Playwriting: The Structure of Action by Sam Smiley

by Sam Smiley

A classic guide to dramatic writing now revised and expanded for a new generation of playwrights and screenwritersThis practical guide provides the principles of dramatic writing. Playwrights and screenwriters will discover these essential principles and acquire the tools to put them to use. Sam Smiley incorporates extensive new material in The Structure of Action, a revised edition of the book that dramatists in theatre and film have relied on for more than twenty-five years. No writer, director, critic, or teacher concerned with dramatic writing should be without this intelligent and inspiring guide.Sam Smiley offers insights derived from a lifetime of writing, teaching, and consulting. While preserving the best of the earlier edition of the book, he offers new discussion on contemporary playwrights (Tony Kushner and Tom Stoppard), on copyright law, on new writing approaches, and on nontraditional dramatic forms.Reaching far beyond simplistic how-to instructions, the book focuses on identifying and explaining principles essential to creating plot, character, thought, diction, melody, and spectacle. Smiley explains these classic topics and provides the modern keys for realizing each element in effective dramatic scripts.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Theatre

Paperback

First published May 31, 1971

Reviews

[Mahda Purmehdi · Rating 1 out of 5]

کتابی آکنده از بدیهیات و بی مصرف ترین نکات ممکن درباره ساختار متن در نمایشنامه نویسی.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I knew by page 23 that I didn't want to keep on reading, but alas, if I start reading a book I can't just leave it unfinished. So I finished reading it and I regret each moment of the process. To try and give you an idea why, I will present a quote from the book. It was 300+ pages of this.

“Physically, all vowels begin with vibrations of the vocal folds and require that the velum be raised and the mouth opened; the resultant tone always comes from the mouth. They are chiefly melodic and seldom noisy. In establishing musical patterns with words, a writer can consider the arrangement of vowel phonemes, even though in spelling, consonant sounds are more numerous and more obvious to the eye.”

WARNING: If you are suicidal, this book just might push you over the edge.

[Eleanor Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just NO.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I re-read this book, after hating it in college, for a class I'm teaching on script analysis. It has some interesting points to make about structure, from an academic point of view. However, if you are looking for help in writing a play, avoid this book at all costs. Sam Smiley's approach is terrible. I doubt that he has ever written one himself.