Playwriting For Dummies

I love the way this book is structured. Lots of basic information and good advice. I’m just in the research stage, so I expect to go back to this again and again.

As a retired teacher, I only wish that this book had been available years ago. It is an amusing, informative guide for the creative writer who has little or no experience with the format or process of writing a play. As Moose of Many Waters has suggested, this is not a book for serious, experienced writers. It is a book for the writer who has a story in mind, but does not yet know how to bring that story to fruition, or who has limited theater experience. It is also a book for the more experienced writer who simply does not know where to go once the script is finished. I taught Creative Writing for many years and have never found a book as clear and comprehensive as this one (and trust me, I have viewed many, many books on writing in my 27 year career). My most recent Dummies purchase was Nikon D90 for Dummies. I am sure any professional photographer would consider this book to be incredibly simple, written for the rank amateur, but I am taking better photos than I ever did before. That is the role of Playwriting for Dummies. It takes the amateur writer and guides them to better writing and the process of taking those words into the real world of theater.

The author deserves 5 stars based on books I read written by different people such as stuart spencer, Jeffrey Hatcher 's book, naked playwriting ( different author), and comparing it with the two book essays of David Mamet. I wrote this in appreciation since the explanations were easy for me. Not everyone is qualified to teach writing. But as I have bought many books they never have taught me the basics. There would be more writers because of books such as this one. Since he is a professor that makes he qualified to write a book that explains how to write stories. That and he seems honest in what he explained. it is the best book I currently own.

What can I say that has not already been said by either the Book Description, the Editorial Reviews or the other 12 reviewers. I can confirm and_that it is fully deserving of all that has been said so far. I am not a playwright, I've never been to a creative writing class, but I have a story to tell and needed the confidence and competence to do it justice. Mr. Parra has made this a very easy, understandable, relevant, and even entertaining read that I was able to do in 2 days - without the laborious boring process I had expected it to be. As the name suggests, it may not be for the advanced and experienced playwright whatever persons such as myself it is a gold mine, a solid investment and worth far more than the price, Amazon is charging for it. I would give it six stars if I could.

You could learn more from reading "Save the Cat" or any other highly-rated screenwriting book. I was hoping to learn more play-specific tips, but it's just general plotting and dialogue tips.

It's easy to dismiss this series of books because of their titles, but this one is actually VERY good. Down-to-earth and practical knowledge is offered throughout, and there is no shortage of useful tips. I admire what this book accomplishes - it reminds pros and encourages beginners of the things that make playwriting worthwhile.

If you need someplace to start, or a quick overview, this is a good read. Practical information on the entire life of a script, from the idea through production of a performance. If you're hoping to get deep insights on the works of Chekhov or Ibsen, you'll of course be disappointed, because that's not what this book is for.

It is the perfect book for me just now. I have my story line -or 'spine' as this book calls it-, so as I read it all made sense. I felt I wanted to write to the author and thank him for being right inside my head just at the right time. Please tell him 'thank you' from me.

does what it says on the tin

Pretty much what I expected.

I found it very helpful and accessible. Clearly written with painstaking attention to detail. As useful to novelists screenwriters and all fiction writers.

I learned a great deal about playwriting from this book. It is definitely worth a read, at least for a beginner, to the playwright world.

Good down to earth solid advice all the way down the line. Enjoyed this immensely.