Writing the 10-Minute Play

by Glenn Alterman

(Limelight). This book is written for the beginning or seasoned playwright, as well as for actors (or anyone) wishing to attempt their first ten-minute play. Every aspect of writing a ten-minute play is covered, from perking with an idea, to starting the play, to developing it, to effective rewriting, to completing it, even to how to get the most out of readings of your play once you've finished it. Writing the 10-Minute Play also reveals the best ways to market your play and includes an extensive listing of ten-minute play contests. The guide contains many in-depth interviews with international playwrights who have had substantial success with their ten-minute plays, as well as publishers of ten-minute plays and producers of ten-minute play festivals. Included as well are several award-winning ten-minute plays, followed by a discussion by the respective playwrights on how they went about creating their play, from start to finish. The final chapter offers tips and suggestions from artistic directors of ten-minute play festivals and from well-known playwrights whose ten-minute plays have received awards and publishing deals.

Genres: Writing, Theatre

164 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2012

Reviews

[Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book re-inforced what I had gotten from my first workshop. It also helped me understand more on how to write a short play.

[Grant Conversano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for Joe Mills Class, it helped. I wrote and directed a play "Cause the TV can't Yell Back" that I am still proud of today.

[Emma Goldman-Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book that I have used with students. Great examples and advice. Glenn Alterman knows the subject well and writes beautifully.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some solid but not earthshattering writerly advice couple with information about the very specific form. Lots of good information about publishing and producing.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful and positive primer on writing 10-minute plays. Alterman walks through his advice on the process from brainstorming through production, includes three sample scripts, and then interviews a range of writers, directors, festival organizers, and publishers connected to short plays.

[WriteKnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 of 5 stars – Good Advice, Good Examples, Good Encouragement.

Writing the 10-Minute Play was a very helpful and encouraging book to read for writing plays, not just the 10-minute version, but the ideas can be applied more broadly as well.

As a Chicago-based playwright, actor and teaching artist myself, I can relate to Glenn Alterman's background, but I can't match this Guinness record writing machine (Author of "Most Published Original Monologues"). So, even though I've had some playwrighting experience, I was able to glean a number of good ideas and tips, and Alterman supplements these with nice examples that help illustrate the point, as well as perspectives from people representing various aspects of the process.

I appreciated how Alterman broke things down and took me through each step of the way from creation through first and final draft. But the book's title is a bit misleading, because Alterman didn't leave it at just writing, but also took me through the business side, which is sometimes neglected and could be where we need the most help.

In all, there were some useful takeaways for me on this, as there probably will be for most, and more so for someone just coming into the joys of writing plays.

[WriteKnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 of 5 stars – Good Advice, Good Examples, Good Encouragement.

Writing the 10-Minute Play was a very helpful and encouraging book to read for writing plays, not just the 10-minute version, but the ideas can be applied more broadly as well.

As a Chicago-based playwright, actor and teaching artist myself, I can relate to Glenn Alterman's background, but I can't match this Guinness record writing machine (Author of "Most Published Original Monologues"). So, even though I've had some playwrighting experience, I was able to glean a number of good ideas and tips, and Alterman supplements these with nice examples that help illustrate the point, as well as perspectives from people representing various aspects of the process.

I appreciated how Alterman broke things down and took me through each step of the way from creation through first and final draft. But the book's title is a bit misleading, because Alterman didn't leave it at just writing, but also took me through the business side, which is sometimes neglected and could be where we need the most help.

In all, there were some useful takeaways for me on this, as there probably will be for most, and more so for someone just coming into the joys of writing plays.

[Arlene Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read. Learned some things.