TIPS! 7 STAGES OF PLAYWRITING

[@holisticbarn665]

I love this video! I’ve literally come back to watch it through each stage and it’s been dead on! And has helped me get through the stages. Your funny personality makes me laugh and gives me a lot of comfort to not give up! I think I’m nearing completion and finally seeing that light at the end of the tunnel!

[@cornbornmike1006]

Hi, I'm a relatively new playwright and I found this video to be quite studious and helpful. Congratulations, you've earned yourself a new subscriber! :) Paeece!

[@theatrebound]

Thank you so much :D And I'm so happy you found this helpful, I have a good few more videos on the way for playwrights :) Thank you so much again!

[@iancameron4665]

I sent your video to my sister and she wrote back: She’s brilliant...I love her!! So many hand gestures and so much wisdom!! She had some great tips for my accent...with becomes wit, and thought becomes taught. So helpful. Thank you.

[@fijigoya1236]

I always mega research before I start writing ANYTHING and then I do a SUPER detailed outline with every scene and the important things that have to be included in each scene. So then I don’t have the stages that relate to not knowing where to take it

[@theatrebound]

Your process is so beautiful! I love detail, all you have to do is write. But write a story, forget all the detail and write a story, don’t worry all the research and hard work is still there, you just need to unleash the storyteller in you. You can do it!

[@taylaarbon5611]

Fijigoya 123 smart

[@iancameron4665]

You teach with such energy, such liveliness, such passion, such insight! And your humour...only an Irish lass could do what you do! And I loved the way you type - such dedication and focus and those head gyrations, wow..."Go you!"

[@kumbi8368]

I’m so glad I found this. I was about to give up at Stage 2. I feel better knowing this is to be expected, lol.

[@theatrebound]

I’m really happy this has helped you! Don’t worry it gets even crazier, then you get those moments where you have been writing until 3 in the morning and decide maybe I could be a cloud. Crazy but normal in writing land, keep on writing and never give up! You can do it!!!!!

[@devincahoon830]

Katie, I loved your video, so relatable. I’m writing a Shakespearean play. I’ve passed the I’m better that Christopher Marlowe stage, and I’m on to the, everything in my head sounds like, “Doth mother know thou wearest her drapes,” stage.

[@willbesoon6601]

Yup, this just about sums it up perfectly. Love it. And will be taking up dog walking or something similar.

[@screaminbetty1]

Really enjoyed this - thank you! Great video :)

[@lenoxkamara3206]

This was genuinely so truthfully helpful! It helped me really put in perspective how my playwriting journey may go in the next couple of weeks/months/years. I tend to be hard on myself when creating, since I'm usually working with a deadline that effects others. This is one of my first solo projects, alongside my transfer process, so I have moderate hopes. Wish me luck :)

[@MathewHeggem]

Brilliant. Thank you! Love your share.

[@mysteriousstranger1084]

Yeah, I just went from elation to despair and haven't moved on.

[@lushatic12345]

I decided to write a play for my epq (i’m at sixth form) and this is slowly guiding me through because i felt like i was going insane ahaa. I’ve used this video as one of my sources for research because this is the assurance i needed, online guides to playwriting make it seem so easy and straightforward

[@theatrebound]

This makes me so happy on so many levels! I totally agree with you, there needs to be more playwriting guides online for writers, and I will start making more videos surrounding this :) How did your play turn out in the end? Were you happy with your work?

[@lushatic12345]

theatrebound i’ve not finished it yet, my deadlines not for a while which is a godsend because i am nowhere near done but it’s going okay so far :)

[@theatrebound]

Great to hear, thats the real life of a playwright, writing until the final hour! Break a leg :D

[@lushatic12345]

theatrebound thank you so so much❤️

[@albertoeinstein4073]

I have to write a play for class. 😣

[@druanndavis9562]

Enjoyed this video so much, she's entertaining, knowledgeable and adorable. Looking forward to learning more from her.

[@RT-zk7yr]

Great advice. Thanks for the video it helped a lot with a 10min play i'm writing. Also can't lie i'm a tad low key smitten ha. That accent man.

[@stevenbosch429]

Congrats on making, finishing, and posting this video. I'm an aspiring playwright and I have a play now being considered for fellowship production There are two different prizes. One involves money ($3,000.00 U.S.) and a regularly schedule meeting with theatre professionals who may tell me to get over myself and get to work on making this play good. The other involves no money but I get to meet with theatre professionals who can tell me where I should get over myself and get to making my draft into a good play. I liked your seven stages approach. My own journey is reflected very completely. I'm currently working on a play about the Austrian farmer who was declared a martyr for refusing to serve in Hitler's armies.

