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The first edition of Playwriting Seminars has been called “a treasure-trove of information, philosophy, and inspiration” (Theatre Journal), “an absolutely essential guide to all aspects of playwriting” as well as “a valuable whitewater raft trip down the rapids of Hollywood screenwriting” (Magellan), and “a terrific learning environment for writers” (WebCrawler Select). It was also a recommend resource for new playwrights by New Dramatists.
The new e-book edition, Playwriting Seminars 2.0: A Handbook on the Art and Craft of Dramatic Writing with an Introduction to Screenwriting, covers all aspects of writing full-length plays including structure, script format, the business of being a playwright, editing, submission of scripts to theatres and competitions, and an expanded treatment of screenwriting for Hollywood and independent filmmakers. Ten new diagrams of key elements of dramatic structure have been added. Playwriting techniques are explained with many examples from classic and contemporary plays performed today by America's regional theatres as well as on Broadway and Off-Broadway.
The Handbook's key concepts came initially from my work with Lucasfilm and the BBC. It was originally developed for playwrights and screenwriters, but has since been used by writers of fiction and nonfiction books. Genre novels and their non-fiction equivalents utilize all of the structural elements and issues of plays including point of attack, inciting incident, foreshadowing and exposition, subtext, curtain lines (chapter endings), climax and resolution, open and closed endings, and variant time structures.
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A Handbook on the Art and Craft of Dramatic Writing with an Introduction to Screenwriting
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EXPANDED TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE NEW EDITION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRAISE: For the First Edition of Playwriting Seminars
CREDITS & AUTHOR: How PS2.0 Started & What Came After
USC School of Theatre
First Stage & New Dramatists
FORWARD: The Focus of Playwriting Seminars 2.0
Parts of the Handbook
Plays Cited & Examples
Regional Theatres as Entry Point
The Market for New Plays
Hollywood Options
Best Practice Notes
PROLOGUE: Starting from Scratch
The Four Bones of Playwriting
A Note on Dual Plot Structure
Reading Plays
LIST OF DIAGRAMS
Structure of Two-Act Plays
History of the Story & Point of Attack
Exposition & Foreshadowing
Inciting Incident
Suspense & Emotional Plots
Act I High Point & Curtain Line
Structure of Act II
Climax & Obligatory Scene
Emotional Patterns
Act Movements of a Full-Length Play
PART ONE - CONTENT: What’s in a Play
1. VOICE: YOUR SOUND AS A WRITER
Quirks of Spoken Language
LISTEN MORE Talk Less
Eavesdropping for Art
2. SUBJECTS OF PLAYS
Reading Plays & Play Readings
Plays Are About Consequences
Family Problems vs. the World
Writing What You Know
Doing Research
3. USES OF TRUTH & REAL LIFE
Docudrama
Model Docudramas
4. USING THE WORK OF OTHER WRITERS
5. ADAPTING OLDER PLAYS & NOVELS
Against Adaptation
Legal Cautions
Keys to Adapting Older Plays
The “Suggested By” Approach
6. USING OTHER PEOPLE’S LIVES
Legal Cautions
Recreating Actual People
Creating Versions of Public Figures
Recent “Icon” Characters
Getting Back at Your Parents
7. INCORPORATING POPULAR SONGS
Ways of Using Popular Songs
Permissions for Using Popular Songs
8. THEMES: THE MEANING IN CONTENT
Integrating Your Personal Values
Some Intriguing Themes
Cautions on Writing from a Theme
9. USING AN AUTHORIAL SPOKESPERSON
Candidates for Spokesperson
10. TITLES: DESCRIPTIVE & METAPHORIC
Dangers of Descriptive Titles
Obvious & Intriguing Descriptive Titles
Advantages of Metaphoric Titles
Inspired Metaphoric Titles
Hybrid Titles
Strong Hybrid Titles
Using Act Titles
Notable Act Titles
11. CHARACTERS: WHAT’S MODERN IN MODERN DRAMA
The Internalized Villain
Impact on Endings
12. CREATING & NAMING CHARACTERS
Complex Characters & Internal Conflict
Meaning in Character Names
Contemporary Character Names
Names from Well Known Playwrights
13. CONFLICT: THE CHARACTER DEVELOPER
Conflict as Overcoming Obstacles
Killers of Dramatic Conflict
Triangular Conflict Problems
14. THE PLAYWRIGHT’S POINT OF VIEW
The Group Character Alternative
15. LANGUAGE: FOUL & OTHERWISE
The Naughtiness Factor
Clichés: The Great Ear Closers
