A Masterclass in Dramatic Writing: Theater, Film, and Television from Focal Press addresses all three genres of dramatic writing—for theatre, film and TV—in a comprehensive, one-semester 14-week masterclass for the dramatic writer. For professional writers, teachers, and students as well as anyone who wants to complete their first piece.
Including new material alongside revised, extended selections from Janet Neipris' original and much-loved book To Be A Playwright, this volume takes the writer up to a first draft and rewrite of a dramatic work. The fourteen chapters, organized like a semester, guide the writer week-by-week, and step-by-step to the completion of a first draft and a rewrite. There are Weekly Exercises and progressive Assignments. Chapters include Beginnings, Creating Complex Characters, Dialogue, Escalating Conflicts, Endings, Checkpoints, Comedy, and Adaptation.
Introduction: The Writer’s Life
Week 1: Beginnings
Week 2: Creating Complex Characters
Week 3: Dialogue
Week 4: Escalating Conflicts
Week 5: Sixty Questions When Writing a Dramatic Piece
Week 6: Putting it all Together
Week 7: Endings
Week 8: Checkpoints
Week 9: Rewriting
Week 10: Adaptation
Week 11: Comedy
Week 12: The Fifteen Habits of Successful Dramatic Writers
Week 13: Lessons from Master Teachers and Students
Week 14: To Be a Writer