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CONTENT | BUSINESS | SCREENWRITING | FORMAT | STRUCTURE | WORKING |
A Handbook on the Art and Craft of Dramatic Writing with an Introduction to Screenwriting
The new revised and expanded paperback and e-book editions. Don't have a Kindle, but want the e-book? Get free Kindle reading apps from Amazon for iPad, PC, Mac, and Android (they work well).
The Handbook's key concepts came initially from the author's 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.]
Playwriting Seminars is “a treasure-trove of information, philosophy, and inspiration” (Theatre Journal), “an absolutely essential guide to all aspects of playwriting and 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. More on the new edition...
'There's something very perverse in me that loves trying to do the impossible and put things on the stage that are very hard to stage and that maybe people haven't seen before. And I have this impulse to see how far the form can take me. Because I think of all the arts, the theatre is the most conservative, because you have that ghastly problem of having to sell all the tickets every night.'
-- Tina Howe
Primary Areas of Playwriting Seminars
A Note on Dual Plot Structure
The concept of dual or twin plots is one of the core understandings of Playwriting Seminars 2.0 and was first suggested by the great Shakespearean scholar A. C. Bradley. This insight has a long pedigree, but the real proof of the concept is in the practice of playwriting: It is nearly impossible to find produced plays by contemporary playwrights who don’t use this dual plot structure.
These twins (or pairs) are called suspense and emotional plots in this Handbook since the terms capture the key differences between them, but what they are named matters far less than the impact they have on contemporary playwriting. Why playwrights use this dual plot structure may owe much more to the way human beings have always told lasting stories than to theoretical understandings. While it may be uncomfortable to acknowledge for those who like to make clear distinctions between so-called "high" and "low" art, this dual plot structure crosses media from theatre to film and genre novels, showing up in such seemingly dissimilar work at Hamlet and The Hunger Games. Plot structure is essential -- the desire for that and why people respond to it is probably built into our DNA -- but what is created on top of that plot structure out of characters and story ultimately determines the way audiences and readers will respond. Demonstrating this key part of the craft of dramatic writing is one of the goals of the new edition of Playwriting Seminars 2.0.
Parts of the Handbook
Playwriting Seminars 2.0 is intended for a range of users from students exploring the art to playwrights making the transition to screenwriting. Novelists and authors in other genres have found the first edition of this Handbook helpful in beginning to write for theatre or film as have theatre professionals working with new playwrights. While this is a professional Handbook on the playwright’s craft with a focus on the kinds of new plays most often produced by the nearly 500 regional theatres in America, authors developing genre novels and their nonfiction equivalents have found the Structure section particularly helpful.
The Handbook is divided into six sections: Content including the importance of the playwright’s “voice,” themes, character development, and subtext; Structure including plots with supporting diagrams, uses of time, monologues, and theatrical styles; Working including editing of drafts, avoiding writer’s block, writing exercises, and dealing with critics; Format for stage plays; Business including the submission process to theatres and competitions, agents, creating a script synopsis and playwright’s bio, and self-production; and Screenwriting including craft adjustments from verbal to visual storytelling, screenplay format, writing and placing spec screenplays in Hollywood and the alternative of independent filmmaking. The Afterword contains a collection of quotes on craft from playwrights, screenwriters, theatre and film directors, and producers. This section has been popular with literary managers and offers mini-lessons in playwriting, screenwriting, and writing for television.
Plays Cited & Examples
The Handbook uses examples from many plays to help explain the techniques typical of contemporary practice. Most of these examples are drawn from the work of contemporary playwrights whose plays have demonstrated their staying power by continuing to be produced by America’s regional theatres. Some were first presented decades ago while others were first produced as recently as 2012 as I was preparing this new edition. Other examples range from what might be called the “classic classics” (Sophocles, Shakespeare, Molière, and Ibsen) to mid-century classics that have influenced the development of our contemporary theatre: Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Harold Pinter, Eugene Ionesco, and Samuel Beckett, to name a few. In nearly every case I have tried to select plays that are easily available in print or e-book editions. If you haven’t read the scripts, the examples drawn from these plays stand on their own in terms of underlining the principles they illustrate. Reading these plays after the discussions here will deepen your understanding of the craft.
