From Idea to Stage in 10 Weeks | Issue 8 | My First Interview as a Fiction Writer

Documenting the process of planning, writing, editing, and directing a short play in just 10 weeks

💡A full-length version of my first interview as a fiction writer.

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Hello

I hope you had a nice, relaxing break over Christmas, and have had a good start to the year.

If you read my last article, or follow me on social media, you may recall that I gave an interview about writing and directing my play in November. The interview was with a theatre review magazine called A Young(ish) Perspective.

Unfortunately, but understandably, the version that was published was a very cut-down version of my actual interview.

It’s painful and funny in equal measure to be on the other side of that process for once, after editing down the thoughts and opinions of so many business leaders for my job over the past 13 years.

Since I didn’t have time to write a full article for you this weekend, I thought I’d share the full-length interview instead.

Worth noting — I haven’t edited this since I originally wrote it, which was a couple of weeks before the play was actually performed, so that’s why I haven’t mentioned show itself.

1. What’s the secret to packing a powerful story about “duality” into just 10 minutes?

I think there’s a few aspects to this:

Firstly, with just 10 minutes to tell your story, you need to ensure every single second of the play counts.

You have to start by presenting something highly engaging to the audience in the very first seconds of the play, then keep them engaged by moving the story forward quickly and carrying that momentum all the way through to the end.

In any good short story, every single line must have a purpose and add value to the story in some way, otherwise it doesn’t belong. That could be advancing the plot, revealing something important about the characters, reinforcing the theme, or ideally a combination of the three.

But that means there’s no room for exposition, unnecessary backstory, superfluous dialogue, or anything like that in these 10-minute plays. They’re just too short.

Secondly, I think a character-driven story is crucial for a play like this. To produce a powerful story that the audience will become emotionally invested in, you have to give them a relatable, complex character they want to follow.

Yes, you could write a story about the theme of duality itself, or tell a more plot-driven story, and that could work. But if it’s lacking a compelling character who the live audience can connect with, it will be much harder to capture and retain their attention.

2. What surprised you most when you started turning your ideas into a 10-minute play?

What surprised me most was how much you can achieve with just dialogue alone.

This is the first play I’ve written, as I usually write short stories and novels, so I was worried that writing a script consisting mostly of dialogue would be really difficult.

Thankfully, I’ve been amazed by how much I’ve been able to do with just dialogue, subtext, and the things characters don’t say. That’s taught me a lot and definitely helped me improve as a fiction writer.

3. If your audience could walk away thinking one big thought about the theme of duality, what would it be?

In my story, duality is a key source of inner-conflict and inter-personal conflict for my protagonist.

There’s duality in the decisions she has to make, her relationships, and how she feels about herself. And I think this is the case for most of us, which hopefully makes her a very relatable and endearing character.

Through her character arc, she takes action and makes decisions to overcome those conflicts, and in the play’s climax that helps her realise she's been far too hard on herself through a very difficult experience. This realisation puts her in a much better place at the end of the story than she was at the start.

So, I’d like to think the audience will walk away understanding that we all have negative things we believe about ourselves, but in reality these are often wrong. We shouldn’t always listen to our insecurities, as most of us are also far too hard on ourselves.

Sometimes we need to look at ourselves through an external perspective to see past our inner-conflict and realise that we’re actually doing much better than we think.

4. What’s something new or unexpected you learned from the OSO Writers’ Studio, ready to take into your next project?

For me, something unexpected that I’ve learned is how to direct my play and bring the story to life on-stage myself.

I’ve been fortunate enough to be allowed to direct my own play, which has been an incredible experience.

Directing is something I’ve always wanted to do, and I've had a very clear vision for this story from the very beginning.

So, this was a unique opportunity to "learn by doing," as I've had several more experienced directors around me for support as and when I've needed it.

I'm looking forward to see where I can take that next.

5. How did working with the OSO community change your approach to writing this?

The OSO community is full of talented, friendly people who have been so great to work with.

I’ve been studying and writing fiction pretty much all my life, but while I’m a very experienced writer, I have very little experience in theatre.

My reason for taking part in the programme was to add a new dimension to my writing by gaining a new, theatrical perspective on storytelling.

With that in mind, I came into the programme looking to learn as much as possible about writing for the stage, and I approached the project with a completely open mind.

It’s been so valuable working with all different kinds of artists – directors, actors, playwrights, and producers — at the OSO.

In my experience, one of the best ways to improve as a writer is by sharing ideas and collaborating with other like-minded people, and this programme has been perfect for that.

Thoughts and Feedback Welcome

Writers, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the insights I shared in the interview.

Do you disagree with any points I made about writing short stories like this?

Do you have any questions about the process or the experience?

Please do let me know in the comments!

What Am I Writing Now?

It is so good to be back into a proper fiction writing routine again this week, after barely doing anything between my play and Christmas.

My aim for 2025 is to produce one short story each month. Please wish me luck…

In January, I’m now working on converting my play into a short story, which is a really great challenge.

I’ll share some updates on how that’s going over the next few weeks.

This Week’s Sunset of the Week

Teddington Lock, October 24th, 2024.

Thank you for reading!