Writing for Television: Perfecting the Art and Expression of Monologue

If you are a writer, and you want to brush up on your writing skills in an effort to break into television, there are a variety of genres and platforms on which to write. As a unique option, consider perfecting the art of writing monologues as monologues are quickly becoming a much needed writing style and skill for many entertainment and production companies.

Whether writing for a comedian or writing for a late night talk show host, the writer who prepares a monologue must be very familiar with not only the individual who will present the monologue on stage, but also well versed in the style of writing a monologue.

First, to create the monologue, you must feel and understand the acting side of the written material that will be presented. For the individual, on stage, to present the monologue well, the material must be written well, and flow well, but also provide some depth and acting requirements so as to engage the viewer.

For many writers, the best way to convey a story to an audience, in a monologue format, begins with writing the story in full length. From there, you can begin to edit and revise the full story, adding creative language and build in character specific wording. Once the revision is complete, as the writer, you will then need to begin slicing and dicing; taking out the parts of the story that are not necessary to convey the facts, creative language and ultimate punch line or moral lesson. While this process may seem tedious, to a well versed creative monologue writer, it will become second nature.

As you will notice in many late night television shows, the monologues are often accompanied with other medium including short video or music. To engage the viewer, as your write and edit your draft, also consider these other forms of medium as an added measure to engaging the viewer.

And, finally, as you review over the final version of your monologue, take a close and hard look at the number of characters referenced within each story. For most successful monologues, the character reference is usually limited to no more than three. If you find your monologue excerpts carry more than three characters, you may want to consider revising the monologue even further.

As with any professional writing career, the key to your success will lie in your ability to apply creativity to a technical format. In television, writers are in great demand, especially those who can create funny and creative monologues. When seeking a career in television writing, consider perfecting your skills in monologue preparation and then submit it to an agent for consideration by a major television production company.