A member of the Teaching Artist Alliance, a group of experienced, vetted professionals, I have traveled from Alabama to Singapore to conduct playwriting and screenwriting workshops for schools, theatre festivals and writers’ groups. I’ve taught in the MFA playwriting program at Hollins University and even served as US Cultural Envoy to Barbados. Click on one of the boxes below to find out how I help you through live (in-person or virtual) workshops, prerecorded workshops and webinars or my playwriting class in a book.
In-Person and Virtual Guest Artist Visits
Prerecorded Workshops You Can Buy Now
More Webinars for Purchase
My Playwriting Book
In-Person and Virtual Guest Artist Visits
Want to work with me live? I offer both in-person (I’m LA-based but love to travel) and virtual options that can range from a one-time session to a residency spread over several days or weeks.
Below is a list of workshops I teach regularly at conferences, and I’m happy to bring any of them to your group or to design something just for you. Just let me know your needs and we’ll go from there. Workshops with an asterisk (*) also exist in prerecorded versions; keep scrolling to purchase one of them right now.
- Writing the Vignette Play *
- The Playwriting Workout (Parts I and II) *
- Ten Minutes to Glory: Writing the Ten-Minute Play *
- Screenwriting 101 *
- The Young Playwright’s Guide to Avoiding Rejection
- Playwriting As You Like It
- Practical Playwriting
- Singular Sensation: Writing the Monologue
- First Do No Harm: The Teacher’s Guide to Supporting Young Playwrights *
- What’s Your Issue? (coming soon)
Prerecorded Workshops
Looking for prerecorded, on-demand offerings for yourself, a classroom or a conference? Check out these great options, with additional choices in the “More Webinars…” section below. Full-time students receive a discount!
The Playwriting Workout
In the words of the immortal Nike ad, "Just do it." Writing may not exactly be sports, but the best way to strengthen your writing muscles is to use them. A lot. In this workshop, we'll keep moving, brainstorming ideas and characters and creating scenes and monologues of all kinds. By the time you leave, you'll have broken one heck of a writerly sweat, and you'll have a pad or gadget filled with writing ideas that you can build upon. (47 minutes)
The Playwriting Workout, Part II
Whether your writing muscles are screaming for more after The Playwriting Workout or you're new to our writing gym, get ready for the Playwriting Workout, Part II. We'll start by generating fresh play ideas and then write on with a mix of exercises designed to help you push your writing skills even further and develop ideas that you can carry forward on your own. (54 minutes)
Screenwriting 101
With cell phones and cheap HD cameras, everyone has the technology to be a filmmaker—and there are more festivals and online outlets to distribute films than ever before. But it all begins with a great script. Come learn the basics of format, character, structure and visual storytelling that you need to get started, and then get to work on your own short screenplay! (53 minutes)
Writing the Vignette Play
Check, Please. Almost, Maine. My own 4 A.M. or Declaration. All very different, but all "vignette" plays, a form—and one that's become increasingly popular—that uses a series of scenes (and sometimes monologues) to tell the story. In this workshop, you'll get a crash course on what it takes to write a vignette play of your own—from hatching an idea to generating your "Scene Storm" to figuring out how to put all of the pieces together. (50 minutes)
Ten Minutes to Glory: Writing the Ten-Minute Play
Ever since the Actors Theatre of Louisville launched the National Ten-Minute Play Contest, the ten-minute play has become one of the theatre's most popular forms. The haiku of the playwriting world, it's great for festivals and competition, popular with audiences, a great calling card for a new playwright—and it's the easiest play to finish! Ready to write one? This workshop will have you well on the way to creating your new mini-opus. (43 minutes)
First, Do No Harm: The Teacher's Guide to Supporting Student Playwrights
You don't have to be a playwright to help your students write better plays. In this workshop, you'll learn how to recognize common playwriting problems, how to ask the right questions and, just as important, learn what to avoid as you support your students. (58 minutes)
More Webinars for Purchase
There's nothing like sitting in the back of a dark theater as an audience reacts to actors performing your work. But finding that first (and second and third...) production means not only understanding such basic elements as character, play structure, setting, dialogue and stage directions, but also learning what actually works on stage.
Today's young people are tomorrow's audiences and theatre makers. They're hungry for great plays, and there isn't nearly enough quality material being written for teens and children. With a market that spans schools and theatres worldwide, the chances of production are exponentially higher, and a successful play can earn thousands of dollars. But that means not only mastering basic playwriting skills, but also developing a specific understanding of how to write for young actors and audiences.
My Playwriting Book
Do your students want to write plays that will actually get produced? Or are you a budding young playwright yourself? Then meet your new best friend: Young Playwrights 101, now in a newly revised edition, is designed to guide young writers through the playwriting process, from initial idea to submission and beyond. A complete course in a book, it's organized in easy-to-follow lessons and filled with practical exercises designed to hone young writers' skills and get them writing better plays faster.
CONTACT ME
To contact me please fill the form below or send me an email to info@jonathandorf.com