In The Dramatist's Toolkit , playwright and Backstage columnist Jeff Sweet offers an intensive and practical guide to being a working playwright.

Solving Your Script is a hardheaded approach to solving technical problems in scripts. In down-to-earth chapters, award-winning playwright and screenwriter Jeffrey Sweet introduces tools enabling writers to: write exposition using the future tense make characters vivid even before they appear find the idiosyncrasies in a character that will generate story Each chapter includes a discussion of a particular technique, followed by an assignment from Sweet's workshop and scenes written by his colleagues and students. There are also detailed discussions of what works in the scenes, what is problematic, and why.

Perfect for playwrights and screenwriters of all levels of experience, The Writer's Toolkit will equip you with everything required to kickstart your creativity, develop your craft, and make your writing the very best that it can be. Written by an experienced playwright, screenwriter and producer, this essential book is packed with almost two hundred practical exercises, techniques and ideas for every part of your process, designed to be used either solo or in a group. It includes: Writing warm-ups to focus your mind and get your creative muscles in gear Dozens of exercises to strengthen fundamental elements of your writing such as developing characters, improving dialogue, layering in subtext, creating a strong setting and constructing a compelling plot Immersive-writing techniques to lift the world of your script off the page and allow you to shape it more effectively A blueprint for writing a ten-minute play--a great way to practise your craft, explore a new idea and add to your portfolio A Submission Surgery with exercises and pointers so you can review and fine-tune your completed work before sending it out 101 quick-fire writing prompts to help you warm up, take a break from your current project, or just keep you feeling productive Also included are mindful meditations to use at the beginning and end of your writing sessions, to help you relax, boost your productivity and maximise your creative output. Whatever you need as a writer--whether that's to crack a problem in your current script, develop ideas for future projects, build up your skills and experience, or bust through writer's block--this book will give you the right tools for the job. So get writing!

A stimulating and wide-ranging resource for both beginning and experienced dramatists, comprising invigorating, provocative, and irreverent exercises contributed by nearly 60 contemporary English-language playwrights, covering all stages of the writing process.

The Literary Manager’s Toolkit is a clear and comprehensive guide to the role of the literary manager in theatre and beyond, focusing on the key skills, networks, and processes that underpin a successful career in this and associated roles. This book outlines the tasks and responsibilities of a literary manager in the selection, development, and production of new plays. In the first part, it outlines the how, when, and why of the literary manager’s main activities, equipping the reader with everything that they will need when approaching this role’s central challenges. The second part provides a selection of practical, accessible, and easy-to-follow materials and workshop suggestions for literary managers who will work with playwrights as they develop their creative writing and dramaturgy skills. This is the go-to resource for the working professional literary manager or dramaturg, and for students on dramaturgy courses in theatre degree programmes.

Spark your creativity, hone your writing, and improve your scripts with the self-contained character, scene, and story exercises found in this classic guide. Having spent decades working with dramatists to refine and expand their existing plays and screenplays, Dunne effortlessly blends condensed dramatic theory with specific action steps—over sixty workshop-tested exercises that can be adapted to virtually any individual writing process and dramatic script. Dunne’s in-depth method is both instinctual and intellectual, allowing writers to discover new actions for their characters and new directions for their stories. The exercises can be used by those just starting the writing process and by those who have scripts already in development. With each exercise rooted in real-life issues from Dunne’s workshops, readers of this companion will find the combined experiences of more than fifteen hundred workshops in a single guide. This second edition is fully aligned with a brand-new companion book, Character, Scene, and Story, which offers forty-two additional activities to help writers more fully develop their scripts. The two books include cross-references between related exercises, though each volume can also stand alone. No ordinary guide to plotting, this handbook centers on the principle that character is key. “The character is not something added to the scene or to the story,” writes Dunne. “Rather, the character is the scene. The character is the story.” With this new edition, Dunne’s remarkable creative method will continue to be the go-to source for anyone hoping to take their story to the stage. “Dunne mixes an artist’s imagination and intuition with a teacher’s knowledge of the craft of dramatic writing.” —May-Brit Akerholt, award-winning dramaturg

With examples from an extensive range of poets from Chaucer to today, The Poetry Toolkit offers simple and clear explanations of key terms, genres and concepts that enable readers to develop a richer, more sophisticated approach to reading, thinking and writing about poems. Combining an easy-to-use reference format defining and illustrating key concepts, forms and topics, with in-depth practice readings and further exercises, the book helps students master the study of poetry for themselves. Now in its second edition, The Poetry Toolkit includes a wider range of examples from contemporary poetry and more American poetry. In addition, an extended close reading section now offers practice comparative readings of the kind students are most likely to be asked to undertake, as well as readings informed by contemporary environmental and urban approaches. The book is also supported by extensive online resources, including podcasts, weblinks, guides to further reading and advanced study guides to reading poetry theoretically.