Summer is a season of vision. Vision can be defined many different ways, but I love to think of it as ambition mixed with focus. As a student at Emory University who is majoring in playwriting, I spend my fall and spring semesters studying hard and getting inspiration. So, when the summer rolls around, I’m ready to dive deeper into my playwriting work. Get a sneak peek into what I’ve been up to this summer — and read about the many lessons about theatre and the power of vision that I’ve learned along the way. ADAPTING THEATRE FOR LIVE-STREAMING AUDIENCES Photo of Dylan Malloy by Jack Rand ..read more

Playwriting advice inspires us and often helps us think about stories in fresh ways. Sure you can Google it and get about 1,590,000 results (0.42 seconds), but how do you know if you can rely on what what the search engines found for you?  Most writers will tell you that they acquired their most valuable knowledge of how to do the work either through personal experience or directly from another writer. Here are quotes from 16 writing friends we know and trust to share helpful wisdom on the art and craft of dramatic literature. Here’s what they said: This story appeared in the October ..read more

These playwriting tips focus on the opening, middle, and closing of your story. They will help you pace your story to keep your audience interested. The key is to show the audience how the characters and the world they are in are transformed beyond the ordinary. Here is what you need to know to hook your audience and create deep emotion. Playwriting Tips: Openings Before any transformation takes place, the audience needs a sense of how the world currently is in the story’s setting. The first few minutes of dialogue should be devoted to introducing the characters and the world of the stor ..read more

If you’re a playwright, or a writer of any kind, your teachers and mentors have probably told you to “write what you know.” Finding inspiration from your own life can really strengthen your story’s impact. That’s certainly true for Isaiah Reaves, a professional playwright on the rise who’s based in Cincinnati, Ohio. His work explores a spectrum of Black and Queer experiences. “Saying that I ‘write what I know’ seems clichéd, but it’s the truth,” says Reaves. “I write about what I’ve been through. When I was a kid, I was bullied, but writing about being bullied set me free and made me feel be ..read more

Yale graduate Skyler Chin has taken the fight against stereotypes in theatre personally. Inspired by his internship experiences at Angel Island, Skyler wrote Illegal, a creative and powerful rap-rock musical about the history of Asian-American immigrants. He hopes Illegal helps shine the light of understanding on the often untold history of Asian immigrants. The expressive lyrics and dynamic score of Illegal does what theatre does best: educate while entertaining! Skyler was initially inspired by his grandparents’ stories of immigrating to the U.S. during the Chinese Exclusion era in the lat ..read more

When you think of live theatre, maybe a fantasy world with spaceships, androids, or flying cars isn’t what you see in your mind’s eye. Yet through speculative plays, all this and more comes to life! According to Book Riot, speculative fiction “can include literary fiction with fantastical elements as well as hardcore science fiction, fantasy, and horror.” Think: Star Wars or Fahrenheit 451 as examples. It’s possible to take all the imaginative, suspenseful, mind-bending power of speculative stories to the stage. Here are writing tips that transcend time and space. Your Fantasy World Requir ..read more

So, you’ve done it! You’ve written your first (or third… or eighth…) play! A table read is the next step in the development process on the path to production. This is a simple read-through of the script with actors. Table reads help the playwright to hear their work out loud, and to identify problem spots in the script. Here is how to create an unforgettable first reading of your newest play. Prepare thoroughly for the table read Make sure you are 100 percent comfortable with the script being put into the world before the first table read. If the story is not complete, it becomes easier fo ..read more

Confession: It takes me forever to sit down to write. A blank screen means I have to solve a writing problem: what to write! No matter what it is you write, facing the blank screen can may bring panic and self-doubt. But there is a solution to the problem! In fact, here are five quick exercises (solutions!) to stir your creativity and help you solve writing problems.  My last two articles were about the how and why of writing. This one is about the what. Writers know we need a strong hook to bring the reader in. So, sometimes the first problem to solve is: What’s new and different ab ..read more