The Playwright's Guidebook: An Insightful Primer on the Art of Dramatic Writing

by Stuart Spencer

A concise guide to playwriting to awaken creativity, from a playwright who has taught the subject for over a decade.
"If you want to be a playwright, here's your bible." —David Lindsay-Abaire, author of Fuddy Meers and Wonder of the World
During the more than ten years that Sturt Spencer has taught playwriting, he has struggled to find an effective handbook for his courses. Although most of the currently popular guides contain useful ideas, they all suffer from the same poor organizations; quirky, idiosyncratic advice; and abstract theorizing on the nature of art. As a result, they fail to offer any concrete information or useful guidelines on how to construct a well-written play. Moreover, few of these books are actually written by working playwrights. Out of frustration, Spencer wrote his own. The result, The Playwright's Guidebook, is a concise and engaging handbook full of the kind of wisdom that comes naturally with experience. Spencer presents a coherent way of thinking about playwriting that addresses the important principles of structure, includes insightful writing exercises that build upon one another, explores the creative process, and troubleshoots recurrent problems that playwrights actually face.
"The Playwright's Guidebook is indispensable. Clearly and thoroughly, Mr. Spencer—a playwright himself—leads all playwrights (not only the beginner) through the travails of creation and the jungle of production." —Edward Albee
"Eureka! A clearly written, well-structured, intelligent how-to book about playwriting. Like the good teacher and good writer that he is, Stuart Spencer guides rather than browbeats. Should be next to the laptop of any aspiring, or working, playwright." —Warren Leight, author of Side Man

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Theatre, Drama, Plays, Crafts, Reference

396 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[Jim Dooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

In many ways an excellent companion piece to PLAYWRITING: STRUCTURE, CHARACTER, HOW AND WHAT TO WRITE by Stephen Jeffreys, THE PLAYWRIGHT’S GUIDEBOOK by Stuart Spencer provided me with many eye-opening insights into the Art of crafting a play. There were times that it covered similar ground, but never in the same manner, and those perspectives included several “Ah-Ha!” moments for me.

Coming from a screenwriting background, I found Spencer’s insistence on using the term “Action” for an objective instead of calling it a “Goal” to be disorienting. After all, “Action” in a screenplay denotes something physically happening that can be seen on the screen. Then, at one point in the book, Spencer mentioned a student who had a similar problem with this usage and replaced it with “Goal” in his studies. I did the same, and it all came together with greater ease.

There were a good number of revelations that I found to be most helpful:

How plays incorporate elements that are strengths of both film and prose;
The power that lies in the audience uncovering the “mystery” of the subtext;
Effectively using Impulse in the Creative Process;
Why the tendency to explain everything to the audience so they’ll have a greater understanding is not a good idea;
A fascinating exploration of the elements that enhance the creation of a Character

In style, THE PLAYWRIGHT’S GUIDEBOOK felt quite a bit like attending a workshop (although with having more time to read resource material and complete exercises). Spencer is careful to note that he is not providing a formula for creating a successful play, but is rather offering suggestions that may make the way easier for the playwright.

One of the concluding sections offers very helpful illustrations of the various Collaborations that can be present for the playwright, including possible pitfalls connected with them. I thought that the information about staging readings and/or workshops, and important things to remember about forming a creative partnership with a Director, were especially noteworthy.

THE PLAYWRIGHT’S GUIDEBOOK is a resource that I would recommend, especially for those of us relatively new to the playwriting endeavor.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is exactly what it claims to be, a primer on writing a play. It has a lot of merits, and would be a good addition to anyone's shelf, regardless of your level of theatre experience because it does something very well: It breaks everything down into bite-sized pieces and offers exercises to flex your muscles and suggestions for how to solve problems that might arise out of the process. Spencer heavily bases his technique on the writings of Aristotle, but uses an approachable vernacular that anyone could understand. For myself, it was helpful in reminding me of all the things I already knew about theatre after multiple decades around it, which was important because so often you begin to take certain things for granted. As a guidebook to the basic building blocks of theatre and methods for creating a work from scratch it achieves its purpose.

I did have one bone to pick, and that came from Spencer's section on historical plays. It might be because I am a historian who lives in the theater world, but I found his assertions about this to be downright harmful. He openly admits to being a "crank" on the topic and it shows. He says that people don't go to plays to get history, and if you see something like Shakespeare's Henry V for the history you are a fool. Well, let me tell you then, there are a LOT of fools out there, because I have genuinely lost track of the amount of people who have approached me with the firm belief that whatever historically-set play they've seen is the Absolute Truth. He also asserts that if you write about something more obscure in history, the likelihood of anyone who knows about it actually seeing it is extremely tiny. That's not true either. There are a lot of us historians out there, and we do see your plays, and how you treat history on the stage does matter. Of course some amount of historical inaccuracy is going to be forgivable and understandable in a dramatic context but I found myself actually angry at his spending several pages discussing why someone doing extensive research was wrong(!!) and then concluding that the play written by the person he was chiding ended up being beautiful and successful. Spencer's belief? None of the extra research mattered because it wasn't explicit in the play. I vehemently disagree with him.