Writing in Accents
16. SUBTEXT: WHAT CHARACTERS DON’T TELL US
A Subtext Example
Characters Speaking Subtext
Cutting Spoken Subtext
How Spoken Subtext Kills Plays
Settings as Visual Subtext
No-Subtext Plays
17. USING DRAMATIC IRONY
Irony vs. Being Stupid
Contemporary Dramatic Irony
18. SERIOUS COMEDY & THE REVERSE
Laughter is Everywhere
PART TWO – STRUCTURE: Parts of a Full-Length Play
19. THE SHAPE OF TWO-ACT PLAYS
Caution on Experimental Structures
The Two-Act Play Standard
List of Structure Diagrams
20. STRUCTURE OF A TWO-ACT PLAY
21. POINT OF ATTACK: THE BEGINNING
Points of Attack in Notable Plays
The Teaser Point of Attack
Teaser Point of Attack Techniques
Notable Teaser Points of Attack
22. EXPOSITION & FORESHADOWING: PAST & FUTURE
Why Exposition
Deliberate Elimination of Exposition
Role of Foreshadowing
The Key to Foreshadowing
Deliberate Withholding of Foreshadowing
23. USING NARRATORS
Narrators Have a Stake in the Outcome
Key Places for Narrators
A Few Good Narrators
24. INCITING INCIDENT: LIGHTING THE FUSE OF CONFLICT
Flagging the Inciting Incident
Forms of Inciting Incidents
Notable Inciting Incidents
25. PLOTS: THEY COME IN PAIRS
Suspense & Emotional Plots
Emotional Plots Are Why You Write
Some Notable Emotional Plots
Suspense Plot Function
Suspense Plot Techniques
Evolving Suspense Plots
Clarifying the Suspense Plot in Cat
Reintroductions of the Suspense Plot
“Red Herring” Suspense Plots
Repetitive Activity as Suspense Plot Substitute
Notable Long Mundane Activities
26. ELEVATOR PLAYS: THE BISQUICK PLOT
Elevator Principles
Notable Plays with Elevators
27. HIGH POINT OF ACT I
Notable Act I High Points
28. CURTAIN LINES FOR ACTS & SCENES
Curtain Line Options
Some Notable Act I Curtain Lines
29. ACT II & ITS PROBLEMS
Saving Conflict for Act II
Act II Realities
Intermissions & Story Time Breaks
Economics of Intermissions
30. CLIMAX & THE OBLIGATORY SCENE
The Climax from Narrowing of Options
Notable Climaxes
Role of the Obligatory Scene
The Obligatory Scene Sequence
Annotated Obligatory Scene
31. THE RESOLUTION & ENDINGS
Avoiding Tying It All Up
The Last Word
Open Endings
Notable Open Endings
Happy Endings
The Dreaded “Refrigerator Question”
32. EMOTIONAL PATTERNS
The Hollywood Cliché Pattern
Use of Patterns in Serious Comedy & Tragedy
33. LENGTH OF FULL-LENGTH PLAYS
The 90-Minute Rule
Length: The “Hamlet Question”
Acts and Intermissions
No Intermission Plays
Three-Act Plays
34. TIME STRUCTURES
Continuous Time Examples
Using Flashbacks
Adding a Third Layer of Time
Going into Hyper Time
Notable Uses of Hyper Time
Using Formal Scenes
35. CHARACTERS: QUANTITIES & CAUTIONS
The Magic Number 10
One-Character Plays
Celebrities as Characters
Invisible Characters in One-Person Shows
Solo Performance
Kids as Characters
Animals as Characters
36. MONOLOGUES: THEY’RE MINI-PLAYS
The Monologue as Aria
Keys to Writing Monologues
Length of Monologues
37. USING THEATRICAL DEVICES & STYLES
Use It & Own It for the Duration
Devices Needing Early Use
Contemporary Naturalism
“Rules” for Using Naturalism
Representation vs. Presentation
38. WRITING ONE-ACT PLAYS
Related One-Acts
Unifying Related One-Acts
Tips for Writing One-Acts
PART THREE – WORKING: The Day Job of Playwriting
39. WRITER’S BLOCK & INSPIRATION
Writing is Work
Writer’s Block
If Prevention Fails
Technical Blocks to Writing
Getting Inspiration
40. KNOWING WHEN TO START WRITING
The “Good to Have” List
Outlining: Why (and Why Not)
A Caution on Outlining
41. WRITING EXERCISES: TO DO OR NOT TO DO
Exercise 1: Getting Rid of Spoken Subtext
Exercise 2: Combining Suspense & Emotional Plots
Exercise 3: Keeping a Journal
42. EDITING: THE HARD WORK OF SECOND-GUESSING
The Play in Your Head vs. on the Page
43. EDITING CHARACTERS
Characters Needing the Ax
44. EDITING STAGE DIRECTIONS
Opening Stage Directions
General Stage Directions
Character Stage Directions
45. EDITING DIALOGUE
Red Flags in Dialogue
Spoken Subtext
Talking-to-Yourself Lines
Typical Talking-to-Yourself Lines
Transition Lines
Variant Lines
Using Apparent Repetition
Foreshadowing
Fact Checking
46. FINDING HIDDEN MONOLOGUES
Hidden Monologue Example (Still Buried)
Scene Edited for Cuts Including Transition Lines
Hidden Monologue Brought to the Surface
47. TURNING FALSE MONOLOGUES INTO DIALOGUE
A False Monologue Pair
The False Monologue into Dialogue
48. EDITING STRUCTURE
Inserting Suspense Plots
Beginning of the Play
Beginnings of Scenes & Acts
Warm Up Lines
Warm-up Lines Scene Marked for Cuts
