Naked Playwriting: The Art, the Craft, and the Life Laid Bare [Paperback]

William Missouri Downs (Author), Robin U. Russin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 28, 2005

This is a complete playwriting course - from developing a theme through plotting and structuring a play, developing characters, creating dialog, formatting the script, and applying methods that aid the actual writing and rewriting processes. The book also offers sound guidance on marketing and submitting play scripts for both contests and production, protecting one's copyright, and working with directors and theatre companies. Well-written, comprehensive, and filled with illustrative examples, "Naked Playwriting" includes both innovative and tried-and-true writing techniques, sage advice from veteran writers, a short study of the major schools of dramatic thought, and writing anecdotes. This one-of-a-kind playwriting book, which covers both the basics of playwriting and the practical advice on getting a play published and produced, will help both novices and working writers discover and improve their playwriting skills and see their plays performed on a stage.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robin U. Russin is a playwright, award-winning screenwriter, producer, and professor in the Theatre Department at the University of California, Riverside, where he co-chairs the MFA in Crative Writing program. Among his stage credits is PAINTED EGGS, which premiered at the Harmon Ave. Theatere in Los Angeles.

William Missouri Downs trained in playwriting under Lanford Wilson and Milan Stitt at the Circle Repertory Theatre in New York He is an award-winning playwright whose work has been produced at the Kennedy Center and the Berkeley Rep.

Russin and Downs are the authors of the book Screenplay: Writing the Picture (1.879505.70.3), also published by Silman-James Press.

Product Details

• Paperback: 341 pages
• Publisher: Silman-James Press (January 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879505762
• ISBN-13: 978-1879505766
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Naked Playwriting, August 5, 2006

By 

Kevin L. Nenstiel "omnivore" (Kearney, Nebraska) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Naked Playwriting: The Art, the Craft, and the Life Laid Bare (Paperback)

There is an entire industry in publishing books about writing. Writers, especially aspiring writers, are very insecure about their work, and seek reassurance that they're on the right track from others. Most of the books produced to ameliorate writers' self-doubt are crap. But I can say with confidence that Downs and Russin's NAKED PLAYWRITING is not only the best playwriting book I have ever read, it is the best book I have ever read on any kind of writing, from the beginning of the process to the end.

It's easy to talk about how to tell a good story, but how many books actually break down ideas point by point to determine which ones actually have a future? This one. Many would-be writing mentors talk about sitting down and writing, but how many have actually given instructions on how to create a style sheet on Microsoft Word so that you can create a perfectly formatted manuscript on your first try? This one. Everybody knows that the creative process isn't complete until the work is seen by an audience, but how many books demonstrate how to comparison-shop theatre companies, give you balanced pointers on how and when to get an agent, and show how to evaluate a contract to tell if it serves your interests? This one.

The light conversational tone that obtains through most of this book makes the information contained between the covers very approachable. The authors are aware that many of their readers will be beginning writers, but they also incorporate more intermediate and advanced information, so young writers can follow through to the end on what they've already begun. This book is not some compendium of lukewarm exhortations to write now and write more; it's an actual plan to turn your writing into a vocation and a life.

Young writers buy a lot of books to get them started on the art and the craft. This is one of the few books those writers will actually keep on their desks through the years as they write.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Well-Crafted Ship, October 1, 2006

By 

Heather J. Mctear (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Naked Playwriting: The Art, the Craft, and the Life Laid Bare (Paperback)

Okay, maybe its attractive title did draw this reader's attention to the book, but Naked Playwriting proves to be, as one other reviewer stated, not just a great one amidst so many How-To...books. Naked Playwriting is the best book I've read on writing, as well.

I finished this and thought (yes, exhilarated) that every writer could benefit from this one. No matter what genre. No matter what style. Naked Playwriting is, incredibly, written by two voices, Downs and Russin, and yet it speaks so fluently, so masterfully, and so concisely--with this humor throughout--that I just trusted these writers were actually writers from the first line.

That it speaks so smoothly to the reader, guides the reader, without pompous self-glorifying stories of their own past careers, speaks of the closeness these two writers stayed on course with the subject--and it speaks of the dedication to playwriting that Naked Playwriting follows.

A well-crafted ship is, as the authors describe, the beauty of a stage play, carefully crafted, going somewhere, with purpose, and capable of taking others along on a tremendous ride--that is what the great ones do--and that's what Downs and Russin have offered us.

Read this, then reread, and continue to reference it--Naked Playwriting will become a manual to hold onto.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Possible Resource, July 9, 2008

By 

Arthur H. Roach "arturzinho" (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Naked Playwriting: The Art, the Craft, and the Life Laid Bare (Paperback)

A little context -- I studied playwriting in college several years ago and had productions of a couple scripts. Recently I've had a play germinating inside me, and I decided to give it a try. I discovered this book on a casual browse through a bookstore.
This book is not only the best imaginable resource, it also serves to inspire and give you a chance to believe in yourself. Yes -- I was rusty and this book reminded me of the styles of plays available to draw on (I'm a bit into alienation and absurdism.), and it demonstrates clearly the difference between vague and uninteresting dialogue with that which contains dramatic tension.
He is also the most practical of teachers. He makes regular suggestions for writing a play that has the best appeal for being produced. (Don't write a play with 50 characters and six scene changes, including a snowstorm in Siberia!)
I would think this book is most useful if you too have decided to embark on the challenge of writing a play; otherwise I'm not sure what the appeal would be. It is not a great tome on dramatic theory. At every step of the way it is practical -- right there ready to help you express yourself and, one hopes, to write a successful play.