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 stepsover 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 earnednumerous 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.
