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| Acknowledgments | |
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| Introduction to the Second Edition | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Six Ways to Get the Most Out of This Book | |
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| The monologue: writing, rehearsing, performing | |
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| A Definition of Terms | |
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| What Is a Monologue? | |
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| Types of Monologues | |
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| What Is Performance Art? | |
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| A Brief History of the One-Person Show | |
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| Samuel Foote (1721-1777) Creates the One-Person Show | |
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| George Alexander Stevens, the Father of the Monologue | |
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| Charles Mathews | |
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| Ruth Draper Perfects the Monologue | |
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| Cornelia Otis Skinner | |
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| Historical Monologues | |
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| The Solo Show Today | |
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| A Preliminary Look | |
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| Questions to Ask Yourself before Starting Work on a Solo Show | |
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| The Similarities/Differences between Being an Actor and Working as a Writer | |
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| As an Actor, Do I Have the Necessary Skills to Create My Own Material? | |
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| Pluses and Minuses, Assessing Specifically Where You Are Now | |
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| Your Sense of Truth | |
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| Ways to Work, Selecting Your Tools | |
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| Writing | |
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| What Is Creative Writing? | |
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| Fear of Writing | |
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| Journal Writing | |
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| Using a Tape Recorder | |
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| Improvising: "Are Your Talkin' to Me?" | |
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| Working Orally: In Front of an Audience | |
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| Working Orally: Developing Your Stories Throughout the Day | |
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| Preparing | |
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| For Those Actors Who Know Which Type (Style) of Monologue They Want to Create | |
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| For Those Actors Who Don't Know What Type of Solo Material They Want to Create | |
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| Perking with an Idea | |
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| Exercises to Help You with Your Solo Show | |
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| Deciding When to Begin | |
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| Guidelines for Creating Short or Audition Monologues | |
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| Fundamentals of All Good Monologues | |
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| To Whom Is the Character Speaking? | |
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| Questions Every Monologue Must Answer | |
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| About Autobiographical Monologues | |
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| Another Way to Approach Autobiographical Material | |
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| Storytelling Monologues | |
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| Narrative and Dramatic Style | |
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| Your Personal Style: Your Voice | |
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| Examples of Different Voices and Styles | |
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| From An Evening with Quentin Crisp | |
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| Winfred from Monster | |
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| Craig from Two Minutes and Under, Volume 3 | |
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| From An Evening with Shelly Mars | |
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| From Gray's Anatomy | |
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| Cudjoe from The Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky | |
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| From Safe | |
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| Sam from Jails, Hospitals & Hip-Hop | |
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| From Time on Fire | |
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| From Comedy You Can Dance To | |
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| From Full Gallop | |
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| From I'm Breathing the Water Now | |
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| From The Finger Hole | |
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| From A Kiss to Build a Dream On | |
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| Using Your Acting Technique to Create Character Monologues | |
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| Working from the Outside in, as an Actor and Writer | |
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| Working Internally as an Actor and Writer | |
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| Starting to Write | |
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| Two Scenarios | |
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| Understanding Writer's Block | |
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| Techniques for Dealing with Writer's Block | |
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| Nothing, a Whole Lot of Nothing | |
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| Writing about Painful Events | |
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| Free-Writing: An Invaluable Exercise | |
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| Clustering (or Webbing): Finding the Initial Core of Your Work | |
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| Sal from Street Talk: Character Monologues for Actors | |
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| Creating Your Monologue: Structure and Process | |
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| How We'll Be Working from Now On | |
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| Comparing the Actor's and the Writer's Processes of Starting Out | |
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| The Importance of the Narrator | |
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| Your Opening Section: The First Paragraphs | |
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| From Charlotte (from True Stories) | |
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| Bernice from Two Minutes and Under, Volume 2 | |
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| From Swimming to Cambodia | |
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| From Pretty Fire | |
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| Blanka from Some People | |
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| Jo from Eternal Pyramid | |
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| Master of the Stale from the play The Dark String | |
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| Developing Your Monologue | |
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| Developing Your Role (as an Actor) | |
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| Developing Your Monologue (as a Writer) | |
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| The Ongoing Day-to-Day Work | |
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| Working on Performance Art Pieces | |
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| A Word about Songs, Music, and Dance in Monologue Plays | |
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| Mixed Media | |
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| That Old Devil, the Self-Censor | |
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| Taking Mini-Breaks, Breathers | |
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| Looking Over What You've Written So Far | |
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| After the Break: Two Scenarios | |
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| Working Till the End of the First Draft | |
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| Developing Your Monologue II (The Ongoing Work) | |
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| The "Who Wrote This Monologue, and What's It About?" Exercise | |
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| Questions to Ask Yourself While Reading through Your Script | |
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| At What Point Should You Have Someone Else Read What You've Written? | |
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| Selecting the Right Person to Read Your Monologue | |
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| Performing the First Draft for a Director | |
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| Performing the First Draft as a "Work in Progress" for an Audience | |
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| Making Repairs: Rewriting | |
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| Revising and Reshaping | |
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| The Three Golden Rules of Revising | |
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| The Subconscious and Rewrites | |
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| Completing Work on Your Monologue | |
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| Things to Keep in Mind in Your Closing | |
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| Knowing When the Monologue Is Ready to Be Performed | |
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| A Checklist to Decide Whether Your Monologue Is Ready to Be Performed | |
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| Preparing to Perform | |
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| Selecting a Director | |
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| Working with the Director in Rehearsal | |
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| Rehearsing the Audition Monologue | |
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| Performing the Piece | |
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| Marketing Your Solo Show | |
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| Preparing Your Marketing Package | |
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| Management/Booking Agencies That Handle Solo Artists | |
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| Interviews with monologue writers and performers | |
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| Lanie Robertson | |
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| Sarah Jones | |
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| Spalding Gray | |
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| Mary Louise Wilson | |
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| Charlayne Woodard | |
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| Tim Miller | |
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| Danny Hoch | |
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| Dael Orlandersmith | |
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| Quentin Crisp | |
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| Marilyn Sokol | |
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| Evan Handler | |
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| Shelly Mars | |
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| Brian Dykstra | |
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| Penny Arcade | |
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| Kate Clinton | |
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| Ann Randolph | |
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| Interviews with directors of one-person shows | |
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| Peter Askin | |
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| Jo Bonney | |
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| Christopher Ashley | |
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| Marcia Jean Kurtz | |
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| David Bar Katz | |
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| Appendixes | |
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| Artist Colonies Where You Can Develop Your Solo Show | |
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| Theaters That Accept Solo Material | |
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| Publishers of Solo Material | |
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| Playwriting Competitions That Accept Solo Material | |
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| Applying for Grants | |
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| Literary Agents | |
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| Recommended Books | |
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| Internet Resources | |
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| Permissions | |
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| About the Author | |