Skit Writing Exercise...Learn How Part 2

As you recall, step one was to choose a topic and our topic for this exercise will be the Armor of God as found in Ephesians 6:10-20. Often when I am writing a skit, I will look to other translations of the Bible for more insight.

Step two is determining the number of characters which I set this at two before this exercise began. Once you begin the actual skit writing, you may find that the number of characters is not sufficient to tell the story. That’s okay; the goal is to start with a plan for your writing, but your plan should be flexible enough to adapt to your needs. Add or remove characters as the situation warrants.

This brings us to step three: Choosing a Style. This is where the fun begins and where we as a group will take a single idea and turn it in to a multitude of skits. The style of the skit is the arrangement and setting for the characters and determines the way dialogue will be presented.

One consideration to make is your target audience. Is your skit for 4 year olds, elementary age children, youth or adults? Knowing this will keep your skit age appropriate (understanding) and ensure that your skit will be well received.

When choosing a style, we only have to look as far as our living rooms. Mainstream television, movies and books showcase many different styles:

• Sitcoms (odd couples, fish out of water, one sane character amongst eccentric characters)
  
• News/Sports Broadcast
  
• Genre (western, kung fu, medical drama, detective stories, super heroes)
  
• Commercials

One of the most easily written styles is to take one character who always misunderstands things coupled with a character who corrects them. The humor comes from just how off base the character becomes before the correction begins. Another easily written style is to take a familiar character and place them in unfamiliar circumstances. As I said, television, movies and books are full of style ideas.

Your assignment is to pick a style for your skit. You don’t have to tell me what it is, just choose one. Next time, we make some final considerations before we start writing.

For reference visit biblegateway.com .