How to write effective monologues
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How to Write Effective Monologues
You may discover that the most informative, provocative, emotional or dramatic scenes in a play, movie or T.V. show were monologues. That's because monologues are the life blood of characters. Through monologues we learn the most about who a character is, what their thought process is and what they plan to do to change their current circumstances.
One may ask, what is a monologue? If we break the word down phonetically, mono means one or single and -logue means to speak, or voice. So a monologue is simply one voice. I compare a monologue in a play to an instrument solo in an orchestra. All the instruments play together to create a composition but one instrument may be used to give voice to the most intricate, moving or interesting part of it.
Flowing language is one part of making a monologue effective. However, if the language flows together well and within the language, there is no emotional stimulus the monologue ends up being flat. Effective monologues may flow, be choppy, or may be very scattered. The fact is writing effective monologues has very little to do with writing grammatically correct sentences. Effective monologues speak through language and use the tendencies of people to bend words and phrases to their will rather than the rules of language construction. Therefore a writer needs to research how people speak, how an accent from Georgia differs from an accent from Louisiana. They need to know specifics about the people from any area they intend to write about. For example, a person from Ohio is more likely to ask for a pop instead of a soda. Conversely, a person from Philadelphia would go to buy sneakers whereas a person from Detroit would by tennis shoes. It is the writer's ability to understand character and the little details that will make the depth of the character feel real.
Emotions make the character. Many writers have problems with characters because they tend to care more about their words than the characters themselves. However, when people want to experience your mastery of words they will read a novel, book of poetry, or some form of other literature. Television, film and live theater are mediums through which the words must be visualized. Since the characters are the vehicles that carry or convey the words they must emote. The first rule to simplify writing emotional content is there are only four emotions. Happiness, sadness, fear and anger are the only four emotions that exist. Everything else is an expression of two or more of these four in combination with one another. Having this knowledge helps the writer to focus on where they ultimately want the monologue to go. For example, if the monologue starts off angry it may travel through the character's fears and sadness to wind up with them being happy. The way in which you, the writer twist together the combinations of emotions compels us, the audience to listen to what the character is saying.
There are many other factors to making monologues effective. However, if you are able to master these few things as a beginning, the other points will be easy to pick up through practice.
Write in the Vernacular
As I stated before, a writer needs to understand differences in accents. However there is a deeper understanding that surpasses just knowing the difference between accents. Within the realm of accents there is a term called regionalisms. Regionalisms cover groupings of places that seem to have similar, if not the same sounding dialect, accent, or colloquial terms. For example people from eastern cities in Virginia, Washington D.C. and Baltimore all have a similar sound to their speech. There are differences but many people from other regions would say they sound so similar that they sound the same. Some may feel that people from New Orleans, Gulf Port Mississippi and parts of Alabama sound very similar. In any case, regionalisms are important to establishing authentic speech patterns for your characters.
It is important that writers invest time in contemplating what a character sounds like. What I mean is, writers need to give careful consideration to the consonant vowel combinations for the words their characters speak. For example, if you have a character who lives in present day Philadelphia, they might say "Ya' mean?" instead of "You know what I mean?" Conversely, if the character were from colonial Philadelphia, he or she wouldn't say either. The colonial character might say "Do you understand my meaning?" or "Am I understood?" In either case, the point is clear. Research into the time, region and characterization of phrasing will enhance your characters and create interest. Don't be afraid to mash letters together to create the words and/or phrases exactly as they sound. On the printed page it may appear as babble but actors will do their job to make it come alive and sound authentic to the setting. Always remember you are not bound to the constraints of grammar because you are communicating through characters. Unless the character is extremely insistent on proper conjugation of verbs, avoidance of dangling participles and flustered by improper grammar, flow with the way you hear it.
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Asome article!Thankyou now I now I'll get at least a ,B! Again . THANK YOU
good
hey i'm mona i'm a poet i hope to start writing monolouges because my dream is to become a actress,so reading infor on monolougs can realy help me.in a year are maybe less everyone cAN GOOGLE me under the name MONA
I need to write a monologue about the play two weeks with the queen and i have to pick a character to write about. It is a major test for my year and i have no idea how to do it because all the lessons in school i was sick in hospital. I really needed help and thanks to you i know the basics of how to write a monoglogue i got a B+.
