As I said before, I began writing drama way back in 1988, seems like a long time ago. As I improved my craft, I discovered two things: Write about what you know and use your imagination. The reason I say that is because of experiences I have encountered over the years. Back in the mid-80's I wrote a play called "Broken Dreams" about a teenage girl who was pregnant and HIV positive. The idea was a good subject for a play and addressed two major problems: teen pregnancy and HIV. But the idea didn't translate very well on stage. By that I mean, a friend who aw it said it was more of a work in progress than a polished production, comparing it to "Promises" which had been staged a couple years before. One of the problems she noticed was research. I hadn't done a very good job at it I must admit now. Another problem she noticed was that the only rounded out character was the gay character. The reason was simple for that: I had written about what I knew!!!
Writing about what you know is important but the danger is to get caught up in the facts. I will explain by an simple example. My first play " I Never Said Goodbye" was based on events that had happened to me a couple of years earlier. As I wrote it, I tried to remember what was said and by whom. Once it was ready to be staged, I was fairly confident I had a good story to tell. After it's premiere, it was adjudicated for a drama festival. That is were I learned the hard way that although the story was interesting, it was bogged down by short scenes which slowed the pace of the play. The adjudicator suggested I try to create longer scenes to alleviate this problem. I argued that I couldn't do that because it wouldn't reflect the reality of what happened. After some discussion I agreed to change some things but not enough and the basics of the original play had remained.
The important lesson learned here: Let your imagination be the canvas of events, real or fictious.
In the next pages, you will read how I came about to write some of my the plays I have staged over the years.