Hey All-
I'm new to playwriting and just ran across this lounge, I'm turning two of my published books into stage plays.
On my own, I have garnered three "playbills" basically stage plays in the form of books from New York (DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE) "THE WOMEN" "WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?" "CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF"
Since I've already written my books that I will be creating the stage plays from, and since I naturally write in dialogue first it feels easy (too easy?) I'm curious to know, if anyone else here is doing/has done this same thing I'm doing with my own narratives.
It feels like such a natural pivot for me with my books, also I have a book about how to write a play with interviews by playwriters at the end, but I'm glad I found this space for even more insight!
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Hi Valerie, what's your book called? I'd love to check it out!
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Hi Valerie, It is definitely a different animal than both book writing and screenwriting. Yes, dialogue can be the focus, but really Aristotle's elements of drama are all at play. Think spectacle, design, dramatic action, how the different character's emotional arcs intersect, and why this needs to be a stage play rather than a movie. :)
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My first play was adapted from a 13K word prose story. It didn't require cutting a lot of material as would be necessary when adapting a full-length novel. So it was easy.