by PSH | Sep 7, 2023 | play submission advice & tips, playwriting advice, playwriting tips
One of the most common pieces of advice you’ll hear from playwrights is to focus on character-driven stories. But what does character-driven really mean? Well, I can tell you what it’s NOT: It’s NOT a play in which all the characters exist... by PSH | Aug 9, 2023 | play submission advice & tips, playwriting advice, playwriting tips
Creative writing of any kind–whether it’s playwriting, screenwriting, fiction writing, heck even comic book writing–is highly competitive. It’s not hard to see why: people love stories. And there are a lot of us who want to write for the stage... by PSH | Jul 14, 2023 | play submission advice & tips, playwriting advice, playwriting tips
One way to help make your play a success is to write it in an “actor-friendly” way. In other words, to write your script in a way that makes it easier for your actors to do their job well. To that end, there’s one big mistake that many... by PSH | May 8, 2023 | play submission advice & tips, playwriting advice, playwriting tips
In this post, I’m going to share a single word that can help improve your entire play. And not just this play, but every play you ever write. So what is this 1 amazing word? “But.” Stay with me here. This will take just a moment to explain. To do... by PSH | Apr 8, 2023 | play submission advice & tips, playwriting advice, playwriting tips
Questions are a powerful thing. Questions engage the mind. People are drawn to questions. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that audiences love a play with a powerful MDQ (major dramatic question). Your MDQ could be anything, but frequently it’s some variation... by PSH | Mar 13, 2023 | play submission advice & tips, playwriting advice, playwriting tips
After our last month’s post on protagonists, we had someone write in with this astute observation: “If you think about it, the strength and ‘flavor’ of all characters you create is in the dialogue… Perhaps the criticism I have heard most...