This otherwise useful work is in desperate need of a new edition. I say this because in the 15 years since it was released so much of the theatre world has changed and many of his tips could use expansion. The existence of online ticket apps and lotteries, as well as the current trend of showing productions in movie theatres (the National Theatre, Allegiance, Newsies, etc.) and on television are just some examples of what any modern guide should include in its section on advice for seeing plays, not to mention BroadwayHD streaming service. It would also be invaluable to up-and-coming playwrights to have the selection of plays listed as suggested readings expanded. The number of superb plays of the recent decade and a half is not small, and it is a shame to not have them added to the appendix.

[Matthew Kresal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stuart Spencer's volume is precisely what the title suggests: a guidebook for the aspiring (or even established) playwright. Spencer takes the reader/writer through the steps of writing a script for the stage from keeping in mind your medium, following up on "impulses" (ideas), structure, how not to get bogged down in research if you're basing things on real events, and even how to go about trying to get work out there. Though about the stage, chances are you can apply these lessons to prose as well (I know I already have). As such, it's a genuinely useful volume for the practical and sensible advice that Spencer (a playwright and teacher in his own right) has to offer. Well worth seeking out for writers looking for some help or inspiration.


(On a related note to that: You know, it's funny. One of my best friends gave this to me as a birthday gift in November 2007 and, when I read it then, I didn't feel like I got much from it. Coming back to it more than a decade later, perhaps because of being more receptive to these sorts of books thanks to another friend introducing me to Julia Cameron, I feel I got far more out of it. "Older and wiser," perhaps?)

[Levent Mollamustafaoglu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuart Spencer's book is faithful to its title, namely it is an unpretentious guidebook, trying to guide the aspiring playwright (or a student) to use the various techniques playwrights have accumulated over centuries and added to their arsenal.
The book is structured in 4 main chapters titled Structure, The Creative Process, Dealing with Problems and Some Advice. It also has a set of Appendices suggesting materials to read and also extra material to enable writing exercises.
Although it is mainly targeted to Theatre students, you can skip the exercises but still benefit from the plethora of hints and concepts such as the Action, Motivation, Subtext, Exposition and so on.

There are references to several great plays and it could be useful to study the text of these plays before or while reading the book.

All in all a very useful book for practitioners of the act of writing for Theatre.

[Timothy Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic resource for anyone who has ever had the intention of writing a play. Part 1 is like being in a class wherein you learn about structure, action, motivation and subtext, and so forth. Each of the chapters are followed up with writing exercises wherein Spencer asks you to write a scene that applies those concepts. For example, by the end of chapter 2 you are writing a short action scene for practice. By the time you get to chapter 9, you've likely already been following an impulse in your writing, so following the prompt within the chapter, or select one from the appendix is a natural step for developing at minimum a one act play (20 to 60 pages). The rest of the book is filled with useful tips for revision and continuing with the creative process.

I used this book as the primary text for a graduate level class in playwriting in which I was taking. In addition to this text, we also read and discussed five plays throughout the process. Specifically, we discussed how the concepts introduced by Spencer were applied to the plays we were reading. I am not so sure if this book would have been as meaningful to me if I a) wasn't taking it as a part of class, and b) didn't already have extensive and specific training in my undergraduate theatre program. Not that you need extensive theatre training for this book to make sense to you. But, I do think you should be well exposed to a variety of plays and should probably read a variety of plays while you are working through this book. But, if you are interested in becoming a playwright, I would imagine you've read and studied numerous plays up to this point and/or you've gone to or been in a number of theatre productions.

That all being said, I will be revising this text regularly as I write more plays and continue to develop the one that I am on right now. I will also use this text as I develop lessons for my own drama students and for my drama club members as they get into playwriting.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great guide for beginners to learn the basics of drama and how to write a play. I resonated with this book because I think Spencer talks about creativity and the creative process in much the same way I think about it; in that regard I think its actually quite ahead of its time (I was surprised to see the publishing date of 2002). Another great aspect to it is recommended exercises and a whole appendix full of such exercises. Spencer says this book came from his teaching experience, which really shines through throughout.

I think it's possible to come up with a whole bunch of minor quibbles about this: it's not up-to-date; its discussion of what to do once the script is finished is cursory at best; it focuses primarily on drama as understood from the Ancient Greek tradition and Aristotle (which is fine, if limiting); and while Spencer provides all the tools the discussion of how to merge all of these into one cohesive work is limited.

Ultimately, though, it does what it says on the tin and does it really well, so five stars is fair.

[Alex Perry]

The Playwright's Guidebook by Stuart Spencer does exactly what its title implies. Stuart is a playwright who applies a theory of playwriting that was expounded by Aristotle. Essentially you have a character who wants something and your story is whether or not the character gets what they want. Other authors have covered this ground; what makes Stuart's book more useful is that he gives examples and exercises that enable the reader to write their own play. There is also discussion about the problems faced by playwright's. Interestingly, Stuart defines writer's block not as a state where the writer does not know what to say, but a situation where the writer has lost touch with the motivation for the story. Stuart gives examples of what constitutes good, structured storytelling with reference to a number of celebrated plays. I would recommend this book to new playwrights and also as a useful reference for more experienced writers.

[Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuart Spencer gives you a lot to think about, not just about writing plays but about art and life, and how that ties in with what you're trying to create. Some of the things he talks about can also apply to a lot of other writing disciplines, not just plays. Thought-provoking, well-written and just spot on.

[Jessica López-Barkl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am currently re-reading this great guidebook in preparation to teach playwrighting at the penitentiary this summer and at main campus in the fall. It was written by my playwrighting teacher from Graduate School, and I think it is really simple and easy to understand. I can't wait to see how the prisoners do with it.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will surely read this book over and over again. Stuart Spencer offers excellent advice to writer's of any skill set or experience. A must read for aspiring writer's of any genre, especially playwrights.

[Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE playwriting must-read. Just read it.

[Ashley Fink · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a first-time playwright, this book was a great introduction for me. Spencer lays a solid foundation of how to start writing your play, and throughout the book provides fantastic examples and writing exercises. What I appreciate most about this book is that it wasn’t framed as a “you have to follow all theses rules to write a good play,” kind of book. There are “rules,” but they are treated as basic guidelines and starting points. Not every play is going to follow all of the guidelines that Spencer discusses, and Spencer himself acknowledges this.

This was a great read, and I highly recommend it!

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a useful book if you're not entirely new to creative writing. Although I didn't discover much that was new about story-telling, it was good for a few tips on telling a story via a stage-play. I'm not one for writing exercises, so I skipped those. Overall, it was OK. It does need an update though. It's now possible to watch plays at home, such as the National Theatre at Home subscription which is ten quid a month and allows you to watch a broad range of stage plays.

Not a bad book to have on your shelf if you are planning to write for the stage, and I think very useful if you are into writing exercises.

[Stephanie Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me an author. I know it's billed for playwright's, but so much is applicable across mediums. I'd always dabbled at writing and was full of ideas, but I couldn't bring my ideas into a cohesive whole to finish a story. Spencer's book triggered the mind shift that helped me to think in scenes and develop my characters - what makes them tick, what they want, and how to draw the plot out of that desire. It was just what I needed right when I needed it, and I can't say enough good about it.

[Known · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book. It definitely has a place on my bookshelf!

It is NOT a beginner's read. I'd suggest reading it after you've mastered basic writing (i.e. more than beginning/middle/end structure). Also, it wouldn't hurt to read/study a few classics, like "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller. He provides wonderful examples to illustrate the creative process. If you are familiar with the classics, you'll understand a lot more of this guidebook.

[Judas International · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like all guides for writing craft, it might be better to come to this once you’ve already got some experience under your belt. Taking this from the ground floor might prove overwhelming and confusing. Coming to it with experience will likely clarify and give direction to a lot of what you were already thinking. Anyway, even though the primary aim of this book is for playwriting, this is one of the more excellent guides I’ve encountered for anyone looking to craft fiction in any form.

[Sapna Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read other books on dramatic writing and story structure. This book is one of the only ones that doesn't ramble on about the Hero's Journey or story arc. Instead, it includes simple explanations of dramatic devices with writing exercises to apply those devices. I loved working through the exercises and plan to go back to the Appendix of "images" to inspire more scene-writing.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clear and easy to follow discussion about playwriting, and so he explains scenes and characters and plot writing in ways that I think are relevant for any story teller. I had to read it slowly to really absorb the individual bits of advice. It is easy to apply these lessons to filmmaking, with some minor adjustments.

[Tory · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great helper for those who want to learn how to become a playwright. Spencer's insight into creating a story that comes alive on the stage is powerful. The exercises and explanation will guide you in learning about yourself as a writer as well as how to present your ideas to the stage.

[Emma Rund · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

One of the best books on playwriting I’ve read. I intend to refer to it often.

He provides lots of practical tools and tips for everything from your conception of the play to doing your taxes. A wonderful addition to my tool chest

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second time working my through it, taking what I need and leaving what I don’t. and whilst it’s a little dated in some aspects, generally it’s a really accessible and kind guide and I’ll prob work through it again next year !

[Hayden Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I paired this reading with “The Art of Dramatic Writing” Lajos Egri and I’ve got to say, this is a must read for any and all playwrights. This novel helps you lay the foundation for your play so it can develop into an intricate and compelling story.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to write a play, read this book.

[Laura Thoma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed my life, literally. It is a well written practical guide to playwriting. This book put me on the path to writing my first play.

[Teresa Osgood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spencer insists on giving words unusual definitions, and spends a lot of time saying what he's not telling us. But he teaches principles that will be good to remember.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

As promised, it's an insightful primer, and I think an indispensable help for writers at all stages. I absorbed a great deal reading it through and can see myself revisiting it often.

[Andre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great, timeless advice, some outdated. Wish be more examples of actual playwrights.

[Marcie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned quite a bit from this book.
However, I feel the suggested reading list leaves a lot to be desired. Like playwrights who aren’t men.

[Christopher John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential for beginner and advanced playwrights.

[Al]

Imported from eBay basket PDF; verify edition/ISBN in Goodreads if needed.