This book is...okay. It has some good tips, but mostly is ordinary and nothing to write home about. In addition, the author seems a bit smug, a super duper problem with play-writing craft books, I've noticed. He did gain an extra half star for his chapter on Ethics, in which he takes the theatre community to task for not being up on current events, and assuming they can twist any story they want without having to take any consequences for their writing. He doesn't look here at the big issues, like did a play cause someone to kill themselves, but at the smaller issues, like how they present historical events and current events. This is a discussion I've been having for a long time, and I must admit I am glad to have an ally. Not to mention, that chapter is actually one of the better written chapters. Still smug, but not as much so. One of my biggest complaints is how he presents things as though he has scientifically "proven" them, using the sort of data that would get a beginning student in research a sound thumping and a big fat D. Please, if you insist on putting on the mantle of science, would you make sure it fits? Thanks. ( )

A thorough, practical exploration of the craft of writing plays -- and also a great tool for actors and directors to help figure out what a playwright is trying to do. ( )

The author's plays - including Porch, The Value of Names, and Routed - have been presented off-Broadway, internationally, and in a variety of regional and developmental theatres. His American Enterprises won the American Theatre Critics Association Award for play-writing. His book for the musical What About Luv? won the Outer Critics Circle Award, and he is the author of the book and co-author (with composer Melissa Manchester) of the lyrics for the musical I Sent a Letter to My Love. Sweet has written drama, sitcom, miniseries, and TV movies for ABC, NBC, and CBS. His work has won the Writers Guild of America Award and been nominated twice for the Emmy.