A master class in dramatic writing : theater, film, and television / Janet Neipris.

Includes index.

Preface: the moral responsibility of the artist -- Introduction: The writer's life -- Week 1: Beginnings -- Week 2: Creating complex characters -- Week 3: Dialogue -- Week 4: Escalating conflicts -- sixty questions when writing a dramatic piece -- Week 6: Putting it all together -- Week 7: Endings -- Week 8: Checkpoints -- Week 9: Rewriting -- Week 10: Adaptation -- Week 11: Comedy -- Week 12: The fifteen habits of successful dramatic writers -- Week 13: Lessons from master teachers and students -- Week 14: To be a writer.

A Masterclass in Dramatic Writing addresses all three genres of dramatic writing - for theatre, film and TV - in a comprehensive, one-semester, 14-week masterclass for the dramatic writer.

Including new material alongside revised, extended selections from Janet Neipris' original and much loved book To Be A Playwright, this volume takes the writer up to a first draft and rewrite of a dramatic work. The fourteen chapters, organized like a semester, guide the writer week-by-week and step-by-step to the completion of a first draft and a rewrite. There are Weekly Exercises and progressive Assignments. Chapters include Beginnings, Creating Complex Characters, Dialogue, Escalating Conflicts, Endings, Checkpoints, Comedy, and Adaptation.
[amazon.com]