Formats
A format is a shape that has already decided part of what belongs in it.
It has also decided part of what it will not hold. What goes in is yours. The rules come with the shape. Each one is written down: a page at most, plain text, free. They name no course and no year.
A brief can be a format. An interview is a format. A monologue is a format.
Searches the rules inside all four. Runs in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
A specification, in nine lines
A description of a thing that does not exist yet, in your own words, complete enough that somebody or something else could build it from it.
A brief, in seven lines
What one person hands another when they want something made. Says what is fixed, what the maker decides, and what will not be asked for later.
An interview, in six rules
One person asks, one answers. Five of the six rules are things the asker does not do, and that is where the format does its work.
A monologue, in five
One person speaking, uninterrupted, with no reply expected. A position stated whole before anybody starts adjusting it.