Endings of Scenes and Acts
Climax of the Play
Resolution of the Play
49. CRITICS & ADVICE FROM YOUR FRIENDS
Theatre Critics
Self Criticism
Muffling Your Self Critic
50. WHEN TO STOP REWRITING
PART FOUR – FORMAT: What Scripts Look Like
51. PROFESSIONAL MANUSCRIPT FORMAT FOR PLAYS
Advantages of Using the Format
Getting It Done for You
Traditional & Modern Format
Publishing vs. Script Formats
52. PAPER, FONTS & FORMAT BY THE NUMBERS
Paper Weight & Color
Font & Type Size
Script Format by the Numbers
Dialogue Page I-1 of a Script in Format
53. TITLE & PRELIMINARY PAGES
Title Page & Example
Character Page & Example
Setting & Time Page & Example
Scene Breakdown Page
Quote Page
Notable Quotes on Quote Pages
Numbering of Preliminary Pages
54. DIALOGUE PAGES
Page Numbering
Act & Formal Scene Designations
Opening Stage Directions
Character Names
Character Stage Directions
Dialogue Spacing
(Pause.) Stage Direction
(Overlapping) Stage Direction
(Continued) Character Note
General Stage Directions
Act & Formal Scene Endings
55. COVERS & BINDINGS: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
The “Never Use” Bindings List
Being Kind to Your Readers
PART FIVE – BUSINESS: Bringing Your Play to Production
56. THE BUSINESS OF PLAYWRITING
Copyright Protection for Plays
U.S. Copyright Office
57. COMPETITIONS & NEW PLAY DEVELOPMENT
A Caution on Entry Fees
New Play Development Programs
Negatives of Play Development
The Play Development Process
58. READING YOUR AUDIENCE
Phase 1: During the Performance
The Noises of Boredom
Phase 2: During the Audience Discussion
Tips for Surviving Audience Discussions
59. SUBMITTING SCRIPTS TO THEATRES & COMPETITIONS
The Script Submission Package
Letter of Inquiry
The SASE
A Caution on Mailing Scripts in the U.S.
Multiple Submissions
Record Keeping
60. WRITING THE SCRIPT SYNOPSIS
Rules for a Good Synopsis
A Sample Synopsis
The Dialogue Sample
SASE for the Synopsis Package
61. THE PLAYWRIGHT’S RESUME
The “Include List” for Bios
Playwright’s Bio Example
62. PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT: DRAMATISTS GUILD & TCG
The Dramatists Guild
DG Annual Resource Directory
Theatre Communications Group
TCG Dramatists Sourcebook
UK Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook
TCG American Theatre Magazine
63. PLAYWRIGHT’S PRODUCTION TEAM
Literary Manager
Dramaturg
Artistic Director
Director
Designers
Working with the Production Team
64. AGENTS & MAKING A LIVING AT THIS
Pressures of Writing Success
Agents
Making a Living At This
Royalties
A Caution on “Collaboration” with Directors
On Taking a Writing Day Job
65. PRODUCING IT YOURSELF
Playwright-Founded Theatres
Making Self-Producing Work
Beware of Hubris
PART SIX – SCREENWRITING: For Playwrights
66. REALITIES OF THE SCREENPLAY TRADE
Playwrights vs. Screenwriters
Your Role in the Hollywood Machine
Working Both Sides of the Theatre/Film Divide
The Stage vs. Screen Story Rule
Film & Its Parent
67. VISUAL VS. VERBAL STORYTELLING
Opening of Antonioni’s The Passenger
Opening of Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden
Dialogue vs. Images
68. MAKING SCREENPLAYS WORK
19 Adjustments for Screenwriting
The Rom Com Option
69. ADAPTING YOUR PLAY FOR THE SCREEN
“Opening Up” A Play
Time Expansion
Keeping It Your Film
Tips for Making it Work
70. READING PROFESSIONAL SCREENPLAYS
Knowing the World Beyond Film
Contemporary Classic Screenplays to Read
Reading vs. Seeing in Film
Draft vs. Shooting Scripts
On Seeing Films
71. PROFESSIONAL FORMAT FOR SCREENPLAYS
Paper & Fonts
Title & Preliminary Pages
Screenplay Format by the Numbers
Scene & Dialogue Pages
Page 1 of a Screenplay in Format
Screenplay Covers & Bindings
72. USING SCREENWRITING SOFTWARE
Advantages of Using Software
The Industry Standards
Writing for the BBC
73. WRITING FOR TELEVISION
Increasing Quality of Television Writing
Making it Work
Software & Series Templates
74. THE HOLLYWOOD HUSTLE
The LA Story
12 Steps of the Hustle
75. PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT: WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA
WGA West & East
Script Registration Service
The Myth of Story Theft in Hollywood
76. THE INDIE OPTION
The Indie Road to Hollywood
Features & Shorts
Writing for the Indies
Thinking in Indie Time x 11
Indie Screenplay Competitions
AFTERWORD – QUOTES ON CRAFT: On Writing for Theatre, Film & Television
The Collection: 450 Quotes on Craft
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