Interview with Playwright Dominique Morisseau

I’ve had the honor of knowing critically acclaimed playwright Dominique Morisseau since my college days at the University of Michigan. She is an immensely talented writer, storyteller, poet and activist, and as of this writing is promoting her latest his play “Ain’t Too Proud”. Here are some insights into the writing process.

What inspires your writing?

Life,
humanity, and the everyday struggles of the marginalized

What is your process of developing characters?

They sit
with me a long time and I think about who they are and what they are willing to
fight and/or die for. That’s when I know who they are.

Did you start with a story outline or did you make it up as you went along?

I often do
an outline or have some strong sense of where I want the story to go when I
start writing. Otherwise I’d end up never finishing my stories.
Sometimes even if I make it up as I go along, I still have a strong sense of
where it needs to go. The more I have figured out in outline or in
theory, the more fun I have when it’s time to just fill in the dialogue.
The “WHAT” is always harder to me than the “HOW”. I
consider the WHAT the structure of the plot, and the HOW is the dialogue and
scene events. Once I have the structure figured out, filling in the
blanks is the fun part.

How much research did you need for your story?

Depends on
the story. For my plays SKELETON CREW and PIPELINE, I had different
research. I had never been in an auto factory before, and SKELETON CREW
takes place inside of a factory. So for that, I needed to read many
books. Talk to factory workers. Visit factory museums in Detroit. For PIPELINE, I was writing about the
school-to-prison pipeline and the world I was telling this through was the
world of a teacher. I was raised by a teacher and have been a teacher for
half of my life. So I needed very little additional research to tell that
story.

What researching methods did you use?

Books.
Live people. Music. Documentaries.

Did you draw on any personal experience?

All of my
stories have a bit of the personal in them. That’s how the heart is fused
into the work. It’s all personal experience, even if I haven’t lived
every moment myself. Someone I know or care about has.

How did your publish?

In
theatre, we have play publishers. Once my work was produced by a major
theatre, the publishers come looking to me to make me offers. So instead
of looking to get published, I was looking to complete the work and get it
exposure in productions.

How long did it take to land representation?

I’d been
writing plays for years before I got my agent, or even needed my agent.
My focus has always been on doing the work and getting better at doing
it. The more I stay in practice of my craft, and the more communities
that I build my craft within, the more advocates I get for my work. An
agent came out of recommendation from a peer after developing my work at the
Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference. Everything comes from
relationships with other artists, and committing to perfecting your craft.

How was your story marketed and promoted?

Theatre is
different. Theatre institutions have built-in marketing
departments. But I always increase my own marketing and visibility on
social media and within various community groups.

How many revisions did it take to get a publishable book?

As many as
it takes. Some plays have been developed five or six times over before I
got a production and got published. Sometimes ten times. As many as
it takes to make it amazing.

How does writing a script compare to writing prose, and were there challenges in adapting your script for publication?

I didn’t
adapt my work for another form. I write prose for prose. I write
scripts for theatre, tv, and film that are specific to that medium. I am
actually now adapting one of my plays for TV. That takes some shaping and
re-thinking about the story in a way that follows the demands of the new
medium. TV is character driven, so now I have to flush my characters out
and think about their lives beyond the two-hour story I wrote for them for the
stage.

What are the advantages & disadvantages of writing a story in script form as opposed to writing in regular prose?

Each
medium has its own value.

How did you get the people that put together your plays (production people, financial backers, actors, etc.) interested in bringing your script to life?

In Theater,
typically work gets produced after its been developed at various play
development programs. The first step is applying and submitting your
written work to the many programs out there that are seeking new work.

What are you writing now?

3 TV
pilots, 2 screenplays, a musical, and 2 new plays.

What is your advice to other writers?

Read and engage with the kind of writing that you want to be doing. If you want to write for the stage, you need to be seeing lots of theatre. If you want to write for cinema, you need to be seeing films and reading screenplays. Stay ever curious about the world and constantly consume the kind of work you want to be making.

Be sure to get your copy of Dominique’s latest book! And If you’re near where her latest play is being shown, go check that out, too.