The Dramatic Writer's Companion: Tools to Develop Characters, Cause Scenes, and Build Stories 2nd Edition book cover

The Dramatic Writer's Companion: Tools to Develop Characters, Cause Scenes, and Build Stories 2nd Edition

Author(s): Will Dunne (Author)

Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication Date: 4 Oct. 2017
Edition: 2nd
Language: English
Print length: 356 pages
ISBN-10: 022649408X
ISBN-13: 9780226494081

Book Description

In just eight years, The Dramatic Writer’s Companion has become a classic among playwrights and screenwriters. Thousands have used its self-contained character, scene, and story exercises to spark creativity, hone their writing, and improve their scripts.
Having spent decades working with dramatists to refine and expand their existing plays and screenplays, Dunne effortlessly blends condensed dramatic theory with specific action steps—over sixty workshop-tested exercises that can be adapted to virtually any individual writing process and dramatic script. Dunne’s in-depth method is both instinctual and intellectual, allowing writers to discover new actions for their characters and new directions for their stories. The exercises can be used by those just starting the writing process and by those who have scripts already in development. With each exercise rooted in real-life issues from Dunne’s workshops, readers of this companion will find the combined experiences of more than fifteen hundred workshops in a single guide.
This second edition is fully aligned with a brand-new companion book, Character, Scene, and Story, which offers forty-two additional activities to help writers more fully develop their scripts. The two books include cross-references between related exercises, though each volume can also stand alone.
No ordinary guide to plotting, this handbook centers on the principle that character is key. “The character is not something added to the scene or to the story,” writes Dunne. “Rather, the character is the scene. The character is the story.” With this new edition, Dunne’s remarkable creative method will continue to be the go-to source for anyone hoping to take their story to the stage.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A breath of fresh air. Whether you're working on your first play or your fortieth, preparing a first draft or polishing up a finished piece, The Dramatic Writer's Companion offers challenging, thought-provoking exercises rather than formulaic 'how-to' solutions. This is the kind of book that not only makes plays stronger; it makes writers stronger as well."--Jeni Mahoney, artistic director, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference and playwriting program head, Playwrights Horizons Theater School

"Dunne has taken everything he knows from the powerful dual standpoints of an award-winning playwright and a master teacher to create the book we've been waiting for. It's all there--from every angle and every perspective--how to bring fascinating, fully-developed characters in conflict out into the light and onto the stage."--Susan Stauter, artistic director, San Francisco Unified School District

"Dunne lays out all the right questions with great precision and elegance. In the process he coolly demystifies all the dramaturgical demons; they become nothing more than the routine technical challenges faced by any craftsman."--Dennis J. Reardon, professor emeritus of playwriting, Indiana University

"Dunne meets the writer on his or her own terms, eye to eye. Unique, ambitious, and comprehensive, The Dramatic Writer's Companion contains practical writing exercises underscored by well-developed dramatic theory."--Art Borreca, head of Playwrights Workshop and Dramaturgy Program, University of Iowa

"Dunne mixes an artist's imagination and intuition with a teacher's knowledge of the craft of dramatic writing. It is an irresistible combination, producing a book which is simultaneously astute and imaginative. . . . No one can teach anyone to become a dramatic writer. But it is possible to learn how to improve your writing skills. It is possible to be provoked into thinking differently, into adding different colors and dimensions to your ideas, to extend the range of images in your head, to startle your imagination; in short, to be inspired into trying new approaches and methods. The Dramatic Writer's Companion has the potential to do all of that for a writer."--May-Brit Akerholt, award-winning dramaturg

"The practical genius of Dunne's writing lessons proved invaluable to me in the development of the script for my own film, Mean Creek. I have read many books on scriptwriting, most a bunch of intellectual blather about themes and structure, whereas Dunne's approach to writing is grounded in specific and useful exercises that a writer can actually employ at the moment of creation."--Jacob Estes, recipient of the 2005 John Cassavetes Award, Film Independent's 20th Spirit Awards for his film Mean Creek

