| Description |
xviii, 220 pages ; 22 cm |
| Note |
Includes index. |
| Contents |
1. Being a playwright -- Being a playwright means appreciating your ancestry -- Being a playwright starts with a personal statement of "this I believe" -- Being a playwright means identifying human traits you admire or dislike -- Being a playwright involves a sense of construction -- Being a playwright means writing stageworthy plays, not "closet dramas" -- Being a playwright requires understanding, although not always following, rules and guidelines -- Theatrical directors describe what they look for in plays -- Being a playwright means writing, writing, and writing -- Playwrights describe their work habits -- Special advantages of being a playwright -- Exercises -- 2. What makes a play? -- Definition of a play -- A play is not a novel -- Plays require conflict -- Selectivity : drama is an interpretation of life, not real life -- Plays are complete in themselves -- Plays have a beginning, middle, and end -- Avoid cinematic writing -- Dramatic action must be possible, plausible, and probable -- Plays are entertainment -- Plays communicate with emotions -- Plays communicate to the imagination -- Unities of time, place, and action -- The fourth (and most important) unity : playwright's purpose -- Exercises -- |
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3. The size of your canvas : monodramas, one-acts, and full-length plays -- Determining the size of your canvas -- The monodrama -- The one-act play -- The full-length play -- Thinking of audiences and types of theatres for your play -- Exercises -- 4. Where do you start? : turning your ideas into plays -- Sources of ideas : situation, character, or theme -- Working with your germinal ideas -- Fleshing out germinal ideas -- The "magic if" stimulates creativity -- Do your ideas have theatrical potential? -- Exercises -- 5. Creating characters : people in action to achieve their goals -- Writing characters to attract producers, directors, and actors -- The playwright as actor : using the actor's approaches to characterization -- Sources for theatrical characters -- Necessary characters for your play -- The protagonist -- The antagonist -- Secondary characters serve the play -- Creating theatrical characters -- Deciding how many characters you need in your play -- Exercise -- 6. Building plot : shaping your play's action -- Three basic divisions of plot -- Part one : beginning, introductory materials -- Part two : middle, the play's struggles and action -- Part three : ending, a sense of finality -- Exercises using other plays -- Exercises for the play you are writing -- |
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7. Constructing dialogue : action through words -- What is dialogue? -- Theatrical dialogue differs from other forms of writing -- The playwright's goals -- Acquiring an ear for dialogue -- Communicating basic details -- Techniques of writing dialogue -- Principles of structural emphasis -- Special aspects of dialogue : imagery and poetry, monologues and soliloquies -- Dangers to avoid -- Working with actors and directors -- Exercises -- 8. Evaluating and revising your play -- The revision process for all writers -- Working alone to revise your play -- Working with others to revise your play -- A checklist of questions to consider at each step of revision -- The play's overall effect -- Characterization -- Dialogue -- Plot -- The play's beginning, middle, and end -- Desired audience response -- 9. Script format : typing your script for producers and directors -- General guidelines -- Specific guidelines for the playscript -- Preliminary pages -- The script itself -- Sample pages from a script -- Mailing your play -- 10. Resources for the playwright -- Organizations for playwrights -- Copyright -- Literary agents -- Sources to help you find producers, publishers, agents, contests, and workshops -- Periodicals -- Contests, workshops, seminars, and conferences -- Productions -- Income -- Publication -- Conclusion. |
| Subject |
Playwriting.
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Drama -- Technique.
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| ISBN |
157766227X |
|
9781577662273 |
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