AUDREY CEFALY'S PLAYWRIGHT VOCABULARY
Fellow playwrights, these are my words for things. Many of them are maybe a little unorthodox, words not typically used in this fashion, but ones that work for me. The idea is to sort of look beyond what's taught in textbooks and give names to techniques that are often undocumented, overlooked and undervalued. In any event, they work for me, maybe they'll work for you too.
Please share with your teachers, students, writing groups, and colleagues!
And now... in no particular order...
PILE-UP
(a term often used in Meisner training)
that thing that happens right before the Explosion
EXPLOSION
that thing most writers call the "Climax"
LAYERING
that thing when you revisit a scene and go deeper
TORQUE
that thing where you add friction to a scene so it turns harder and stronger
YELP
a cry of pain; a very quick sharp burst of a line uttered by a character in response to agonizing emotional pain or torment
GOLD
that thing or moment in a script that is so perfect, so right, so genuinely spot-on that, in its absence, the world would stop spinning
LAVA LAMPING
that thing where you devise a little something interesting to bubble up into a scene every now and then, and maybe it's never fully explained but delightful nonetheless because not everything needs an explanation; it can just be lava or whatever you want it to be
SHADOW BOXING
that thing where characters start taking jabs at each other and sometimes kinda passive-aggressively beating each other up before the actual fight
CARD TIPPING
that thing when a character intentionally exposes himself
TICK TICK BOOM
(a.k.a "Ratcheting")
this is when you go back through a high-pitched scene and carefully place words or actions that palpably lurch the tension higher or tighter in a given moment, and whatever it is you added should be stealth but clockable by anyone within a three-mile radius
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CLOCKING
it's that moment (a skipped heartbeat kind of moment) when a character notices, with undeniable clarity, something of great significance; a solid radar strike...
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LINE TOSS
that line you write for a character to be delivered breezily as they pass through the scene and to them it means nothing but to the other character it is total devastation
CLOAKING
that thing where you take awkward exposition and break it up in such a way that it doesn't feel like someone just listing facts -- either by turning a sentence into a question, by dividing up the lines, by stylizing in a way that sounds more casual, etc.
PEPPERING
that thing when you realize something about a character and you gotta go back through the script and put little spots of that in other places
THREADING
(a.k.a. "Weaving")
that thing where you recognize a new layer in a character or a story and you go back looking for places to pull it through
TENSIONING
that thing where you prune and remove all the noise and fluffery so the scene gains electricity
DISTILLATION
the collective effort that is finding the absolute essentials of a script so that it gets stronger and more meaningful
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EASY MONEY
that thing where you (sometimes anachronistically) co-opt a line or a joke from pop culture or current events because you know it will get a laugh
BLUE'S CLUES
that thing you put in the stage directions for an actor or a director so that even the dumbest turnip will get it
SPIT-BALLING
that thing where you make shit up
SPAGHETTI-WALLING
that thing you do when a scene is approaching al dente and you throw it at the wall to see if it sticks; it's also that thing when you just want to play or try something, because why not
REPURPOSING
that thing when you cut something you love for the sake of the scene but find a way to use it elsewhere in different context
TEXTURIZING
that thing when you take a scene that is thin and flimsy, but otherwise a solid choice, and just mess it up a little
DECLUTTERING
that thing where you get rid of all the things you aren't absolutely in love with
TENNIS
that thing where you turn a monologue into a back-and-forth with another character
WEAPONIZING
that thing where you turn one character's words or actions against them later in the play (this is pure evil, and it works best in the Fight Scene because people don't think about their words when they are in the heat of battle)
FIGHT SCENE
another word for "Pile-Up" but can also occur after the Explosion; either way, this is that thing where we hear the raw truth of the characters and usually where we dead-center on the crux of the matter
PULLING TAFFY
that thing where you draw something out so it takes a little longer or adds tension or mystery
LIFTING
that thing you do when a scene has gotten heavy or needs some humor, so you find a way to give the audience a break
FOCUSING
that thing when you rework a line or a section so that it draws more attention or gains clarity
MUTING
that thing where you blunt the force of a moment or a scene
DENATURING
a not always intentional scenario where a character is somehow stripped of his/her/their original makeup (e.g., core behaviors, objectives, values)
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FALSE SAVINGS
that thing where you over-engineer a fix that adds little or zero value to the overall
DEFRAGMENTING
that thing where you examine a scene for flow and energy and remove all the dirt and shit that is getting in the way so it gets tighter and cleaner
REFACTORING
that thing where you have a revelation about something that kinda changes the ending of a scene or a story and you go back through and make adjustments so it fits with the new ending, or calibrate the foreshadowing and other clues so that the audience has the right amount of hints or mystery at any given moment
REIMAGINING
that thing where you have an idea for something and you decide to keep the gist of a scene but rewrite it in a whole new light or context or flavor
EASY WRITING
that thing when the words come so fast you don't trust them because good writing can't possibly be that easy
BAD WRITING
that thing you say when someone wants to know what's wrong with a line and you come clean about it.
SHITTY WRITING
a few levels down from bad writing
ANOTHER STORY
that section of a script you know darn well does not belong here
POWER-UP
that thing you give a character so they can do something hard
HEALTH
that thing you give a character who has been emotionally or physically wounded by another character but still needs to stay alive long enough to come back and finish the scene
CHARITABLE GIVING
that thing where you donate a character's lines to another character, either out of guilt because they don't have enough lines or because it's just a nice and relatively painless thing to do
EASTER EGGING
that thing when you steal a line from another one of your stories and wait around to see how many people notice
EASTER EGGNOG
same as Easter Egging except this is done quite intentionally to show continuity regarding the eternal questions that are the basis of all your writings
CORE
(a.k.a. "Core Writing")
a moment or section of the script that contains a high-ranking central question or narrative moment and therefore has seniority and privilege
FLUFF
the opposite of Core
DOG LEGGING
(a form of Tensioning)
that thing where a character asks a question and instead of getting a direct response, the other character either plays dumb or obtuse or whatever and delays the answer until another part of the conversation
DEMOTING
that thing where you devalue a bit of text so it's still useful but doesn't draw as much attention
FRUIT FLYING
that thing where you create a recurring nuisance for a character
SHEET CAKING
that thing when a character is doing something hilariously self-destructive, like maybe eating a whole sheet cake, because it's easier than dealing with actual feelings
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Want to add to this list? Send me a message!