The elements of playwriting

Louis Catron, the highly regarded teacher, author, and playwright, has created an exceptional book destined to serve aspiring playwrights as Strunk and White's classic Elements of Style has served other writers. Addressing both the artistic and the utilitarian with equal regard, the book presents the basic principles of writing stageworthy plays, such as plot, dialogue, and character development, along with practical guidelines on working with actors and directors, getting produced and published, and finding an agent. It explores both how to write plays and what it means to be a playwright - from turning ideas into plays and structuring a play's action to creating dimensional characters and understanding the varying demands of monodramas, one-acts, and full-length plays. Throughout, the author emphasizes creating stageworthy plays and favors concrete advice over theory. In addition to insights on what producers, directors, actors, and audiences look for in plays, he includes numerous examples from classical and modern plays, exercises the budding playwright can use to sharpen and develop skills, directions for typing a script in the proper format, and advice on a subject too often neglected: evaluating and revising the play. At once inspirational and practical, The Elements of Playwriting is an essential reference for beginning and experienced playwright alike, and an invaluable resource for anyone involved in the art and craft of theatre.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.