Class Description
Nobody wants to write dialogue that sounds "overly expositional." But playwrights must convey a great deal of information to the audience—to illuminate things such as the past, character traits, relationships, and what is at stake—through dialogue alone. So how do you do it without overdoing it? This seminar will teach you how to write effective, exciting dialogue that harnesses the power of exposition. Drawing on examples from contemporary plays, you will learn how to recognize different types of exposition, avoid common pitfalls, and make it an invisible part of the fabric of your story. Most importantly, you will put it all into immediate practice through fun, invigorating writing exercises.
Part of the Playwriting Essentials Series, led by Nina Morrison and dedicated to exploring the fundamentals of playwriting. Classes include:
- Playwriting Essentials: Mastering Exposition
- Playwriting Essentials: Dramatic Structure
- Playwriting Essentials: Dramatic Conflict
- Playwriting Essentials: Character Development
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.