Playwriting Exercise: Fun with Words

This is a great Fun with Words Exercise. Hopefully you can use this in your writing, or take them in your classroom.

We’re taking a word that means a mouthful and using it as an inspiration for a scene. But not only that, the word in question is from a foreign language.

Today’s word is:

GOYA

• The suspension of disbelief that often occurs with good storytelling. (Urdu – national language of Pakistan)

This is my favourite word of the three because it describes a feeling felt by many of us who love being transported into another world, be it through movies or books or theatre. I love reading books that come in a series because it elongates the time I get to spend in that fictional world. I love seeing movies or tv shows where characters feel like real people. (Even though I know they’re not, it’s fun to pretend, right?)

Playwriting Exercise

• Automatic write for two minutes on what it means to be transported by a good story. Have you ever had the experience of reading a book that was so good, or seeing a movie that was so powerful that the situation and characters felt real? Are you disappointed when you get to the end of the book and realize your time in that other world is over?
• Write a scene in which you find yourself in the middle of a piece of fiction. Choose a story that means something to you, that feels real. Interact with a character who is in the middle of a pivotal moment in their story. (You meet Alice in Wonderland right before she eats the cake to make her grow) How does your presence change the story?