Synopses & Reviews
Moss Hart once said that you never really learn how to write a play; you only learn how to write this play. Crafted with that adage in mind, The Dramatic Writers Companion is designed to help writers explore their own ideas in order to develop the script in front of them. No ordinary guide to plotting, this handbook starts with the principle that character is key. “The character is not something added to the scene or to the story,” writes author Will Dunne. “Rather, the character is the scene. The character is the story.”
Having spent decades working with dramatists to refine and expand their existing plays and screenplays, Dunne effortlessly blends condensed dramatic theory with specific action steps—over sixty workshop-tested exercises that can be adapted to virtually any individual writing process and dramatic script. Dunnes in-depth method is both instinctual and intellectual, allowing writers to discover new actions for their characters and new directions for their stories.
Dunnes own experience is a crucial element of this guide. His plays have been selected by the Eugene ONeill Theatre Center for three U.S. National Playwrights Conferences and have earned numerous honors, including a Charles MacArthur Fellowship, four Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards, and two Drama-Logue Playwriting Awards. Thousands of individuals have already benefited from his workshops, and The Dramatic Writers Companion promises to bring his remarkable creative method to an even wider audience.
About the Author
Will Dunne is currently a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, where he develops plays and teaches workshops. He also has led over fifteen hundred workshops through his San Francisco program, served as a dramaturg at the ONeill, and twice attended the Australian National Playwrights Conference as guest instructor. His plays, which include How I Became an Interesting Person and Hotel Desperado, have been presented in Russia, Australia, and Croatia as well as in the U.S.
Table of Contents
About This Guide
Exercises at a Glance
Developing Your Character
Stage 1: Fleshing Out the Bones
Basic Character Builder
What “I” Believe
Where “I” Live
Where “I” Work
Getting Emotional
Into the Past
Defining Trait
Stage 2: Getting to Know the Character Better
Allies: Then and Now
Adversaries: Then and Now
Characters in Contrast
Finding the Characters Voice
Three Characters in One
The Secret Lives of Characters
Stage 3: Understanding Who the Character Really Is
The Noble Character
Seven Deadly Sins
The Dramatic Triangle
Spinal Tap
Character as Paradox
The Character You Like Least
In So Many Words
Causing a Scene
Stage 1: Making Things Happen
Basic Scene Starter
Where in the World Are We?
The Roots of Action
What Does the Character Want?
Whats the Problem?
Good Intentions
How It Happens
Character Adjustments
Scene in a Sentence
Stage 2: Refining the Action
Seeing the Scene
There and Then
The Aha!s of the Story
Heating Things Up
The Emotional Storyboard
In the Realm of the Senses
The Voice of the Setting
Thinking in Beats
Stage 3: Refining the Dialogue
Talking and Listening
Unspeakable Truths
Universal Truths and Lies
The Bones of the Lines
Building Your Story
Stage 1: Triggering the Chain of Events
Whose Story Is It?
How Will the Tale Be Told?
As the World Turns
Inciting Event
The Art of Grabbing
Stage 2: Developing the Throughline
Step by Step
Turning Points
What Happens Next?
Pointing and Planting