[stylist] Humor assignment: dark comedy short play

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Bernadetta,

You probably find yourself writing darker content and not so happy
endings because you are challenging yourself. Stepping out of our
comfort zones is how we challenge ourselves to try new things and make
something we do better. It's to your credit that you don't always stick
with what "feels" comfortable or what the status quo is. Trying new
things doesn't always work in our favor, but often it does, or we find a
new perspective.

Oddly enough, I started out as a fiction writer of fantasy, which I
still enjoy and try writing, but through a lot of experimentation and
challenging myself as well as others challenging me, which is not always
easy, I evolved as a writer and tried my hand at not only different
genres but different styles.

Finding your unique voice in any art form can be a process, but by
challenging yourself, it makes the journey a better one, at least some
of the time, smile.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 9
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:46:31 -0400
From: Bernadetta Pracon <bernadetta_pracon at samobile.net>
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [stylist] humor assignment, dark commedy, short play
Message-ID: 88084627-c39d-45a2-b17e-ef3391a960f0 at samobile.net
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format="flowed"

Hi all,
Thanks so much to those who have given me feedback on the play. It was, 
in many ways very much an experimental piece for me. I never aspired to 
be a playwrite, as this format really wouldn't suit me. If I were to 
write any kind of a script for anything other than experimentation and 
practice, it would probably be a screenplay. I'd be more comfortable 
writing scenes that could be played out on the screen rather than a 
stage. For instance, realistically, in a play, it would be difficult to 
stage a car zooming away, but in a movie or a show it's totally doable. 
But I am far from being familiar with that format. The format for 
playwriting is still pretty foreign to me as well, since I only took 
one semester-long introductory course that taught it. I do think, 
though, that it's neat to play around with various writing styles and 
experiment with concepts and genres, because how else is a writer 
supposed to find his or her own individual style.
It might be strange for you all to know that I, as the author of this 
play also find the plot and the sceens unsettling. I never really 
expected anyone to love the sequence of events that take place in it; 
I'd be a little worried about someone's overall sanity if they said 
they immensely enjoyed it. grins. Believe me, I felt sorry for this 
fictional baby too. I even felt a bit sorry for Aubrey; I meant for her 
to be a bit submissive in the beginning, so as not to alude too early 
in the play that she had kidnapped the baby first. I do think though, 
as bridget suggested, that I can flesh out her character a bit. I think 
there may be more to her than my play allows to be seen.
I am a sucker for a happy ending just as much as anyone else, but I've 
found out that, for some reason, I tend to write stories that are meant
to make a reader  somewhat uncomfortable. I tend to seek out
contraversial 
plots when writing fiction, although that's not always the case. I 
don't know why; I guess part of me feels that there are already enough 
writers who can provide a wholesome, satisfactory story with a happy 
ending. That being said, I know that I am still very much in the 
process of finding my voice as a writer, and I'm keen on experimenting 
here and there, just to see what I can learn. I am eventually going to 
find a balance between this type of sadistic, dark contraversial work 
and a more widely accepted style. That way, I can creat some characters 
that are loveable, and some that are disdainful, so as to come up with 
more versatile pieces as a result.
Have any of you read anything by Chuck palahniuk? He tends to create 
positively hanous characters, yet I can't seem to put down his novels 
most of the time. I'm not trying to emulate his style because he has a 
truly unique voice, but he's one good example of an author who writes 
truly unsettling novels and stories.
 Chris, I had one previous version of this play, the initial rough 
draft, in which the dialect was even stronger. I had written the word 
"might" as "maht", for instance. But I thought that I had 
overemphasized the dialect, and I cut a lot of it out. My professor had 
seen that first draft before I workshopped the one I submitted here to 
my class. He also commented that I didn't need to ad the dialect in as 
much, and reading your comment about it makes me want to go and revise 
it a bit more. So thanks. I tend to write things down exactly as I see 
them or hear them in my head, hense the southern dialect. I felt that 
without it, the play would be incomplete, but perhaps that's not the
case. Bridget, thanks for suggesting that I ad a bit more humor
throughout 
the play. I actually agree with you that the beginning is a bit too 
bland and dramatic rather than funny. When I do sit down to revise 
this, I'll be sure to  find places that could use a little more humor.
The character of Aubrey was a bit stereotypical as Chris had mentioned, 
yes. I'm not sure why, but at the time, I thought that would add to the 
humor in an unsettling way. I think I can attribute my love of dark or 
unsettling commedy to the fact that I had been a huge fan of shows like 
South Park all throughout high school and college. I know a lot of 
people  find that show to be obnoxious and rude, but I find the irony 
and humor in it all the same, even though I, too  think that a lot of 
it is  in poor taiste.
Barbara and Eve, thank you for your comments as well. I am greatful for 
all the various feedback, and I apreciate the constructive criticism.
Thanks again to all of you.

Sincerely,

Bernadetta