[@theatrebound]

Thanks so much! Break a leg with the fellowship, your play sounds very interesting. What made you decide to write about that Australian farmer? Your journey with the two different theatre companies sounds very familiar to a lot of playwrights I work with, they either have to choose between growth or money with their work. How long have you been a playwright? And thanks so much for watching :D

[@stevenbosch429]

Katie -- Thank you for your swift reply but the farmer was Austrian. His name was Franz Jagerstatter, . He was born in a tiny village called St. Radegund about an hour's drive from Hitler's birthplace. There have been books written about the Austrian farmer,one of which contains his letters from prison to his family and friends.Austrian public television did a teleplay about him in the 1980s and it is posted over here on You Tube. He's being considered as the patron saint of conscientious objectors. And the Catholic Church has declared him to be a martyr ( a witness to Christ in the modern world.) I've been interested in Franz for a while now. My sister holds a PhD in Literature and sometimes knocks me on the head with it. We have our disagreements, to be concise. One of them is about this play I'm writing. As I understand her argument, suicide bombers and martyrs, while the outcome of their actions differ, are essentially the same type of people. Either you are or you aren't. That's all. (My sister is good at that; in discussions you give your ideas and she gives hers and she is right. Now it's settled. That's all!) You wonder why I'm single? As far as pursuing my options their both offered by Playwrights Horizon. It's a theatre company that was started by Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, Horton Foote and come other heavy hitters I think. They wanted it to be a non-profit to allow them to stage new plays and avoid some of the huge costs of New York Theatre. The company has two internships: one comes with a $3,000 stipend and the other doesn't. For a while I was considering acting and took some classes in the Michael Chekhov method. I was a good "Ghost" in a community theatre's production of "Hamlet." I took a class at Herbert Berghof which was where Uta Hagen taught. Yes I am big on theatre history. Say when if you've had enough. I want to know what your take on theatre is. What is it about getting a bunch of p-eople into a dark theatre to say words you've written down and hope to give other people some experience of truth? I was a little (?) older than nearly all of the other students had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned the Group Theatre of the 30s. What inspires you?

[@theatrebound]

Sorry I read Austrian to be Australian, apologies! I adore plays with history and social or political backstory like this, and its brilliant you have your sister to argue a few points about this topic. Dramaturgically, the topic sounds amazing, you have a lot to consider when writing a play like this, but that could lead to other themes or topics that you can creatively involve in the play. I'm definitely going to look up the teleplay on KZbin! You have peeked my interest immensely! Theatre history is my jam, so you can talk all day about it. What did you think of the class? What did you like about their practice? The "Ghost" is a fine character, I always picture the "Ghost" being played by the actor Brian Blessed, and always hope people will omit a booming voice like his! What other moments in Theatre history interest you? Well, what inspires me about Theatre...probably everything! I totally agree with you that there is an aspect of going to a theatre space to experience some truth and to suspend ourselves and notions we have about the world. Theatre throws them in the air and brings them back down to look and maybe sometimes feel different. I 'm really interested in the Theatre of the Absurd and Theatre of Cruelty. Theatre that is committed to move you as an audience member and as a human. And I love the work by Joan Littlewood and the Theatre Workshop, I think every theatremaker should read about her work. What is the basis to your work as a playwright? Would a lot of your work surround a moment from history? If so you are a dramaturgs dream, dramaturgs love facts, creative avenues and post-its :D

[@stevenbosch429]

thank you. This is the kind of response I have been hoping for. I must have confused you about the classes I took at Uta Hagen and the production I was in. The production was not connected with the school at all. It was for a local group here on Long Island.called Plaza Theatre. They had a grant to do plays in our Nassau County parks in the summer. The experience was good but there wasn't much offered about improving your craft as an actor. I did have my best acting moment in that production. We were at a public library about an hour before the performance started. We were assembled in a conference room waiting to go on and I was in costume running my lines to myself.. Then the lady who played the queen came up to me and said, "you ignored me when we were together and after Hamlet was born you never paid attention to me."At that moment, my subconscious took. "I didn't think of you? Fortinbras is kicking our behinds up and down the peninsula, I'm sucking on beef jerky in the pouring rain because we can't build fires and give our position away, my chief of staff is walking around bellowing, 'It's always darkest before the dawn and fair seas never made skillful sailors.' In all that do you really think I wasn't dreaming about being in bed with you? By the way I saw those bills our little angel ran up in the taverns. You wrote that note over the top to the exchequer, ,'be a lamb and pay this out of my account and don't show it to the king'. Was our little darling shouting the bar for every sot in Wittenberg?" I'm either real earnest or real crazy. As far as my basis in playwriting goes. I like Arthur Miller a lot, probably for reasons not entirely to do with playwriting. Miller was a Brooklynite like my parents though he and they would not have seen eye to eye on many subjects. My dad was a salesman but combined with engineering knowledge, he advised clients on the best selection and arrangement of pumps, air conditioning and heating equipment for their buildings that his company offered. With all his knowledge and his ability to give his family a good, middle class life, he sympathized with Willy Loman though, even in Miller's words, "Willy was a screwball." A writer once asked me, "why bother writing about history. Everybody knows the story already." Not everybody and who says the definitive version has been told? I don't mean to hide in the past or make excuses for it. But I need to know that challenges have existed since the first people walked on earth. I also ask what is the gain in doing nothing. You are moving in life along a spectrum and "he who tries to save his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will have life everlasting." you've got me curious about Joan Littlewood. My knowledge of Theatre of the Absurd has improved recently. I listened to a recording of Thomas Merton's literature lectures to the students at Our Lady of Gethsemane in Lexington, Kentucky. I understand a little more about Beckett when it was explained to me that his interest was in characters who had been reduced to the barest condition of existence. The closest I have come to the theatre of cruelty was a one act play I saw in New York City. It was about a woman and her male analyst. She berates him and insults him and strips him to his jockey shorts. A little tough for me. I have seen points made by characters being cruel. I always thought the question what is it like to live under tyranny was answered for me in a film about occupied Belgium. Two SS agents storm into the home of the central character's sister and brother in law. They want to know what she knows and she's not telling. She is pregnant. One SS man holds the husband at gun point while the other knocks the woman down and kicks her in the stomach. This is tyranny, "I will do whatever I want to and you will stay there and take it."