Hey everybody,
Thanks for reading my work and applying what you've learned. Chantelle, you have paid me a great honor by reading this work and using it to get a B+. I hope to expand on what I have written here and present even more information. To Mona, keep reading different kinds of plays and get a variety of writer view points. Hi, thanks for you vote of confidence. Cweise thanks! you have made a writer feel like his writing was worth using the ink. Finally, Jojo, thanks for breaking the ice. I'm extremely proud and humbled that something I've done has helped so many. Thanks to you all.
Peace
-Sentinel5344: Andre
thx for the help mate.
really helped me out of a tight spot
Hi Sentinel, I know very little about acting and I'm now involved in a theatre piece where I have to write a monologue. This has been very insightful and it's made me think about my character on a deeper level, I'm starting to overstand what theatre and acting is about.
Thank you!
sweet article...saved my life!!! (hypothetically! :-) actually i needed to write one 4 my drama class and you gave me some great tips!!!!
Thanks, that was really helpful. I had to write a commentary on a monlogue I had written and didn't have a clue where to start.
My list is better!
1. Start Late - "The Hook"
Grab people's attention. Don't start at the beginning of the story the chararacter wants to tell but towards the end of it, enticing the audience to find out what happens next, as well as wondering what led to this.
2. Start Fast - "The Grab"
Keep it simple. Keep it quick. Your opening words are crucial for the tone of your piece. Don't ramble on and on - get right into the heart of your story.
3. Tell a Story - "The Heart"
Why is this character talking to us? Why now? The best monologues, once they've hooked and grabbed us, tell a story we've never heard before - one with a beginning, middle, and end.
4. Build a Character - "The Soul"
Who is this person? Where are they from? What are their hopes, dreams, and disappointments? If you can answer all these questions, your character will start coming to life.
5. Build your World - "The Colour"
This is more than location - it's the way your character sees the world around them. Use several details that give us insight into the speaker's particular way of seeing the world.
6. Build your Rhythms - "The Music"
Great writing is like music. You state a theme, expand upon it, build a crescendo, then slowly come back down to earth. Because of this musical quality of dialogue, it's absolutely essential that you...
7. Read it Aloud - "The Sound"
Reading aloud is an essential part of the writing process. Does the dialogue sound natural? Does it flow? Can you identify musical stops and starts, changes of rhythm and pace? All of this becomes much clearer when hearing your words spoken out loud.
8. Rewrite. Then rewrite again. - "The Fury"
Writing is rewriting. This is the really difficult part of the process - once you've got your first draft bashed out, you should put it to one side, make a cup of tea, then come back to it. Try reading it out loud and see what can be improved. Then do this again. And again. And again!
9. Make Every Word Count - "The Edit"
Remember, it's possible to convey a lot of emotion with very few words - and silence is very powerful. We're not looking for flashy dialogue or clever one-liners - it's how the monologue works as a whole that counts.
10. Bring it Home - "The End"
In the words of T.S. Eliot: "in my beginning is my end".
Remember where your monologue started from? Well, after your monologue has whisked us away on a voyage full of heart, soul, colour and music, that's roughly where we should end up - right back at the beginning.
his list is way better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
his list is way better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't under stand everything because I'm writing monologues for my party and I'm only 9 I do not get it!!!!!!!
i DONT THINK IT REALLY HELPED WITH WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR.
HIS LIST IS WAY BETTER!!! but yours was alright aswell. MY MONOLOGUE IS DUE TOMORROW AND I HAVNT STARTED!!! im doing it about dill from to kill a moking bird.
Can u write my monlologue for me please?
Its about any characyer of yuor choice from the tempest
you suck(:
you suck(:
u guys are all gay.....u have no life and a big scary monster is going to come eat you some day...(:.....HOMO!
thanks alot i needed this
how do i write a good monolouge ?
i am writing a coma monologue,
its very depressing and the imagery is very powerful however
i ended it with her dying and then wrote an epilogue this goes back to the day everything changed for her and she strangled her best friend.
