Jonathan Dorf

Articles by Jonathan Dorf

How To Prepare Your Stage Play For The Theater Market

What a high: you've typed 'end of play' and that full-length stage play you've labored on for the last eighteen months is finally finished. Time to send it out to Broadway producers and get that rave in the New York Times you've always dreamed of. ADD REALITY HERE.

Finishing a first draft of a play is great. But it's like building a house. If you tried t... (read more)

Writing in Restaurants

Some writers do their best work hunched over the computers at their desks. Others work in libraries. Or at the beach. But I like nothing better than writing in a restaurant. While some people are terrified at the prospect of dining alone, for me it's a chance to let someone else do the cooking, serve my food and do the dishes while I relax and inhabit my current play or screenplay.

Ca... (read more)

Taking the Leap to Playwriting

Our Reader Asks: I'm currently doing research for a creative nonfiction book but the more I delve into the subject and characters, the more I feel it should be written as a stage play rather than a book. It has a fascinating story, a strong female central figure taken right out of a piece of U.S. history, takes place at a time when music was a big part of the culture... (read more)

Writing in Restaurants Revisited

I wrote the original Writing in Restaurants for the eZine nearly two years ago. But dining out is still one of my favorite things to do. And, of course, so is writing. So it seemed only fitting to revisit Writing in Restaurants with some new restaurant suggestions and writing tips designed to help you, whether you write plays or screenplays, take your script to th... (read more)

The Playwright's Guide to Submitting Smarter: A Baker's Dozen Tips to Maximize Your Chances and Minimize Your Aggravation

Your new play is finally ready for submission. ("New play" means your targets are theatre companies and contests - save publishers for plays with a production history.) Of course, too many writers think their scripts are finished when they're not, but that's another story. We're sticking to the st... (read more)

Five Reasons Why Writing Plays Can Make You a Better Screenwriter

What do such movies as The Hours, Shakespeare in Love, Empire of the Sun, Wag the Dog and The Untouchables have in common? Here's a hint: their authors are David Hare (The Hours), Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love and Empire of the Sun) and David Mamet (Wag the Dog and read more)

How to Keep Your Story From Stalling

Telling a great story has always been the key to writing a saleable screenplay or a play that everyone wants to produce--and it's always been the hardest thing to get right. No matter how many car chases or dramatic screaming matches your script may have, if the story stalls, you're going to lose your audience. Want to know the single biggest story staller there is? It's exposi... (read more)

Writing in Restaurants 2007

It's been more than two years since the last Writing in Restaurants, and in that time I've come across many new writing-friendly venues. Today, I'll be serving a five-course meal of writing tips as I introduce you to some of my latest favorites. Unless otherwise noted, these aren't plug-in or wireless venues, but they're wonderful places to stoke your creativity nonetheless.

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