Good plays are built from strong scenes, but what makes a scene interesting or exciting? Professional playwrights offer their thoughts on what makes a good scene, and what the key elements are for a compelling piece of dramatic writing.

Dramatic style

In this collection, leading playwrights explain some of the key elements of a well-written play, and discuss how they approach them in their own work. Simon Stephens, David Hare, Katori Hall, Matt Charman, Nell Leyshon, James Graham, Alia Bano, Richard Bean, Anders Lustgarten and Roy Williams talk about writing dialogue, creating characters, structuring a narrative and more. They also offer some top tips for first time writers, and talk about their own writing methods.