Review
“Stuart Spencer's meticulous handbook does something I had thought was almost impossible: it describes, clarifies and analyzes the mysterious process of building a play. And moreover, he does so with the grace and respect of a first-rate teacher for the intelligence and potential of his students. There is no ideology, no formula for instant success here. Just the distilled experience of a real practitioner generous enough to share, and reliable enough to be trusted.” ―Jon Robin Baitz, author of Ten Unknowns and Substance of Fire
“Stuart Spencer's The Playwright's Guidebook is indispensable. Clearly and thoroughly, Mr. Spencer--a playwright himself--leads all playwrights (not only the beginner) through the travails of creation and the jungle of production. He is to be congratulated.” ―Edward Albee
“Eureka! A clearly written, well-structured, intelligent how-to book about playwrighting. Like the good teacher and good writer that he is, Stuart Spencer guides rather than browbeats. Should be next to the laptop of any aspiring, or working, playwright.” ―Warren Leight, author of Side Man
“If you want to be a playwright, here's your bible.” ―David Lindsay-Abaire, author of Fuddy Meers and Wonder of the World
“At last! A straight-from-the-shoulder approach to playwrighting that finally blows the dust off much of the mystique surrounding this craft. Stuart Spencer writes with wit, insight, clarity, brilliant first-hand knowledge, and yes, finally, offers genuine help! Refreshing and beautifully organized, this book is long overdue.” ―Jack O'Brien, Artistic Director, The Globe Theatres, San Diego
“A sensible, lucid, thorough and tremendously helpful journey into the always mysterious realities of playwrighting.” ―Romulus Linney, author of The Sorrows of Frederick, Holy Ghosts, and Tennessee
“Mr. Spencer's guidebook is full of solid, straightforward advice in a conversational voice that takes the mystery out of how plays are wrought, not written.” ―Michael Weller, author of Moon Children and Loose Ends
From the Inside Flap
Praise for THE PLAYWRIGHT'S GUIDEBOOK "Stuart Spencer's *The Playwright's Guidebook* is indispensable. Clearly and thoroughly, Mr. Spencer--a playwright himself--leads all playwrights (not only the beginner) through the travails of creation and the jungle of production. He is to be congratulated."--Edward Albee
"Eureka! A clearly written, well-structured, intelligent how-to book about playwrighting. Like the good teacher and good writer that he is, Stuart Spencer guides rather than browbeats. Should be next to the laptop of any aspiring, or working, playwright."--Warren Leight, author of *Side Man*
"If you want to be a playwright, here's your bible." --David Lindsay-Abaire, author of *Fuddy Meers* and *Wonder of the World*
"Mr. Spencer's *Guidebook* is full of solid, straightforward advice in a conversational voice that takes the mystery out of how plays are wrought, not written." --Michael Weller, author of *Moonchildren*, *Loose Ends*, and Co-founder of the Mentor Project at the Cherry Lane Theatre
"A sensible, lucid, thorough and tremendously helpful journey into the always mysterious realities of playwriting." --Romulus Linney, author of *The Sorrows of Frederick*,*Holy Ghosts*, and *Tennessee*
"At last! A straight-from-the-shoulder approach to playwrighting that finally blows the dust off much of the mystique surrounding this craft. Stuart Spencer writes with wit, insight, clarity, brilliant first-hand knowledge, and yes, finally, offers genuine help! Refreshing and beautifully organized, this book is long overdue." --Jack O'Brien, Artistic Director, The Globe Theatres, San Diego
"Stuart Spencer's meticulous handbook does something I had thought was almost impossible: it describes, clarifies and analyzes the mysterious process of building a play. And moreover, he does so with the grace and respect of a first-rate teacher for the intelligence and potential of his students. There is no ideology, no formula for instant success here. Just the distilled experience of a real practitioner generous enough to share, and reliable enough to be trusted." --Jon Robin Baitz, author of *Ten Unknowns* and *Substance of Fire*
About the Author
Stuart Spencer's play Resident Alien has been produced around the country and been optioned for film. He teaches playwriting at Sarah Lawrence College.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Playwright's Guidebook
An Insightful Primer on the Art of Dramatic WritingBy Stuart SpencerFaber & Faber
Copyright © 2002 Stuart Spencer
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9780571199914
The Playwright's Guidebook
PART ONESTRUCTUREPROLOGUE: THE TOOLSTHE TOOLS we're about to discuss provide you with the means to begin writing your play. Even the expert use of these tools will not solve all your writing problems, but they can offer you a sense of craft. Then you can apply that craft to begin the infinitely more difficult job of actually saying what you're trying to say.It's important to remember as you're reading and working on the exercises in Part One that these ideas really are tools, not rules. There may be the laws of drama I mentioned in the Introduction, but you're better off not thinking of them as that.Many great plays do not use the tools I'm presenting here, or if so, they use them in such idiosyncratic fashion that they are almost impossible to identify. For example, one is hard pressed to find a clear action for Lear in King Lear. Even if one does find action and conflict in Waiting for Godot, anevent for the play is very elusive. In fact, that's the point of Beckett's play--that there is no event. The contemporary work of playwrights such as Richard Foreman and Robert Wilson also lack any of my tools, yet many people--myself included--find their work fascinating and rewarding.An audience goes to the theater to be entertained, informed, excited, provoked. People go because they are interested in your play, for whatever reason and on whatever level that may be. And your job is to keep them interested. If you have done that, then you have accomplished your task, no matter how little you may have used the tools I will tell you about.Conversely, no matter how brilliantly you may have structured your play, if it can't capture an audience's interest, then you've failed.
Some students ask if they should think of these structural tools as a blueprint. My reply is an emphatic no. A blueprint suggests a preconceived plan, a rigid form into which you have to make your own ideas fit. It suggests also that the idea work has already been done and that all you need to do is follow instructions. Nothing could be further from the truth.It bears repeating that the ideas described in Part One should be thought of as the tools that will come in handy while you are constructing your play. But it is your own play you are constructing, according to your own plan.It's as though you have begun to build your dream house. It's conceivable (if highly unlikely) that you might even do the work without any tools at all. If you're like most people, you'll want a hammer, some nails, a saw, and so on. Soon you'll have them. And like building a house, the blueprint ofyour play may very likely change, grow, and evolve as you create it.Other students approach me in the middle of learning some of the tools in Part One and say that they really don't want to use the tools they've been shown. They have a vague feeling of discomfort and suspect that there is something banal about them. They're afraid the tools will drain their work of creativity and that if they employ them, it will be embarrassingly obvious to the audience, who will see the play's scaffolding.This apprehension about craft is peculiar to our modern age in which we value creativity over artifice, not realizing they are two sides of the same coin. Still, it's an understandable concern. Certainly none of us wants our audiences to see the scaffolding. But that's no reason not to have it. It's only a good reason to make sure that it isn't visible. Good scaffolding is by definition invisible--it's intrinsic to the play you are writing. You'll see, in the course of using this book, that structure is not something that must be artificially imposed onto your play. It is part of your play, the foundation of it. You know you've struck gold when what you are trying to say and the way you are trying to say it, are one.Copyright © 2002 by Stuart Spencer
Continues...
Excerpted from The Playwright's Guidebook by Stuart Spencer Copyright © 2002 by Stuart Spencer. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site. 
