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1. Before leaving home, what were some emotions you felt?
2. What were your expectations of being away from family?
3. How did your experience meet or fail to meet those expectations?
4. What are things about home that you think about most often.
- What is it that triggers these memories of home?
- What physical and emotional reactions to these do you experience?

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As the interview process began, I adjusted the questions slightly as I was asking them to students in a social situation, however they had the same ideas. I asked about expectations, whether they were fulfilled, emotions that have been felt, and triggers of homesickness.

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October 13th

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October 13th

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October 18th

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The people I interviewed were all people I have spent a lot of time with and become friends with over the past almost 2 months of being at university. However, I found that I was still able to interview people with a variety of different experiences as some are living close to family, some have completely moved countries to come to university, and in general listening to answers, everyone has had to deal with different things before and since coming to Toronto. I think if I had more time to explore, it would have been interesting to reach out to people on social media and interview those going to school in other countries and at other universities. This would have given me greater insight.

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October 19th

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October 20th

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October 21st

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As I interviewed people, I found that there were patterns within the answers, especially surrounding expectations and emotions towards their experiences. Many people were excited to leave home however were very worried, or expected it to be a lot more stressful than it ended up being. I also noticed that most of the interviewees expressed having experienced a range of emotions, both positive and negative, as it was difficult to leave home and family, and school and social lives could be difficult, however they found it has been enjoyable and positive emotions have also been experienced.

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October 21st

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October 22nd

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To write the monologue, I decided to take and organize notes based on the interviews I recorded so that I can then use them for writing exploration.
I chose words in each interview to highlight that stood out to me, and I from there did a free-writing exercise with those words, in order to connect the words to possibly my own experiences of leaving home, or simply interesting phrases that may come to mind when I think of the words. I kept the free-writing to 1 minute, as I would try to use key ideas from the writing in a monologue and wanted to streamline my ideas slightly

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After conducting the interviews, I wrote them out on a document, and highlighted key words from each interview to use for the free-writing exercise. I've done free-writing before, but was originally planning on directly drafting ideas based off of key phrases in the interviews. After doing the free-writing exercise in class, I was inspired to do it this way to get broader ideas and add another step to my process.

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Free Writing

As I started the first, I felt that I didn't write enough in 1 minute so I doubled it and wrote a few sentences in 2 minutes for each word prompt. This allowed for enough content to be created for each prompt but also not so much that it's difficult to take ideas from all of the prompts to incorporate into the writing as there are 8 interviews and hence would be 16 versions of the exercise.

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As I wrote, I found that although I was writing with a clear mind and going into the exercise with only the word as an idea, I was writing along a similar theme to leaving home for the first time, and being unsure of oneself at university. For example, the last exercise on this page was quite emotional for me as I found that I often have a different idea of home from others I've spoken to because I have lived in so many places and also have never lived in the countries that I hold passports for until now. This experience was quite intimate and insightful as it allowed me to understand my own emotions about leaving home for the first time, and connect them with others' experiences without consciously trying to.

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The next step was to take inspiration from the ideas and characters that can be seen in the free-writing exercises as well as ideas from the interviews to begin drafting ideas for the monologue.

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As the writing part of my exploration began conveniently after the class where we discussed playwriting and monologues, I used notes taken in class to guide my structure shown in the next post. I wanted the beginning and ending sections to display setting to create a thread throughout, and to maintain a clear voice in order to share enough about the character to create a moving piece about their experiences.

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Beginning: Character's current feelings about university, setting reminds the character of home.

Middle: Character remembering home, their expectations of university before moving, and whether expectations were met.

End: Back to their current feelings about university, tying back into the setting and maybe their future at university.

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After creating a template idea, I began to write out different sections, writing 2 options for most sections so as to include all the ideas I wanted to. This shows how I am exploring the topic and developing my creative skills by using research and exercise data in multiple ways but not coming to a conclusion yet. As I wrote, I noticed that I was writing more in the style of a stream of consciousness novel rather than a monologue, so the next step would be to edit the draft sections to make them sound more like telling a story to another character or an audience. This I feel is what distinguishes between a monologue and a novel before it is performed, hence it is important that I change this. My character can still be speaking in a stream of consciousness such as in an aside, however I believe it fits more to the genre if the character tells a story and their feelings.

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The red text is how I went through the different draft sections of the monologue and edited it so that it followed a more clear structure of a character telling the story of a walk they took and what they thought on that walk. I also added a more clear ending that tied together the ideas of missing and remembering home but being content and accepting of that. This also made it more cyclical as it starts and ends with telling the audience about what happened "yesterday".