I have been told writing the epilogue is confusing as she says shes dead and then writes this, people do not know if she is dead or in heaven or in a coma
also apparently i have over complicated it because i wrote a poem and added it to the monologue, its not written to be read however when i read it to my friend she cried. but i am very stuck on the ending ? help please
i have to write a monologue for an assignment and i have no idea how to start it
it has to be on a book characer from the book i have read 'private peaceful'
if you could help that would be great :)
Alana,
Focus on what you know about the character from reading the book. What was revealed about them? What makes them most vulnerable? What makes them angry? What makes them happy? What makes them sad? What did they ultimately want? How did they go about getting it? were they successful? If you can answer these questions you should be able to begin to piece together the monologue. Be sure to take the reader on a ride from one point to another. You may start out with a happy thought or feeling.Then you may move into something that frightens them or something that makes them sad or angry. As they're speaking the tone may shift from present moment to a reflective moment based on the material in the book. Try to remain in first person unless the character is imitating another character. Finally, decide what we're going to know through the monologue when, why and how. Write it once and get everything out that you can. Read it over and then write a second time. This time eliminate information that doesn't cause us to care about what the character's going through. Show us that you understand who they are and what they want to accomplish.
This is a really good page, very informative and easy to read. It helped me with my final project in drama.
Thank you
i understand wat your saying but i have to perform a monologue about the book surfacing by margaret atwood, ever read it? the story behind everythin is pretty good although you dont get it till the books half over but the problem is that the main character, who i am in the monologue, is a very unemtional person. how do you write a monologue for an unemotional character and n ot make it boring as hell/?
sweet as ay! helped me do my school assignment about shakespeare, shakespeare is a fag! but you helped me do it, thanks d00d
Sam,
Characters that don't show a lot of emotion can be interesting. The best way to attack performing that kind of character is to look at things that they mention more than once. Them mentioning it or addressing something more than once suggests that it is something that they identify as a problem, goal, point of sorrow or possibly a source of anger. Then the other thing you can do is write the monologue as the character's child voice. That way you can explore the innocence and more emotional state of the character and pit it against the character's unaffected older self. Psychotic characters play great. Outside of these suggestions, you could do a monologue that sounds unaffected or monotoned but is very vivid with imagery of whatever they've been through. The sheer beauty or descriptiveness of the words may allow for the character to have limited movement and still be extremely fun to watch and listen to. Whichever way you choose to go about it, the only way to do it is to get started in a direction. If it doesn't seem to work try the opposite point of view. It may be that no one direction works by itself but you may find pieces in each that you can weave together to build a strong monologue.
Hi i like fish pie for lunch. i write poems and pleasure myself over them. i also eat monologues for breakfast.
I WILL KILL YOU ALL RETARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I AM ALSO GAY BUT I THINK I AM A RETARD SO I AGREE WITH THE YOUR ALL GAY DUDE ANYWAYS COZ I LIKE MEN AND THEY ARE PROPER HOT LOLOLOLLOLOLOL I LIKE FLUFFY FAIRY WINGS
I need help with Hating alison ashley Monoluge :S
Okay Nicole,
What seems to be the problem?
i still need help to create a character to fit a novel that we have read
AHHAAHAHHAHAHAAHAHHAHAH
WOW GET A LIFE ! :P
Thanks this has helped me heaps
AHHAAHAHHAHAHAAHAHHAHAH
WOW GET A LIFE ! :P
Wow whoever is spamming the comments box with nonsense, grow up. Thanks Sentinel, this'll help me well for a monologue I have to do for, "The Skating Party." Well put >8).
Thanks! I have to write a monologue for a character we completely made up so we were sort of thrown in the deep end! this was pretty helpful, along with that other comment with the list of everything :) thank you!
i need to write a monolougue on a autobiography or an historical fiction orv a biography but i dont know what book or what a monolougue is.I NEED HELP!!
i need to find a short funny monolouge for a drama scholar ship..... or a hating alison ashley one.... can anyone help me??
thanx for the article! but how should I do my monologue for Marie Antoinette?
i love penisss8========D
it was an awesome article i loved it!!!
this amazed me sir, i would like to again thankyou, perhaps there is a place for you at my english institute of language and literature, cornwall, england. i look forward to reading more of your work the ferrel king.
