Category Archives: How to Create Plots

The science behind good plays

Posted on 18 February 2015 by playwrightsmuse

Researchers have done a lot of work in the past few years on what makes a compelling story. You can use the results of their research to help you make your plays express your passion for what you’re writing. What … Continue reading →

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Why waste time? Start out strong!

Posted on 13 November 2013 by playwrightsmuse

I went to a play reading the other night. The playwright has a lot of experience, has gotten awards, has gotten work produced around the country. So I was surprised at how weak the play was, given the playwright’s experience … Continue reading →

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Dream Logic — the essay by Kato McNickle

Posted on 23 October 2013 by playwrightsmuse

Kato McNickle, one of the presenters at the “Dream Logic” talk at the Dramatists Guild conference in August, wrote an essay based on her research on dream logic. “I woke myself up laughing. Laughing out loud at a play that … Continue reading →

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Dream Logic — exercises

Posted on 16 October 2013 by playwrightsmuse

At that “Dream Logic” talk at the Dramatists Guild conference in August, the presenters passed out a booklet with an essay about dream logic, and two exercises.  Kato McNickle gave me permission to post them here. The exercises were developed … Continue reading →

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Dream Logic – how it can help your plays, part 2

Posted on 25 September 2013 by playwrightsmuse

So, in a previous post, I talked about what I learned at the “Dream Logic” session at the Dramatists Guild conference in August. In this post, I’m going to talk about some examples I came up with on how you … Continue reading →

Posted in 1. Get Inspiration, Dramatists Guild Conference 2013, How to 'Show, Don't Tell', How to Create Plots, How to Find/Create Characters | Tagged | 2 Comments

Plots – “Oh, no, what could be worse?”

Posted on 22 April 2013 by playwrightsmuse

We all have problems figuring out what happens in our plays. Here’s something I learned in improvisational theater, years ago, that’s helped me develop plots. Ask yourself, how can things be worse for my main character? The first full-length play … Continue reading →

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Plots – dream up your character’s “best possible outcome”

Posted on 18 April 2013 by playwrightsmuse

I’m working on this one play for which I have a bunch of scenes. But I’m having trouble figuring out how it ends. And I’m having trouble figuring out how to get from here (the scenes I have) to there … Continue reading →

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Plots — More weird sh*t

Posted on 23 January 2013 by playwrightsmuse

More “To Do” Lists In my last post, Plots — All the weird sh*t that can happen, I talked about my characters’ “to do” lists. I realized I forgot a few things. Elena – The Curious Grad Student’s “To Do” List … Continue reading →

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Plots — All the weird sh*t that can happen

Posted on 17 January 2013 by playwrightsmuse

I’ve been blogging some about this great playwriting class I took last fall. (Story ideas you never would’ve thought of, Shine some brilliance on the core problem of your play.) I came up with this intriguing, witty, warmhearted story about … Continue reading →

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