[@theatrebound]

Miller is a brilliant writer (obviously goes without saying), and I really like your connection with Miller through your family. A lot of theatremakers I know create the majority of their work with that connection. Joan Littlewood is a very interesting human, I'm not going to say anymore about her, because I think her work is better understood if you read about her organically and without prior knowledge. So you should read Theatre Workshop by Robert Leach, its a very interesting read! Beckett is a tough one when you read his work first, but once you understand how theatre of the absurd operates on stage, you'll really start to enjoy his work. And its the same for Theatre of Cruelty, although you will come across a lot of rough performances like you witnessed, but thats why I love Theatre of cruelty, you will leave the theatre feeling a lot of emotions and thoughts. Tyranny is such a great theme for a play, there is so much history of tyranny in Theatre, as in dramatically not politically. Although there probably has been in the past, I'm not sure, but as I am typing this I am totally interested to find out. It sounds like you are onto a great piece of work, definitely keep me posted, I really look forward to hearing how your play turns out and where you plan to create it! And ignore anyone who says history isn't important when you are writing, history gives a play such depth and its like a gift from the present day to say thank you for all your work.

[@FilmFloozy]

Cleverly done! Great!

[@mr-splits-world]

great to watch...thanks.......you're funny

[@magdaleneofdivinelove5984]

I just stumbled across this. Well done! I just cracked up with appreciation. Thank you and God bless!

[@theatrebound]

Thanks so much, so happy that you enjoyed it 🤗 and thanks for watching 😁

[@stevemillard7370]

Thank you so much for that video, I found myself laughing. The reason, quite simply, I find myself going through each of those stages.

[@PlaywrightsLab]

Love this video, so true!

[@theatrebound]

Thank you so much :D Hopefully in the future there will be less montages of playwrights extreme writing .

[@taylaarbon5611]

I love your accent

[@giovannibertoia8027]

I’m in love.

[@auststod]

This is so accurate 😂👌🏽

[@Aries-zk9ce]

You are hilarious! You are like Zoey DeChanel. You have really great tips for me, and I appreciate it. I'm currently taking Theatre Appreciation in college, and I have to write a 1 Act Play. First time writing one, and it's really difficult for me. But I will try and do these ideas. So thanks! : ]

[@zotharr]

You're such a good content creator, why did you stop?

[@theatrebound]

I had to take a break for a little while, but on my way back! I’ll have videos up next week 😁

[@akeildavis7699]

LOL! I loved this 🤣🤣

[@lmathews5608]

I can watch u for years 😌

[@davy209]

I wonder if August Wilson has went through these 7 stages as well?

[@theatrebound]

I have thought about this with a few playwrights like him. He probably has, but has a lot more stages to add to the list!

[@leah6488]

How long does an average play take to make?

[@Desiklown]

Three years i have been writing the same damn play. It is 2.34am and i think i have had enough of trying!

[@theatrebound]

I totally feel you, and every other playwright that has ever written a play has been in that place! Which obviously doesn't help your playwriting but a great reminder of how challenging playwriting is to a playwright. I would leave the play, leave it on a shelf or in your laptop for a very long time and move onto something else. I have two plays at the moment which I won't go near and one of them I have been writing for three years as well.

[@kittykat123425]

It took Lin Manuel Miranda 2 months to write one song for Hamilton

[@Rypaul5217]

two thumbs up =)

[@GRepp-iy1nj]

it hurts!

[@ickygamerboy8267]

i want to write a play but i’m scared i’m gonna be bad

[@michaylalovitt2796]

This is so so so so true 😂

[@theatrebound]

Hahahaha yup, I hope your writing is going well :D if not just rob a puppy and hug it for a while, always works well for me :D

[@zeebrook]

I'm sorry. Although there were some very good tips, the way the information was put over was in some ways childish. I would have preferred it to be straight, but that's just me. I have a lot of information on what writers come up against. And there were some excellent tips on how to overcome these in this video which was missed out on the others, and by famous writers, so, all in all thank you.

[@GRepp-iy1nj]

goood shiitttt

[@bryine.willis8683]

* second lap...

[@theatrebound]

Yes! playwriting is actually like a marathon but way worse haha

[@AlanSpicer]

:)

[@GRepp-iy1nj]

lmao

[@kingoziel]

Is she drunk?

[@mintykitten9625]

no