Thank you so much for this guide, it's going to REALLY help me on my monologue... The point about the emotions really sparked a new idea in me. Thanks again.
Thank you, thank you for all your information. It seems as though you gave away all your secerts, but how thankfull I am for that. Your simplistic words have given me an understanding and now I can begin to write my homework for acting class. The world needs more helping people like yourself. Thank you again Michele
hi thanks sentinel I really need something like this because I need to write a monologue about being in the trenches in world war II I'm in 2nd year
Sean
well that's me finished I hope I get a good mark thanks again for the tips and advise Sentinel
Sean
I must write a monologue about my extrordinary sister. I was completely stuck until I read your information. This information was tremendously helpful. Thank you.
I have to write a monologue for a showcase and your info was very helpful! Thank you
People should stop writing ridiculous comments find something productive to do with your lives! That list really helped me thanks!
okaay. how do you start a first person monologue? im doing it on a book called 'runner' by Robert Newton. Do i start it off saying "im Charlie Feehan, i may be poor but im sure as 'ell not cold" ??? help pleaseeee
i dont understand at all
I am still stuggling a lot with it all, some help that I can understand would be useful, due to the fact, you're all talking crap...
Hi, thanks for all your information. It did kind of help.
Im writing a monologue for the play "Juice" with the character Kirsty...just before Rodney jumps.
Its a very short play but has to be 3 or 4 minutes.
There isnt much information on the character though so I dont know how to relate to her. I dont want to ramble on or create a play that has no meaning. How do I do this?
The draft is due Monday so please help me.
HELP!!
(:
This is the work of the devil
I am participating in a grammy awards for my acting agency and am really having trouble creating a story/monologue. the pressure is on and i have sat staring at a black word document for the past 2 hours. i dont know where to start and the only idea i thought of another participant has pretty much doubled it. could anyone help please?
i need help to write a monologue on a certin bit of private peaceful :L help
i had to write a monologue but i still cant do it, thanks anyway and great advice!
I have a monologue due two days from now and your advice really helped me. I love the fact that you actually took the time to write this article. Any other useful ones I can find?
--lols thanks :)
good
RIP Nic Sean. I always loved you from the day we first met.
Thanks Everyone on this site for helping me through this hard time for me and the rest of the family.
I will never forget
Informative and useful hub.
I'm 8 and im a drama expert i learnt monologue when i was 6 and this advice artical is crap
I still a bit in a pickel! i dont get how to start one and let it flow????
this article has helped my idea of a monologue
asian
ur a piece of poo
haha pfffffft
I have an assignment.... I am a British soldier who lived through world war 1 and i am writing a monologue about my experience... anyone help me? I would REALLY appreciate it! =)
grreat
? thanks
can someone help me write a 5 minute monologue that consist any 2 contrasting emotion
the list is better, I understood it more, my monolouge is due for tomorrow aswell! So i may not get to read the comment in time!! SOMEONE POST QUICK PLZ!!! (The original post helped to) and my character makes friends with a wild chipmunk in the mono, how do I make it sound less fairytaleish?? THX
-DWC
awesome xD nah
GREAT!
wat is this stuff
you 8 year old.. bit stuck up? get off the computer and play barbie or something.. do something you're good at at least.
Im doing a Monologue on the character from the book "of mice and men" help! I'm in a tight situation.
what character are you doing?
Im doing the character Slim, help!
very helpful i am trying out for Hunter Preforming Arts for high school and we have to present a monologue!!!!:):):)
still confused about how to write a funny monalogue
Thank you so much for this!!! Your article gave me all the nitty gritty details for what I would need to write a monologue. I am writing a monologue book for me senior project and this info helped me out a lot! :D
Hi, I'm writing a monolgue for my English LANG & LIT coursework, and I've written it but I was just wondering if you are allowed to use dialect/accents in it? I would ask my teacher but I don't see him until next week.
I really like the detailed description and explanation on monologue.
I like porridge
thank you so much!
Jojo Lesto 4 years ago
Great article, really helped in my research to write a monologue. It's good that you explained the importance to write in the vernacular and secular as that really gives a monologue it's "flavor." Thank you for this guide.