Buy New

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime Free Trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn More
Buy Used
Used - Good See details
$2.58 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
The New, Improved Playwright's Survival Guide: Keeping the Drama In Your Work and Out of Your Life
 
See larger image
 
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

The New, Improved Playwright's Survival Guide: Keeping the Drama In Your Work and Out of Your Life [Paperback]

Gary Garrison (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Price: $15.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
  Special Offers Available
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Only 6 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
Want it delivered Wednesday, February 1? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
Textbook Student FREE Two-Day Shipping for Students. Learn more


Book Description

0325008167 978-0325008165 October 14, 2005 2

The first edition of The Playwright's Survival Guide made life simpler for writers by offering an emotional, spiritual, and commonsensical approach to the profession and, most important, to their own writing. Now Gary Garrison returns and makes life even easier with a fully updated and revised New, Improved edition of his bible for aspiring and established playwrights.

Garrison's how-to guide includes inspirational stories, tricks of the trade, and reassurance, and it now incorporates new information on dramatic structure, synopsizing a play, and avoiding the perils that can sink well-intentioned staged readings - all while maintaining the candid, enthusiastic, and, sometimes, salty voice that made the first edition so popular.

Demystifying the playwriting process, Garrison speaks directly to practitioners, offering the lessons of the craft in his trademark blend of honesty, humor, and horse sense. He explores the questions that playwrights face every day, including:
  • uncovering inspiration
  • dealing with criticism
  • turning off the internal critic
  • finding teachers and mentors and then maintaining relationships with them
  • self-promoting the smart way
  • triumphing over writer's block
  • staying healthy in the art and the business after your fingers are off the keyboard.
Don't just make a living at playwriting. Read The New, Improved Playwright's Survival Guide and make a life of it.

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • Buy $50 in qualifying physical textbooks, get $5 in Amazon MP3 Credit. Here's how (restrictions apply)

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with A More Perfect Ten: Writing and Producing the Ten-Minute Play $13.50

The New, Improved Playwright's Survival Guide: Keeping the Drama In Your Work and Out of Your Life + A More Perfect Ten: Writing and Producing the Ten-Minute Play
  • This item: The New, Improved Playwright's Survival Guide: Keeping the Drama In Your Work and Out of Your Life

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • A More Perfect Ten: Writing and Producing the Ten-Minute Play

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details



Editorial Reviews

Review

“The honesty and humor make me laugh out loud with tears of joy and pain streaming down my face. I want to give it to everyone I know - its such a life lesson.”–Carolyn J. Griffin, Managing Director, Metro Stage

“The fundamental value of this book is that it outs the playwright as a vulnerable human, living in the messy and dirty real world . Chatty, not analytical, more Ethel Merman than Antonin Artaud, this book is good company.”–Mike Kenny, Research in Drama Education

About the Author

Gary Garrison is a published and produced playwright fearlessly slugging it out in New York City. His plays include Old Soles, Oh Messiah Me, Cherry Reds, An Angel in the Early Bird Special, The Big Fat Naked Truth, and When a Diva Dreams. He is Artistic Director and Division Head of Playwriting for the Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, National Chair of Playwriting for the Kennedy Center's American College Theatre Festival, and the recipient of the 2005 Outstanding Teacher of Playwriting for the Association of Theatre in Higher Education.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Heinemann Drama; 2 edition (October 14, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0325008167
  • ISBN-13: 978-0325008165
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,263,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

 

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Best in the Bunch, November 8, 2006
By 
This review is from: The New, Improved Playwright's Survival Guide: Keeping the Drama In Your Work and Out of Your Life (Paperback)
As a playwright and a teacher of playwriting, I've used THE PLAYWRIGHT'S SURVIVAL GUIDE in my classes, and as a "bible" of sorts for my own playwriting. My students love it. It's accessible, smart, incredibly friendly, and full of good advice that the other textbooks just don't touch. Why? It's the style of the book itself. Most textbooks are full of information, but very few read like a novel. Gary Garrison's "new and improved" guide leads readers--potential playwrights--through a journey, and it's entertaining. My students feel that they get to know the author as much as they do learn about playwriting, so when I assign it, they read it from cover to cover BEFORE they actually have to for class. A professor can ask for little more. But, as a playwright myself, I use the guide to encourage me to keep writing, and to give me great advice along the way. This is the rare textbook that reads like a novel, has the personality and voice of its author, and continues to inspire me. Gary Garrison isn't scared to tell it like it is, and he knows and empathized with his readers. What more can someone ask--and from a text! I am sure there's no better guide out there for students or their teachers.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


5.0 out of 5 stars A Gold Mine of Info for Playwrights, July 6, 2007
By 
Alfonso Affinito (West Haven, Connecticut USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The New, Improved Playwright's Survival Guide: Keeping the Drama In Your Work and Out of Your Life (Paperback)
Gary Garrison's New and Improved Survival Guide is an absolute necessity for anyone who even just thinks about writing a play as well as seasoned playwrights. Mr. Garrison shares his many years of experience with no holds barred with humor and sometimes intensity. He warns, instructs and encourages with a candor that is unusual in books of this category. and is permeated with honest and no nonsense advice. This advocate for playwrights should be read by all who are committed to the field.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


5.0 out of 5 stars For Every Playwright, December 3, 2006
This review is from: The New, Improved Playwright's Survival Guide: Keeping the Drama In Your Work and Out of Your Life (Paperback)
I had been out of college for a few years, and was in need of some guidance, when along came this book. It spoke to me in a way that no other book on playwriting had done previously or has done since. Every playwright, or writer for that matter, should pick up this book, especially if you're looking for a swift, kind kick in the tush. Gary tells it like it is, with his own loving care and unique style of encouragement. Plus, it's funny as hell. Get this book. It could very well change your life the way it changed mine.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews



Only search this product's reviews



What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums



So You'd Like to...


Create a guide


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject