The Playwright's Process: Learning the Craft from Today's Leading Dramatists [Paperback]

Buzz McLaughlin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0823088332 | ISBN-13: 978-0823088331 | Publication Date: May 1, 1997

Here is the first and only manual for playwrights ever designed to draw directly from the wisdom of leading contemporary dramatists. Interwoven with hundreds of quotations from the author's own in-depth interview series at the Dramatists Guild, in New York City, The Playwright's Process offers a fresh and lively discussion of the indispensable ingredients of strong dramatic writing. Every essential step the writer must take to create a well-written, stageworthy play is examined and explored. Also mining his own experience as a dramatist and a teacher of playwriting, author Buzz McLaughlin details the entire process of developing the kernel of an idea into a fully realized play - from the writer's very first jottings to the readings and workshops that lead to a professional production. A resource for beginning and experienced writers, The Playwright's Process is a virtual guided tour of the dramatist's challenging and often mysterious creative process, chock-full of specific techniques, practical exercises, and candid observations on craft and method straight from the mouths of working, award-winning playwrights.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Back Stage Books (May 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823088332
• ISBN-13: 978-0823088331
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #513,782 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Supplement to the Art of Dramatic Writing, July 23, 2004

By 

Wayne Rossi (Mount Holly, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Playwright's Process: Learning the Craft from Today's Leading Dramatists (Paperback)

This book is full of quotes from leading dramatists, yes - which sometimes agree with McLaughlin's discussion of process, and sometimes hint that there's a lot more there. He is a very good writer, and can be persuasive in getting his point across, but the "process" he outlines is essentially an attempted refinement of Lajos Egri's The Art of Dramatic Writing - in other words, classical prescriptivism.

I'm on the record, of course, for disagreeing with Egri - I don't believe that premise should be central for your entire play, and I find Egri's method of three-dimensional character development by writing biographies to be tedious, boring, and inherently untheatrical. McLaughlin re-creates Egri's methods in a tone that is more accessible to the playwriting student of today, but he lacks Egri's penetrating analysis of conflict and takes Egri's tools out of their context, where the original presentation was superior if you happen to agree with the ideas.

It's worth talking about premise, since the matter is so controversial among playwriting texts. There are two points of view on the subject: premise is central to a good play, and theme arises from the play and should not be put first. Essentially, those who place premise first are realists, and tend to write plays in the realist vein. I am not a realist, though I recognize that excellent plays can be and have been written in that genre. If you want to write realist plays, this book works well as a supplement for Egri's Art of Dramatic Writing; it is not a functional substitute. If you don't, you should head to other texts, because this one is quite openly biased.

Still, McLaughlin has a couple of good points of view in the book for any playwright. His chapter on ideas is one of the better ones out there; if you need help on that area, this book might be worth it on that alone. And his chapter on practical issues in playwriting is solid, if not perfect, but this advice would be available in books that will be more amenable to your style.

If you agree with the realists that premise should be central, buy this and Egri. Use Egri for your dramatic theory, and McLaughlin for your practical writing. If not, look for another text.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for would-be writers, August 19, 2001

By 

Nicholas R. Hartman (Apple Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Playwright's Process: Learning the Craft from Today's Leading Dramatists (Paperback)

I wish I would have read this book six years ago. McLaughlin's book follows the playwright's process from conception to completion -- offering practical exercises and also advice from leading contemporary playwrights. The true brilliance of this book, other than it's stunningly lucid practicality, is supporting quotes from working playwrights, who expound in keen detail on the playwrighting process. The title of this book is misleading. This book is just as pertinent to screenwriters and fiction writers. It offers practical advice for problems every writer encounters. In particular, the "Playwright's Process" presents helpful exercises on nursing an initial idea into a functional, three-dimensional story. Rather than impress reader's with his knowledge of theatre vocabulary, McLaughlin charts a clear course for readers by focusing on the elements of playwrighting most newcomers struggle with -- particularly structure (character development, plotting, etc.). What makes this book so pragmatic is that McLaughlin, an experienced teacher and playwright, asks relevant questions concerning the mechanics of playwrighting. The playwright's quotes aren't presented in a round table fashion, but rather in response to insightful questions. This book covers all angles. It address the nuts and bolts of story writing, and also touches on issues like writer's block, and more importantly, how to deal with it. I was depressed after reading this book because I felt I had wasted six years, aimlessly throwing ideas and characters onto the page. If you are an aspiring screenwriter and have read Syd Field's "Screenplay," place it on your reference shelf. The "Playwright's Process" should be your writing Bible.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great coursebook for the amateur, March 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Playwright's Process: Learning the Craft from Today's Leading Dramatists (Paperback)

This book reads as well as it works. Buzz McLaughlin has taken the effort to show you how to take your time as you work from a first idea to a first draft and beyond. His own seemingly undeniable suggestions are reinforced (and occasionally juxtaposed) with the words of many of our finest and, more importantly, oft produced playwrights. With an emphasis on the craft of playwrighting, he reminds us that inspiration only takes us so far and that without some structure and nurture, our ideas will never get beyond incoherent ramblings of dialogue. He has provided everyone who has a theatrical idea with exercises and worksheets that will bring a play into the active, three-dimensional world of real characters with real needs. wouldn't have finished anything more than one so-so play without it.