educator, regularly teaching classes for Burning Coal, the Cary Playwright’s Forum, the NC Writer’s Network and the OLLI program at NC State and Duke. He serves as Head of Drama at Research Triangle High School, where he oversees a theatre program that involves over a quarter of the student body and produces four full productions and a season of improv each year.
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Time break-down:
[0:00] Episode intro and bio for Ian Finley
DRAMATIC STRUCTURE
[2:04] “A play is a machine and every gear has a purpose.” Ian has a tattoo of the dramatic structure on his shoulder for real.
[5:42] The six parts of dramatic structure.
REVISION
[10:00] Revision is 75% of the work (which is generally not what we are taught!). Ian despise the romantic myth of divine inspiration. Greatness is next door to awful. You learn about your work by writing it and piling up the pages. The 1st draft is the outline.
[14:44] There’s no such thing as writer’s block. It’s fear and/or not having an outline. The “unwashed baby draft” — you have to listen to understand this! The revision process is perhaps joyful in it’s own way if you take the long view.
DRAMATIZING HISTORICAL EVENTS
[23:49] Let the writing tell you what you need to research. The priority is to bring these historical people alive again.
WRITING PRACTICE & BUILDING PROGRAMS
[30:57] Ian’s personal writing practice (he’s so prolific — how does he do it?)
[34:54] What’s the value of arts education? How did Ian build the programs at Research Triangle High School and Burning Coal? “You can make art because you are human being.” Build slowly.
[42:50] Getting creative with how to be creative. Use what you have and JUST FINISH IT!
[46:00] Big things coming up for Ian Finley!
[48:50] Thank you and sign off
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