Creative Writing For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 14

Penning Plays

IN THIS CHAPTER

Building the structure

Understanding play types

Considering play spaces

Playing on the radio

Drama is fiction that results in a performance. Writing drama is a collaborative process. Unlike other forms of writing, many plays are finalized only when the director and actors become involved; many an actor has refused to speak certain lines and many a director has deleted a particular scene that didn’t work. Many of Shakespeare’s plays exist in different versions for this reason.

Drama is unique because live actors and a live audience create a state of tension and excitement not found in other forms of fiction. Writing for the stage requires some knowledge of how the theater works – you need to see a lot of plays to appreciate what works on stage and what doesn’t. It’s especially important to watch contemporary drama and see what work is being staged today.

Despite the popularity of film and television, live theater remains in. Musicals, which are essentially plays with songs and music, have achieved new audiences with the runaway success of ...