Monologue Tips?

latieplolo

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One of my best friends from college recently moved to my city and has been involved in multiple plays. Since she got here, she's auditioned for three plays and landed the lead role in all three. She's been amazingly helpful as I work on my novel, so when she recently asked me to write a monologue for her as my main character it sounded fantastic. She has more auditions coming up in the spring and just asked for "something sad."

I'm not the kind of novelist that's comfortable with big chunks of uninterrupted speech. I've taken a few stabs at writing a monologue (like this), but am having a little trouble. Does anyone have any tips about what makes a really great monologue? What should I keep in mind? Do you have any suggestions for one I could read and learn from?
 
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LittlePinto

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A good monologue will have a beginning, middle, and end, just like a story. It should also include a character arc: the character begins in one place, has a realization about herself, and ends in a different place. You might read play monologues for inspiration. There are tons of websites out there if you do a web search.
 

Simone.Garick

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Thge best monologues often feel or play out like dialogues. As if the speaker is trying to convince themselves or rationalize something to themselves.
 

dpaterso

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Not monologues as such, but just for fun, maybe read some David Mamet scripts, feel the way the dialogue runs, even the big lengthy paragraphs are full of personality and opinion and counter argument.

Here's Glengarry Glen Ross on imdbs. If it helps, Levene is played by Jack Lemmon and Williamson by Kevin Spacey (cast list here). Feel the love, lol.

-Derek
 
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Doug B

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Talking Heads is also available in script (book??) form.

On Youtube look at Maggie Smith doing "Bed Among the Lentils" - runs about 50 minutes. She shows just how compelling a monologue can be. Of course, she is Maggie Smith . . .

Doug B
 

latieplolo

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Thanks for the advice everybody, I'll definitely take a look!
 

Mr.Bohemian

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Short and sweet, because of scriptwriting's brevity. You said you are a novelist, so that is likely an accidental sin you are committing.
 

Kevin_C_Vang

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One of my best friends from college recently moved to my city and has been involved in multiple plays. Since she got here, she's auditioned for three plays and landed the lead role in all three. She's been amazingly helpful as I work on my novel, so when she recently asked me to write a monologue for her as my main character it sounded fantastic. She has more auditions coming up in the spring and just asked for "something sad."

I'm not the kind of novelist that's comfortable with big chunks of uninterrupted speech. I've taken a few stabs at writing a monologue (like this), but am having a little trouble. Does anyone have any tips about what makes a really great monologue? What should I keep in mind? Do you have any suggestions for one I could read and learn from?
Go read the Incredibles script by Walt Disney. There is a monologue scene they have, my friend.
 

KitCarruthers

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I can only add an opinion on this topic in one very slender area: spec scripts.

In a spec, monologues are not something to deliberately seek ways to inject. It's best to try to find some other element to insert instead.

But: sometimes they are called for, sometimes they just feel right; sometimes they just happen on their own. Sometimes just t'aint no other durn way.

Nevertheless they're still an advanced technique, and you'd better be careful. Because --as the industry leaps to remind us--they simply aren't realistic. They're almost entirely a dramatic technique that we almost never encounter in the day-to-day world.

It's incredibly rare to find yourself treated to a monologue in your actual workaday existence. Right?

So there's a strong risk of getting it catastrophically wrong when you place one on the page. You are really taking a gamble.

Yes, I realize that scripts and plays aren't intended to be precisely and exactly like real life. Yes, I know that bold, courageous creativity often incorporates risk. But this still is an area (monologues) where you would not want to err on the side of that difference.

Scripts excel when they follow the strictest word economy possible. It's simply a truism.
Example: Walter Hill's 'Southern Comfort'. Gorgeous.

Okay. But even with all I've just spluttered, even with all of the above being stated aloud and acknowledged, what's the counter-argument? The counter-argument is, that when you read some acclaimed professional scripts (mega-famous blockbuster scripts), you find plenty of monologues. Monologues galore. How do those ace monologue writers do it? Well, they're the pros. That's how. I don't know what else to tell you.

Me: I've only ever found one rule which works for myself re: monologues. My own rule for myself is to not make a monologue an 'oh so sirius' monologue. I give it absurdity. Play it off against the seriousness of the rest of the scene. Use it as a pressure-valve to either release tension or, stoke tension. Only then, monologues become a faintly useful tool.

Still: only one per script.

Disclaimer: I apologize if this message sounds stentorian or lecturely. Please don't take it that way. It's just the way I frame my thoughts and type them out.
 
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