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After doing this editing, I was curious as to how long a monologue should be in terms of wordcount, so I did some research:
https://hobbylark.com/performing-arts/How-To-Create-A-Monologue-Easy-And-Simple
This site includes some useful tips for writing a monologue, and it also says that a monologue should be around 2 minutes in length. Choosing random sections that I wrote and reading it out loud, I found it was just under 2 minutes but I felt as though it was too short. Also according to this article, I should introduce the character clearly, hence in order to add time and make the character more clear to the audience, I decided to add a section describing more about the character's home and family there.

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What Is a Monologue?

A monologue is a long speech made by a single actor in a play or film. Monologues have been around since Ancient Greece, and they are still commonly used as literary devices in dramatic media today. They are tools used to provide additional information and details about a character or the plot.

Theater jargon can be confusing-the difference between a soliloquy and a monologue is that the former is when a character, who's usually alone, speaks their own thoughts aloud to themselves. A monologue is any speech delivered by a character, whether to other characters or the audience.

In this article, I will show you how to write a script from scratch in four simple steps.

Famous Monologue Examples

Steps to Creating a Dramatic Monologue

1. Think up a character.

2. Create a character profile.

3. Begin your script.

4. Edit your monologue.

Things to Remember

In a monologue, you are the only actor/actress.

It should be clear and easy to understand.

You should take the audience on some type of journey.

Aim for something new.

Your character should be someone who intrigues you to take on.

In regards to timing, don't rush yourself, but don't pause for a long time.

Monologue vs. Soliloquy
You may have heard both of these terms used before, but what's the difference? In a monologue, one character is addressing the audience or other characters, whereas in a soliloquy, the character is speaking alone.

Step 1: Think Up a Character

Think up the type of character you want. You don't necessarily need to know much about them at this stage. You could do this by standing in front of a mirror holding a position of your made-up character or even talking gibberish and testing out different facial expressions, voice, and movement. Another good starting point is to base your character on someone you know or some TV star you see as an inspiration.

Think about where you want the monologue to go and how it's meant to fit in with the rest of your play. What role do the monologue and the one delivering the speech play in the context of the written work as a whole? Start thinking about these things as you begin to develop your character.

Step 2: Create a Character Profile

Now that you have some idea of a character in mind, it's time to create a character profile. A character profile should include the following:

Name: The name and all nicknames of your character should be placed here.

Biography: A brief overview of your character should be written out here. These prompts should be used as a jumping off point. The key is to delve into your character's past, present and future.

Age: Child, teen, mid-'20s, middle-aged.

Facial Expressions: Angry, sad, happy, chagrined.

Hair: Neat/messy, up/down, long/short.

Clothing Style: Casual, posh, formal, grungy.

Speaking Style: Shy, loud, accent, slang.

General Demeanor: How they come across to other people.

Career: What they are, work as, or get paid for doing.

Hobbies: What they enjoy doing.

Likes: What they like.

Dislikes: What they hate.

Tip: When creating a character for a monologue, it's important to make sure your audience will be able to connect with that character. Since monologues are long speeches, you need to know you'll be able to capture and maintain your audience's attention throughout the speech.

Step 3: Begin Your Script

Begin writing your script. Remember to keep it short and sweet-a monologue should be no longer than one or two pages long and should take about two minutes to deliver (give or take), including all pauses.

Now that you've created a detailed character profile, you should find your path from there simple and easy. Decide whether you want the monologue to be comedic or dramatic, and think about the arc of the monologue. The character should make some discovery or go on some internal journey.

How to Structure a Monologue

You should begin paying attention to the past, present, and future parts of your character profile. This should show your character's life already planned out. Here are some ideas and suggestions to explore when crafting your monologue:

1. Start by taking a part of your character's past and creating a flashback scene from it.

2. Transitions are very important. Be creative: Pause for a second and let something happen or do something such as putting a hood on or off.

3. Next, you should be able to know what your monologue is about. Once you do, you should open up Microsoft Word or any other writing program and start drafting your monologue script.

Again, you should keep in mind or have a copy of your character profile near you at all times.

Start by introducing your character, in character, to the audience. You could use an aside: An aside is when your character speaks their mind to the audience.

Next, briefly allow the audience to know what situation you are in or what message you are trying to get across in your performance. Take the audience with you on your own journey depending on what you have created so far.

Further down in your script, you should have already played out all the key facts you needed to get your chosen message across or what you wanted the audience to see, whether it be a mental journey or a physical one.

Lastly, you should end your monologue script smoothly, not just by pausing and finishing with the audience having unanswered questions.

Step 4: Edit Your Monologue

Editing is the most important part of writing a monologue-make sure to edit your script a few times after you have finished it. You need to make sure that every single sentence and word is necessary and serves a purpose.

Draft it and keep on going until you are happy with it. Only once you're happy with what you have and it checks all those "to remember" points in the list at the top should you consider it a final draft.

Remember

Now that you have a script, you still have to bring it to life as an actor and director.

Frequently Asked Questions About Writing a Monologue

How can I memorize a monologue?

