Inspiration

THE PLAYWRITING SEMINARS > WORKING > WRITER'S BLOCK > INSPIRATION

'I had the idea for THE SISTERS ROSENZWEIG while I was halfway through THE HEIDI CHRONICLES. I was living in London and writing the last act and got this idea about writing a play about Americans abroad.'

-- Wendy Wasserstein

Inspiration usually only comes in the act of writing. That's often where the best ideas for the next play come from. Or the next scene. Or the next line of dialogue.

Writing is like almost anything else except sleeping: the more you do it, the easier it gets. And sometimes it gets better. And nearly always, it will generate new ideas.

Newton may have been bonked on the head by an apple while he was sleeping, but for playwrights, he's not the world's best role model. You'll get some great ideas that seem to fall out of the sky, but most of your inspired ones will probably come the old fashioned way: While you're putting words on paper.

But if you still feel your headed toward that abyss where Writer's Block drives out inspiration, spend some time in Quotes on Craft. Playwrights -- and a few ringers -- talking about the doing of this business may get your fingers moving again on that keyboard.

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