I think a fundamental difference here (and probably a fault of mine) is that I have never thought of my scripts in terms of "How am I going to sell this?" My fiction, first and foremost, has, and may well always be, for my own consumption. I get an idea and write it because I like the story (and because escaping from this miserable world is better than living in it).
Anyhow, I know that if I actually want to earn money with this gig (and I do), that mode of thinking will at least have to consider reform. So thanks for brining that up
Firstly, let's clear up something obvious: a romantic comedy requires comedy, no? I do not write comedies.
Second. Write, thank you for posting this:
"A new play about an arranged gay marriage..." - yeah, that's a good hook, I'm interested. Parents arrange marriages right? All the old stories about arranged marriages show the kids resisting, but these dont? Okay, thats interesting. And its an arranged GAY marriage? Wow - thats just off the wall - I'm hooked. Are the parents gay? How do parents of gay kids find parents of other gay kids to arrange a perfect marriage???
I think it sums up entirely what I should be thinking about with the script. Best of all, it shifts the focus back to the couple; if they're perfect, as you've said before, where's their drama going to come from? A play like the one mentioned above would focus on the couple while also making sure the parents were a vital part of the story too.
This, though:
But YOUR plays got nothing to do with the fact that its arranged. Or that they are gay.
Isn't true. I said right at the beginning that the fact it was an arranged marriage is going to make a big difference. My reluctance with the 'gay issue' is something I think we're misunderstanding between each other; when I hear talk like that I think of terms of
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit rather than that side side of the play being something to broaden it and add depth. I am
not writing a tale of parental cruelty and homophobia - but the fact that this is a gay couple will definitely have an impact on the play. Again, what you said in that first section I quoted is really what I should, and intend to, be aiming for.
Endless: Thank you for your further comments, they're spot on and enforce what Write has noted. As regards thinking about the characters, this still isn't something I'm going to tackle
before i start writing; it's just not how I work. That doesn't mean that the characters aren't going to be thought about, I just prefer to do that kind of thing as I write/edit.
Write: I would point out that:
If their sexual orientation is NOT an issue, then why choose to make them gay?
Can be just as easily applied to any minority. Sometimes it's nice to write in a character as black, or disabled, or whatever, not because you want to make an issue of it but because you just want to. However, I have taken your points on board as I've already said, and agree that in this case I don't have much of a story
without making it an issue.
Phew! Stupid long posts...I still don't actually have anything to show you yet, an old friend turned up in town and it's ruined my schedule. Plus, I wanted to see where this discussion was heading before setting anything down. Part of the problem with this project is that it was heavily inspired by a webcomic called
Red String (which I fully advise you all take a look at cuz it's great), which goes about the arranged marriage topic very differently than to how this play will (eventually) turn out, but has majorily affected my thoughts on it never the less.