Break the text up into sections so that you can memorize the text in bite-sized chunks. This will also help you to revise and edit as needed. Hand-writing has been proven to bolster your ability to retain information, so give that a try as well!

How can I write a monologue for a ___________ character?

Make sure to do research on the type of character for whom you're writing the monologue. If you don't know how to write from the perspective of a character who's older, younger, gay, straight, male, female, or different from you in some other way, beginning the monologue-writing process with extensive research is key. You need to get inside your character's head to feel what they feel and think what they think-reading books, watching movies, or talking to people who understand the type of character you're going for is a great place to start.

How long should a monologue be?

A monologue needs to be short and sweet. Remember, you need to capture and maintain your audience's attention. Keep it to two minutes (three minutes maximum), including all pauses.

How do I make a monologue interesting?

Keep it short, and make sure your character has an arc or storyline that is examined within the text of the monologue. Focus on the editing phase of writing the monologue-remember that every word needs to drive the plot forward.

How do I use a monologue worksheet?

A monologue worksheet is a physical template you can use to direct your monologue-writing. With it, you can create a visual outline for your character profile. Fill out information about your character-their age, fears, likes and dislikes, etc. Then answer some questions about the monologue itself, such as where it takes place, what issues will be resolved, what outcome the character desires, and what obstacles may be preventing that outcome. With a monologue worksheet, you have all the information about the character and the monologue in front of you while you're writing. You can use Microsoft Word to create the monologue worksheet template, then print and hand-write on it, or simply use it as a working document on your computer.

Mike oxlong on June 28, 2020:

Hi my name is mike

Braelen Falla on June 24, 2020:

Ghost in my house and the forest and I am not letting the other one go in there because it's the first day I get home from the buffalo house because it's so fun to go with you guys I have to come home tomorrow and get to the beach tomorrow night and I will be home in the buffalo wild ride and then we going camping tomorrow and I can get to herm the next week or so tomorrow I will be there at four or four and then bugugygygy is the day you want to come and get me and then Go

Steveie gggggggg on June 23, 2020:

The main point of this paragraph is that it was a very well designed and well created app that it would have been a very well written app and I could not recommend to use it as I was reading it but I had no clue how to use the English language as well but it is very very useful to the point where it works well with it all over it haha app does the best I have used for it but I have been very well and it was the first app that it had been a while ago I was just wondering how it would have to get the most cherry's

Eoin on June 22, 2020:

Yes he is.

Alc on June 22, 2020:

Are you sure about that !!!!

Monica fleya on June 22, 2020:

That isnt very nice Eoin.

Alc manqle on June 22, 2020:

Agreed

Eoin Murphy on June 22, 2020:

I very much dislike this

Sarah Creber on June 22, 2020:

I love it like my dog

Ncamsile Thabet on January 06, 2020:

U

I would like to get knowledge in writing a monologue and to get the auditions

GLADOS.exe on October 24, 2019:

THX guys this is good you should read it again. Cussing isnt good peeps.

somebody...anybody on August 14, 2019:

thank you for the help

Rodrigo on August 11, 2019:

i think that to make or write a monologue is so easy but when you start and try to write simple and short the idea no the end

Ageiram on June 04, 2019:

This website really helped. THX :D

vuyo mdaka on April 24, 2019:

thanks with the very solid and helping massage especially i want to make one of my own.i always loved acting not knowing how to get started not having a clue of what i need to do to get me started...so watch out for the next south africas best actors to come.....thank you

Jesus kondom on March 18, 2019:

wait isn't a monologue writen like you think

mac9999888777666 on January 18, 2019:

it realy helped

idk and idc on January 15, 2019:

Thanks for the help I sorta get it now

bob on January 13, 2019:

i am wrighting a monolouge it helped a bit

Abigail on December 01, 2018:

Thank you vety much,you madee to writey monologue for theater class

aphroditeJl on November 04, 2018:

Thanks for lending us this incridble ideas especially for me cause' it helps me making my nephew a monologue. Well,first I am having a difficulty in writing it but when the time I found this page of yours, I felt so excited. So thank you a lot!

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How to Create a Monologue (Easy and Simple)

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A monologue is a long speech made by a single actor in a play or film. Monologues have been around since Ancient Greece, and they are still commonly used as literary devices in dramatic media today. They are tools used to provide additional information and details about a character or the plot.

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The blue sections I added will add a few seconds to either version of the monologue, and I felt as though they created a more emotional connection to the character as audiences will learn more about their family and home. In 2A, I was lightly inspired by an interview, but it was mostly fictional. In 2B, due to the discussion of always being confused about "home", I used my own experience, writing truthfully about 2 places I've lived and what my family does.

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As this is just the exploration process, I did not add stage directions as the monologue is not written but has been taken for a trial run. I also think it is interesting to let a performer interpret the words themselves and allow them to connect personally with the text in order to speak it as they think is appropriate and as they would.