"Dunne employs his wealth of experience as the current resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, a Charles MacArthur Fellowship honoree, a former O'Neill Theatre Center dramaturg, and an award-winning author of such plays as How I Became an Interesting Person, Love and Drowning, and Hotel Desperado to give writers a blueprint on how to examine their ideas in depth in order to develop their plays and screenplays."--Judy Samelson, Playbill

Review

“If you are a playwright not yet on the Pulitzer short list, or a screenwriter not yet invited to the Oscars, the best thing you can do is get to Chicago and join Will Dunne’s scriptwriting workshops at Chicago Dramatists. If you can’t do that, the next best thing is to get The Dramatic Writer’s Companion and Character, Scene, and Story and sit down to his exercises. Dunne describes clearly and succinctly how each element of drama works—each beat, each scene, each facet of character and stagecraft—and then he sets you to work to master it. The work leads wide and deep, from the hidden past to the strategies of scene, from objectives to the supernatural, from levels of desire to the pressures of conflict. Every hour’s attention to one of these mental journeys will lead you to know more, imagine better, and write more nimbly.” -- Janet Burroway, author of Writing Fiction and Imaginative Writing

About the Author

Will Dunne is resident playwright and faculty member at Chicago Dramatists. He is the author of numerous plays and recipient of many writing awards and honors. His third companion book, The Architecture of Story: A Technical Guide for the Dramatic Writer, is also available from the University of Chicago Press.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Dramatic Writer's Companion

Name: The Dramatic Writer's Companion: Tools to Develop Characters, Cause Scenes, and Build Stories 2nd Edition
Author: Will Dunne (Author)
ISBN: 9780226494081

Tools to Develop Characters, Cause Scenes, and Build Stories

By Will Dunne

The University of Chicago Press

About This Guide,
Exercises at a Glance,
DEVELOPING YOUR CHARACTER,
STAGE 1: FLESHING OUT THE BONES,
Basic Character Builder,
What the Character Believes,
Where the Character Works,
Getting Emotional,
Into the Past,
Defining Trait,
STAGE 2: GETTING TO KNOW THE CHARACTER BETTER,
Allies: Then and Now,
Adversaries: Then and Now,
Characters in Contrast,
Finding the Character's Voice,
Three Characters in One,
The Secret Lives of Characters,
STAGE 3: UNDERSTANDING WHO THE CHARACTER REALLY IS,
The Noble Character,
Seven Deadly Sins,
The Dramatic Triangle,
Spinal Tap,
Character as Paradox,
The Character You Like Least,
In So Many Words,
CAUSING A SCENE,
STAGE 1: MAKING THINGS HAPPEN,
Basic Scene Starter,
Where in the World Are We?,
The Roots of Action,
What Does the Character Want?,
What's the Problem?,
Good Intentions,
How It Happens,
Character Adjustments,
Scene in a Sentence,
STAGE 2: REFINING THE ACTION,
Seeing the Scene,
There and Then,
The Aha!s of the Story,
Heating Things Up,
The Emotional Storyboard,
In the Realm of the Senses,
The Voice of the Setting,
Thinking in Beats,
STAGE 3: REFINING THE DIALOGUE,
Talking and Listening,
Unspeakable Truths,
Universal Truths and Lies,
The Bones of the Lines,
BUILDING YOUR STORY,
STAGE 1: TRIGGERING THE CHAIN OF EVENTS,
Whose Story Is It?,
How Will the Tale Be Told?,
As the World Turns,
Inciting Event,
The Art of Grabbing,
STAGE 2: DEVELOPING THE THROUGHLINE,
Step by Step,
Turning Points,
What Happens Next?,
Pointing and Planting,
Crisis Decision,
Picturing the Arc of Action,
Before and After,
Twelve-Word Solution,
STAGE 3: SEEING THE BIG PICTURE,
Main Event,
Your Story as a Dog,
The Incredible Shrinking Story,
What's the Big Idea?,
What's in a Name?,
The Forest of Your Story,
Ready, Aim, Focus,
Six Steps of Revision,
FIXING COMMON SCRIPT PROBLEMS,
Glossary,
Acknowledgments,

