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Playwriting: The Merciless Craft: Comprehensive Techniques for Mastering Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Playwriting
Comprehensive techniques for mastering Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Playwriting.
This book is designed to serve concurrently the writer who has never written a play, but would like to write a good one; journeyman playwrights who would like to increase their skill set, deepen their knowledge of the craft and increase the power of their work; and advanced playwrights who are seeking new horizons to challenge their already considerable craftsmanship.
For the beginning playwright, this book provides specific techniques in how to design your material to work in the theater; for the writer who is already a practiced playwright, this book provides a tool box of skills for plotting, story structure, character development, theatricality, and multiple uses of dialog, to broaden and strengthen your work. It provides a diagnostic tool for trouble-shooting your plays, so that every moment of your plays will work in the theater as you envision them. For the advanced playwright, this book provides layers of techniques to test against your skill set, deepen your dramatic powers, and widen the horizons of your craft.
Carol Wolf's plays have been produced on both coasts and on five continents. The plays of her playwriting students have been produced on both coasts and on four continents, so far.
This book is designed to serve concurrently the writer who has never written a play, but would like to write a good one; journeyman playwrights who would like to increase their skill set, deepen their knowledge of the craft and increase the power of their work; and advanced playwrights who are seeking new horizons to challenge their already considerable craftsmanship.
For the beginning playwright, this book provides specific techniques in how to design your material to work in the theater; for the writer who is already a practiced playwright, this book provides a tool box of skills for plotting, story structure, character development, theatricality, and multiple uses of dialog, to broaden and strengthen your work. It provides a diagnostic tool for trouble-shooting your plays, so that every moment of your plays will work in the theater as you envision them. For the advanced playwright, this book provides layers of techniques to test against your skill set, deepen your dramatic powers, and widen the horizons of your craft.
Carol Wolf's plays have been produced on both coasts and on five continents. The plays of her playwriting students have been produced on both coasts and on four continents, so far.
- GenresNonfictionWriting
302 pages, Paperback
First published April 27, 2012
4 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Carol Wolf
13 books39 followersCarol Wolf is the author of Summoning and Binding, Books One and Two of The Moon Wolf Saga, Savage Island, Voyages of the Shep, and Coyote Run (with Eric Elliott). Wolf's new novel, The Book of Lost Days, a science fiction adventure, is scheduled for release on March 23, 2019.
Wolf's plays have been produced on both coasts and five continents, and have won the L.A. Drama Critic's Circle Award, the Bay Area Critic's Award, and the London Fringe First. The Thousandth Night was translated into French and will be seen at the Avignon Theatre Festival in July, 2019, at the Theatre des Rampartes. Dr. Rowan, the Demon, and Love, winner of the Stage to Screen playwriting contest, will receive a workshop production August 27-Sept 3, 2019, in the Bay Area. She is a proud member of the Pear Theater Writer's Guild, SWFA, and The Dramatist Guild.
Wolf is the author of Playwriting: the Mericiless Craft; Comprehensive Techniques for Mastering Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Playwriting.
Wolf wrote the scripts for the blockbuster video games Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and Legacy of Kain: Defiance. She is a co-founder of Paw Print Studios, for which she wrote and directed two feature films, The Valley of Fear, and Far from the Sea. She produced and directed the documentary feature Letters to my Grandchildren, which will be submitted to festivals in 2019.
Wolf lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada with her husband, Eric Elliott, two border collies, and a varying number of sheep. She is a yon-dan in Toyama-rhu Iaido, the Japanese art of the sword, a certified instructor in Shiyomi-rhu, and holds a knighthood in the Society for Creative Anachronism. She is a regular attendant of CombatCon, where she takes part in panels on how to write realistic fight scenes.
Wolf's plays have been produced on both coasts and five continents, and have won the L.A. Drama Critic's Circle Award, the Bay Area Critic's Award, and the London Fringe First. The Thousandth Night was translated into French and will be seen at the Avignon Theatre Festival in July, 2019, at the Theatre des Rampartes. Dr. Rowan, the Demon, and Love, winner of the Stage to Screen playwriting contest, will receive a workshop production August 27-Sept 3, 2019, in the Bay Area. She is a proud member of the Pear Theater Writer's Guild, SWFA, and The Dramatist Guild.
Wolf is the author of Playwriting: the Mericiless Craft; Comprehensive Techniques for Mastering Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Playwriting.
Wolf wrote the scripts for the blockbuster video games Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and Legacy of Kain: Defiance. She is a co-founder of Paw Print Studios, for which she wrote and directed two feature films, The Valley of Fear, and Far from the Sea. She produced and directed the documentary feature Letters to my Grandchildren, which will be submitted to festivals in 2019.
Wolf lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada with her husband, Eric Elliott, two border collies, and a varying number of sheep. She is a yon-dan in Toyama-rhu Iaido, the Japanese art of the sword, a certified instructor in Shiyomi-rhu, and holds a knighthood in the Society for Creative Anachronism. She is a regular attendant of CombatCon, where she takes part in panels on how to write realistic fight scenes.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 7, 2013
Ms. Wolf's insights into the practical realities of the theater, drawn from her own extensive, hands-on work experience, make The Merciless Craft stand out among playwriting "How To's." The author gives pointers on casting, set design, and timing which make sense in today's economic climate. The theater is definitely a team effort, and Ms. Wolf makes us aware of that as she describes the actor's, director's, and stage manager's roles in interpreting the written play script.
The book is divided into brief, easy-to-digest 1-5 page chapters, and the writing is succinct, with fun examples of dialogue and stage directions (do's and don't's) to illustrate the advice. The book would be useful for writers of short stories and novels, as it covers the topics of dramatic tension, character "cuts," parallel plots, and so much more.
Ms. Wolf, an accomplished playwright with numerous productions and writing awards to her credit, benefits us with her considerable experience in a non-pretentious, down to earth manner.
The book is divided into brief, easy-to-digest 1-5 page chapters, and the writing is succinct, with fun examples of dialogue and stage directions (do's and don't's) to illustrate the advice. The book would be useful for writers of short stories and novels, as it covers the topics of dramatic tension, character "cuts," parallel plots, and so much more.
Ms. Wolf, an accomplished playwright with numerous productions and writing awards to her credit, benefits us with her considerable experience in a non-pretentious, down to earth manner.
December 31, 2022
She knows her craft! Ms. Wolf takes the mystery out of playwriting and makes it attainable. Give it a try!
April 28, 2023
Great guide to playwriting. Lays out the elements in concrete smaller steps. This is a great resource both for playwrights, and for someone potentially having to teach playwriting to someone else.
April 3, 2013
If you are sick to death of vague, hand-waving how-to books, this is the perfect antidote. A nut-and-bolts approach to the craft that has wider application to storytelling in many other forms.
The diagnostic tools that enable you to figure out where your work is having problems are worth the price of the book alone!
The diagnostic tools that enable you to figure out where your work is having problems are worth the price of the book alone!
August 19, 2022
Excellent book!!!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews