I took Dr. Bray’s Basic Dramatic Writing class the first semester of my sophomore year. I couldn’t yet join Grady College and get access to the screenwriting courses hosted there, and so I saw this class as an opportunity to get started early. This class was thus my initiation into the field of scriptwriting, and it was where I first learned how to write for a visual medium. Throughout this class, the biggest challenge was learning how to communicate information naturally without a reliance on narration and within the limitations of theater.
15 Dollars and a Sub-sandwich was the final project for that class. Our task was to write a ten-minute play. I decided to write about an experience that was common in Athens – an encounter with somebody asking for money. I hoped to generate a conversation about why people feel discomfort about giving money in these situations. My goal was to be as fair as possible, while also satisfying the basics of narrative progression.
Despite the small scale of this premise, I found that I was a little overambitious. I wanted to treat this issue with a nuance and care, and I’m not sure I was able to accomplish that in just 10 minutes. I was pleased to find that I could create a sense of escalation and climax through dialogue, but I had trouble writing actions in this scenario. I enjoyed how I could toy with the dialogue, with the various interruptions and character quirks. When I needed help, I found saying the script aloud did wonders for identifying any awkward points in the script.
This assignment opened my eyes to how difficult scripting could be. Writing this was not a fast process, and I needed to consistently visualize how characters moved in limited space. I also became aware of how important research is. I had initially based this script off of assumptions that I had been raised with, which ultimately made it a hollow, condescending experience. When I revised this script, I took more care to look into how Athens treated its homeless population and the conditions that contributed to homelessness. I adjusted the focus of the script to be on the conditions and stigma that have driven these two characters into conflict, which I felt led to a more substantive piece. I was fortunate to have learned from this mistake while in college, and, going forward, I was more cautious when writing about subject matter like this.