The 90-Day Play: The Process and Principles of Playwriting

by Linda Jenkins

Linda Walsh Jenkins developed the ideas and guidance in this practical book by teaching playwriting as well as working with playwrights, directors and productions of new plays for several decades. Through 90 daily lessons and hundreds of writing exercises, illustrated with examples from dramatic literature, she helps * Explore the richness of your dramatic world and its themes * Discover multiple facets of your dramatic characters * Create and sustain an active throughline * Find a balance between planning ahead and writing freely * Learn techniques for composing your unique play * Become confident with your own voice and style * Rewrite and develop your play for production “I have taken one writing class in my life. It was from Linda Jenkins when I was a student at Northwestern. She was an invaluable support and mentor as I wrote my very first play.” - John Logan (Tony Award-Winning Playwright for Red) “The first play I ever wrote was during ninety days of intense work in Linda Jenkins' fabulous class. Her encouragement and humor kept me going then, and they buoy me even today. If not for her belief in me, I don’t know that I would have pursued a career as a writer.” - Nancy Rawles (award-winning author of Miz Sparks Is On Fire and This Ain’t No Drill) “There is no one I know whose knowledge of the development of dramatic art rivals that of Linda Jenkins. She knows how a play works inside and out, and knows how to teach that elusive and ephemeral craft to others. Linda has been both my teacher and my colleague and I treasure her input on all my work. Quite simply, if you want someone to teach you playwriting, she is the best.” - Sally Nemeth (TV writer for Law & Order, author of The Heights, the Depths and Everything in Between) “I am forever grateful to Linda Jenkins for her ability to be compassionate and firm at the same time, trusting me to follow my instincts and guiding me in principles of storytelling and character. She taught me to trust my voice. Her expert understanding of form, story, dialogue and character has been the basis for my understanding of the art (and craft) of playwriting.” - Bruce Ward (playwright of Lazarus Syndrome and Life in the 80’s) “As a young playwright, I was helped by Linda Jenkins to place myself in each specific moment of my character’s physical life, to genuinely discover the action that set my play in motion. As her student, I experienced a delicate balance of collaboration, critique, and guidance, without ever losing hold of the story I had set out to tell. Today, as a teacher, I work daily to create that same environment of curiosity and trust with my own students, as they explore their own playwright’s voice. So much of what they learn from me, I learned from Linda. I am proud to extend the reach of her personal, practical approach to the craft of playwriting.” - Jeff Hall (Founding Director of The Young People’s Theatre Project) Linda Jenkins’ playwriting class is the only class I have ever needed. Linda’s sense of dramatic arc and insightful character exploration techniques have been the foundation of my playwriting career. It is difficult to tread the line between art and what is commercially viable, but Linda’s ability to communicate the basic tenets of form and structure helped me create a playwriting process which has served me successfully, writing straight plays and musicals, in regional and Off-Broadway productions. Linda will teach you what you need to know.

Genres: Writing, Plays, Nonfiction

304 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 23, 2017

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Shawn Deal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books of its kind. An extremely useful book, with a good walk through method, on writing a play. Where not every day is useful, and certainly some more useful than others, the core of this book is rock solid. There is great wisdom in this book, and a number of great exercises to keep your play moving and your thoughts going and focused. Highly recommended.

[Bonnie Clarkson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Each day she has a different topic. Each day and week she has writing exercises that explore how each topic affects the others. E-book has bookmarks, highlighting, notes that you can add. Useful information for any writer; not just plays.

[Bres · Rating 4 out of 5]

At stages enjoyable and others a bit frustrating, yet overall it made me think about my (potential) play in ways they I appreciated. I struggled to keep up with the daily exercises.... maybe that's me, maybe that's me not being clear of where the process was heading. I now find I have a lot of notes and writing about my play (characters, beats etc).... and I wonder how I'll go at taking it all on board. Perhaps that simply implies that despite a useful book for prompts and thinking, the actual writing the play work still awaits. I would recommend reading the book but you may have to find your own key to getting the best from the process. Good luck with your writing.