When to Start Writing the Play

THE PLAYWRITING SEMINARS > WORKING > OUTLINE > START WRITING >

'A few hours and a couple of unsatisfactory pages later, I would give up in frustration. Something essential was missing. I could not figure out, for instance, who the woman's husband was, how he would react to her violence, if he would believe her. Nor were the historical circumstances under which the story developed clear to me, the symbolic and secret connections to the larger life of the country itself, the world beyond the narrow, claustrophobic boundaries of that woman's home.'

-- Ariel Dorfman

Once you find your way around this business --- and if you're like most playwrights working today -- you'll most likely start putting dialogue on paper when you. . .

Have names and a real sense of two of your most important Characters.
Know where the Point of Attack will be.
Find what the Suspense Plot is that can justify the whole thing happening.
Have a feeling or image of the Climax or the Resolution.

At this point, don't worry about the Curtain Line of Act I. It will usually begin to take shape in your mind about half-way through the act or even as late as half-a-dozen pages before intermission.

And then there's the age-old question . . .

Does Age Matter?

And now a word about . . .

Writing Exercises

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