Formatting
Over the years, I have written exactly two plays, with both of them being one-act wonders. The second play I wrote is a very creepy story called Dead Man’s Hand which I wrote last year for a nephew of mine who is turning into a fine actor just like my son, James. William lives in the Phoenix area and he is trying to find a small theatre where he can produce and star in the play, so I have not submitted it anywhere else until I know one way or another if he is successful.
My other play is called Stage Directions is one that I wrote about 30 years ago. Unlike Dead Man’s Hand, I have sent it to any number of publications or production companies for consideration and it has met with some success. The play has been produced three times in three different countries; America, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Its latest production was at the Soho Theatre in London, England on October 12, 2012. I have sent it to a few other places since then with no luck.
Earlier this week, though, I found a new publication to send it to but they require that you submit your work in Standard Playwriting Format, which is something I have never done in the past and which I am sure is the reason for at least a few of the rejections. So, I found a website that explained the format and I changed Stage Directions accordingly.
The play not only looks much better because it is much easier to read, but as I switched the formatting, I realized that I could make the story have more impact using this format. I have high hopes for my latest submission because of that and because it is a very good play. It leaves the audience with more questions than answers and the answers to those questions can only be found within themselves.
A format change occurred with my other works as well.
I wanted to submit a story to a magazine that only accepted work in the Shunn Manuscript Format which, at first glance, looked very odd to me, but I worked my submission into a Shunn template and sent it off. Since then, I have come to appreciate this format a great deal. Stories written in this format look more professional and polished and no matter what an editor tells you, looks do matter. So, now all of my stories have been converted to the Shunn style.
If you would like to see what these formats look like, I have provided links to some sites below:
Standard Playwriting Format https://www.writopialab.org/programs/specialty-programs/worldwide-plays-festival/the-competition/standard-playwriting-format
Shunn Manuscript Format https://www.shunn.net/format/classic/
Try them, I am sure you will like them.