CHAPTER 1

BASIC CHARACTER BUILDER

THE QUICK VERSION

Start to flesh out a character

BEST TIME FOR THIS

During early story development or any time you add a new character

CHARACTER: A MIX OF PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND SOCIAL TRAITS

You won't understand what your story is about until you understand who your characters are. Dramatist Henrik Ibsen felt he could not begin writing a play until he knew the characters inside out — as if he had lived with them for a month. To know a character is to know the complex blend of physical, psychological, and social traits that make him or her unique. The most important of these traits will be revealed to us through the character's actions under the increasing pressure of story events.

Great stories create extreme circumstances where characters are tested — and usually changed — and where they may do things, for better or for worse, that they never thought possible. To write such stories, you need to know your characters well enough to understand where in life they have come from, how they usually behave day-to-day, in what unexpected ways they might act under stress, and in what ways they would never under any circumstances behave.

ABOUT THE EXERCISE

Try this first with your main character. You can repeat it later with other principal characters in less detail. Don't overdevelop minor characters. They may steal the show if, after they come and go, we are waiting for them to return.

You don't need to write volumes as you answer the exercise questions. It's more about making choices and knowing what they are. For best results:

Set up a personal palette. For each character you build, choose one or two people whom you can use — in combination with yourself — as a source of information. Pick people who trigger strong positive or negative feelings. Give the character a name that embodies your choices and has special meaning for you.

Look for what matters most. The importance of each question will depend on the unique character you are developing. Try to find character facts that may influence story events. Don't waste time on details that will have no impact.

Focus on when the story begins. The character will undergo changes as the dramatic journey unfolds. The exercise is designed to help you flesh out who the character is before those changes begin to occur.

When basing a character on someone from your life, you may find the best material by using his or her real name in the early private stages of writing. Once you establish the character — and before others see your script — switch to a fictitious name.

* YOUR CHARACTER'S PHYSICAL LIFE

Remember that "now" and "today" refer to when the story begins.

1. When was the character born and what is the character's age now?

2. Think about his or her other vital stats, such as gender, ethnicity, height, and weight. Which of these, if any, might matter in the story?

3. How would most people describe the character's physical appearance?

4. Good or bad, what is the character's most striking physical feature?

5. How would you describe the character's strength, endurance, and coordination when it comes to physical activity and sports?

6. What is the character's favorite sport or physical activity?

7. How is the character's health now, and what has most contributed to this?

8. Is the character on any medication now? If so, what is it, why is the character taking it, and how does it affect his or her behavior?

9. What significant diseases, if any, has the character had in the past and what impact does this medical history have on the character now?

10. Has the character ever sustained a serious physical injury? If so, what happened and how has this affected the character?

11. Does the character have any permanent physical defects, such as nearsightedness, or temporary ones, such as a broken leg? If so, what are they?

12. Of the character's most defining traits, which ones run in the family?

13. Does the character use nicotine, alcohol, or recreational drugs? If so, what is used in what quantities and how important is this in the character's daily life?

14. What is the character's greatest physical asset?

15. What is the character's greatest physical weakness or liability?

* YOUR CHARACTER'S INNER LIFE

1. What is the character's IQ and how has this affected the character?

2. How would you describe the character's imagination?

3. How does the character rate in terms of common sense and sound judgment?

4. How would you describe the character's outlook on life?

5. Does the character tend to be dominant or submissive with others, and why?

6. How does the character usually approach major problems?

7. What is the character's greatest talent?

8. What is the character's greatest lack of talent?

9....

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The Dramatic Writer's Companion: Tools to Develop Characters, Cause Scenes, and Build Stories 2nd Edition