Whether you’re new to writing for the stage or already experimenting with scenes and dialogue, developing your craft is about more than putting words on a page. It’s about hearing those words come to life.

Here are some essential steps to help you begin and grow as a playwright.

Transferable Writing Skills for Playwrighting

If you come from a background in creative writing, journalism, content, or any writing-led role, you already understand the fundamentals of storytelling: how to shape a narrative, build compelling characters, and engage an audience. In playwriting, those same skills are still at the core, but they are expressed differently. Instead of chapters and internal monologue, you work through scenes, dialogue, and action; everything must be visible, audible, and immediate. Character development becomes less about what’s described on the page and more about what is revealed through voice, behaviour, and subtext in real time.

Start Small, Think Theatrically

Great plays don’t begin as epics; they begin as moments. Focus on a single situation, a clear conflict, a small number of characters. Short scenes (even 5–10 minutes long) are one of the best ways to explore dialogue and structure without feeling overwhelmed.

Write for Voices, Not Pages

Playwriting is a living form. Unlike novels, your work isn’t complete until it’s performed.

Ask yourself, does this sound natural when spoken aloud? Does each character have a distinct voice? Reading your work out loud or better yet, hearing others perform it, can transform your understanding of what works.

Learn the Craft of Structure and Dialogue

Strong playwriting relies on:

Character: What does each person want?

Conflict: What stands in their way?

Clarity: Can the audience follow the story in real time?

Think about Location, Weather, Time of Day and Offstage Events

Location, weather and time of day provides atmosphere and reinforces and illuminates the subtext of the scene. Offstage events provide context for the onstage action. How a character enters the scene is directly influenced by what has happened before it. This palette provides depth to your writing and helps you hook the audience by keeping them working to fill in the gaps.

Embrace Feedback and Collaboration

Theatre is collaborative by nature. Working with others allows you to see how actors interpret your writing and understand pacing and rhythm in performance. As well as refining your work through discussion and revision.

In fact, many writers discover that the biggest breakthroughs happen when they hear their work performed for the first time.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

If you already have some experience and want to go further, structured training can make a real difference.

Playwriting Development Programme 

This termly, part-time evening course is for writers who already have some experience or have completed a beginner course and want to develop, refine, and hear their work performed by actors.

– Work in a small group of around 10 writers for personalised feedback

– Develop a complete 10-minute play focused on character, conflict, and storytelling

– Hear your work performed by professional actors and gain live feedback

– Build confidence through a supportive, collaborative environment

Across the course, you’ll move from initial idea to performance, refining your writing through real-world practice.

Tuesday 21st April – Tuesday 30th June 2026 | Evening Classes 18:00 – 20:00

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Introduction to Playwriting 

The Introduction to Playwriting short course is designed as a fast-paced introduction to the craft of writing for live performance. 

– Gain grounding in the fundamentals of playwriting: dramatic action, character, dialogue, location and structure

– Develop ideas by looking at the world around you for inspiration and participating in group exercises and discussions;

– Learn about the collaborative process of bringing a performance to life and listen to your writing be performed by acting students at a round-table reading;

– Nurture your skills and build your confidence in a group setting with support from course tutors and other students.

Tuesday 1st Sep – Friday 4th Sep 2026 | Full Time

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