Regional Theatres as Entry Point
Regional theatres are the primary entry point into this business of playwriting in America (a similar role is played by noncommercial theatres in the UK). They premiere nearly all new plays produced in the United States and have become the research and development arm of the commercial Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre. Regional theatres have become reasonably comfortable with their place in the commercial theatre food chain and the result is a very good deal for playwrights and the theatres that produce their plays. If all goes well, playwright and theatre share in the financial gains and if audiences don’t respond positively, the producing theatre carries all the risk. Because of their interest in discovering new plays and writers, a number of these theatres offer development programs for playwrights.
The Market for New Plays
For nearly all regional theatres, story and the structure most Western playwrights have been using for the past 2,500 years are givens. But using conventional techniques does not mean that you need to write conventional plays.
David Henry Hwang said it best: You can’t be a playwright without believing there’s an audience for adventurous work.
The theatre offers playwrights considerable opportunity for experimentation in their writing. The conventional techniques underlying your work will help keep audiences engaged with your plays no matter how unconventional they may seem to be. The compensation for accepting these proven conventions is a large market for new plays. A measure of this market in 2011: Over 300 regional theatres and 100 competitions with prizes were soliciting scripts, as well as 80 play development programs. All of these opportunities were open to new playwrights. Another 150 regional theatres were soliciting plays directly from playwrights they wanted to work with or from those represented by agents. Compared with many other art forms including screenwriting, the opportunities available for new playwrights are considerable. There are signs that these opportunities will continue to expand in the coming years: The 2009-10 season (the most recent analysis available in 2011) saw a 20% jump in audiences for play readings and workshop productions at America’s regional theatres. Many of these were presentations of new plays.
Hollywood Options
Hovering over all of this activity is the Hollywood film and television industry. Today, nearly all produced playwrights also work in feature film and television.
Best Practice: The surest route to Hollywood for playwrights starts with a regional theatre production or recognition in a major playwriting competition.
The odds of achieving recognition as a new playwright are far better than those faced by novice screenwriters hoping to sell unsolicited screenplays. Recognition as a playwright nearly always leads to invitations to write in Hollywood. And having that invitation will open doors in the film industry that would require a battering ram to get through if you just moved to Hollywood hoping to sell a spec screenplay. In August 2011, one of the thousands of overly hopeful novice screenwriters in LA dropped off his unsolicited spec script in a briefcase for a Hollywood agent and within hours it was blown up by the Beverly Hills bomb squad. That’s not the usual fate of spec screenplays, but the symbolism is worth noting.
Best Practice Notes
Best Practice notes will be found throughout Playwriting Seminars 2.0. They can be taken as “rules,” though the first rule of playwriting is that most rules are made to be broken. The notes reduce to a sound-bite my own conclusions about this craft and in nearly all cases reflect the professional practice of most playwrights and screenwriters.
Where to Start in the Handbook
If you have experience in dramatic writing or theatre production as a performer or director, you may find it more interesting to begin with Part Two on the structure of plays. Later, it may be valuable to return to Part One, especially Chapter 16 on the critical issue of subtext. If fiction is your interest, particularly genre novels and their nonfiction equivalents, Part Two (Structure) is the place to begin followed by Part Six (Screenwriting). Genre novels (crime, romance, paranormal, etc.) follow all of the structural techniques of plays, but then rely on the visual storytelling techniques of screenwriting rather than the verbal approach that dominates plays.
TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THE NEW PAPERBACK & E-BOOK EDITIONS
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
Where to Start in the Handbook
PROLOGUE: Starting from Scratch
The Four Bones of Playwriting A Note on Dual Plot Structure
Reading Plays
LIST OF DIAGRAMS
Structure of Two-Act PlaysHistory of the Story & Point of AttackExposition & ForeshadowingInciting IncidentSuspense & Emotional PlotsAct I High Point & Curtain LineStructure of Act IIClimax & Obligatory SceneEmotional 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 PageQuote 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: 475 Quotes on Craft
http://www.vcu.edu/arts/playwriting/