Playwriting: The First Workshop

by Kathleen George

This is a practical introduction to the basic principles, structures and processes of writing plays. Beginning with simple concepts and exercises, this book gradually builds in complexity, until the reader is writing his or her one act play.


Writing plays is unique because feedback, alternative approaches and discussion spur creativity. This book encourages this and thereby encourages the reader to write. The reader will discover how stage plays differ from screenplays, novels and television. The book also describes how autobiographical materials are transformed into playable parts, and how characters are moved by action. ` The first workshop' gives readers the necessary background to begin working on their first play.

272 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 1994

About the author

Kathleen Elizabeth George (born July 7, 1943) is an American professor and writer best known for her series of crime novels set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

She was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and educated at the University of Pittsburgh: B.A. (summa cum laude), 1964, M.A. (theatre), 1966, Ph.D. (theatre), 1975, M.F.A. (creative writing), 1988. She teaches theatre arts at the University of Pittsburgh and fiction writing at the Chatham University Low-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing.

She is married to the writer Hilary Masters, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. They reside in Pittsburgh.