| TABLE OF CONTENTS | |
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| Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1 |
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| Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 4 |
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| CHAPTER 1: Getting Started | |
| What is a Play? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 5 |
| Where Ideas Come From . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 7 |
| Write What You Know--Or Not . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 9 |
| I Have an Idea? Now What? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 11 |
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| CHAPTER 2: Characters and Conflict | |
| Models for Building Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 12 |
| Characters, Practically Speaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 16 |
| Tension of Opposites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 18 |
| Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 18 |
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| CHAPTER 3: Where and When--The Setting | |
| The Where Part I: Theater Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 21 |
| The Where Part II: Types of Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 24 |
| The Where Part III: Choosing Your Wheres . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 27 |
| The When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 28 |
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| CHAPTER 4: Structuring Your Play | |
| Play Structure the Easy Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 31 |
| Alternate Play Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 33 |
| The Question of the Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 35 |
| To Outline... Or Not to Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 36 |
| The One-Liner and Synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 37 |
| Sample Synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 38 |
| Decisions, Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 41 |
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| CHAPTER 5: Writing Dialogue | |
| Dialogue Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 44 |
| Exposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 45 |
| Keep It in Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 48 |
| Levels of Dialogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 50 |
| Punctuation Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 50 |
| More Dialogue Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 53 |
| Monologues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 55 |
| The Narrator: Friend or Foe? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 57 |
| Using Profanity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 57 |
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| CHAPTER 6: The Art of Writing Stage Directions . . . . . . . . . . | 59 |
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| CHAPTER 7: Writing the First Draft | |
| The Playwriting Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 64 |
| Opening Your Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 65 |
| This is a Play, Not a Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 66 |
| Musicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 69 |
| Adaptations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 71 |
| The Truth about Writer's Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 74 |
| Giving Your Play a Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 77 |
| Finishing Strong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 78 |
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| CHAPTER 8: Rewriting | |
| Why We Rewrite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 80 |
| Recentering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 81 |
| The Troubleshooter's Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 82 |
| Step Into the Writer's Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 86 |
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| CHAPTER 9: The Next Step | |
| What to Do With Your "Finished" Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 103 |
| How to Have a Useful Play Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 107 |
| Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 111 |
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| About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 113 |
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| Selected Plays by Jonathan Dorf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 114 |
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| Appendix A: Formatting Your Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 118 |
| Appendix B: The Business of Playwriting and | |
| the Playwright's Bill of Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 126 |
| Appendix C: Submission Resources and Opportunities . . . . . . . . | 133 |
| Appendix D: Query and Cover Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 143 |
| Appendix E: Suggested Reading List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 148 |