Playwriting: The Structure of Action (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780300107241)

A classic guide to dramatic writing now revised and expanded for a new generation of playwrights and screenwriters

This practical guide provides the principles of dramatic writing. Playwrights and screenwriters will discover these essential principles and acquire the tools to put them to use. Sam Smiley incorporates extensive new material in Playwriting: The Structure of Action, a revised edition of the book that dramatists in theatre and film have relied on for more than twenty-five years. No writer, director, critic, or teacher concerned with dramatic writing should be without this intelligent and inspiring guide.

Sam Smiley offers insights derived from a lifetime of writing, teaching, and consulting. While preserving the best of the earlier edition of the book, he offers new discussion on contemporary playwrights (Tony Kushner and Tom Stoppard), on copyright law, on new writing approaches, and on nontraditional dramatic forms.
Reaching far beyond simplistic how-to instructions, the book focuses on identifying and explaining principles essential to creating dramas: plot, character, thought, diction, melody, and spectacle. Smiley explains these classic topics and provides the modern keys for realizing each element in effective dramatic scripts.

Author: Sam Smiley
ISBN-10: 0300107242
ISBN-13: 9780300107241
Publisher: Yale University Press
Language: English
Published: 10/01/2005
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.82lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.52w x 0.88d

Review Citation(s):
Univ PR Books for Public Libry 01/01/2006 pg. 1 - Strongly Recommended