Scriptwriting Workshop 2: Writing for the Contemporary Stage

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 6
• Convenor: to be confirmed
• Assessment: to be confirmed

In this module you will further develop your skills as a writer of drama and explore some of the specific skills necessary for writing for contemporary stages. You will interact regularly with fellow playwrights, developing skills in self-evaluation and constructive analysis of the work of others as well as benefiting from peer/lecturer feedback. You will develop skills in editing and revising your own writing, as well as an awareness of the industry-standard expectations for the presentation of work performance texts.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• demonstrate awareness and control of the elements of writing drama for contemporary theatre
• discuss and evaluate the work of fellow students and established writers in relation to elements of craft
• interpret, self-evaluate and communicate constructive feedback
• maintain a regular writing habit and produce more effective dramatic work for contemporary theatre independently
• understand sources of inspiration and creativity
• use language more confidently, precisely and imaginatively
• experiment with style and new forms and use those forms expressively and meaningfully
• display confidence and fluency in your own writing
• solve craft-related problems in your creative work
• practise redrafting and editing
• sustain and evaluate a work-in-progress
• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of writing for performance with contemporary contexts
• edit and revise, and apply technique and critical analysis to the development of a piece of dramatic writing
• work more efficiently and constructively within a group to critique work
• respond more effectively to the work of others
• participate in workshop or small group discussion by listening and contributing ideas in a sensitive and informed manner
• complete a 7000-word, 40-minute play which will be of benefit in subsequent applications to higher-level creative writing programmes, professional opportunities, writing of a further full-length work and in the pursuit of production.