Writing Drama

This revised and updated edition is a complete resource for anyone who wants to write and produce a television drama series or create an original series, as well as for teachers in screenwriting classes and workshops. It leads listeners step-by-step through each stage of the development and writing process, offering practical industry information and artistic inspiration. This edition also takes listeners into the future, engaging provocative issues about the interface between traditional TV and emerging technologies.

A French chateau. A forest with secrets. A magical spring. Welcome to La Chanson, where lost souls are found again… At the brink of summer, Callie arrives in a secluded village in the South of France with her young daughter, after barely escaping her menacing ex-partner. Desperate to hide, she...

Doing Time: For the prison writers whose work is included in this anthology, it means more than "serving a sentence"; it means staying alive and sane, preserving dignity, reinventing oneself, and somehow retaining one's humanity. For the last quarter century the prestigious writers' organization PEN has sponsored a contest for writers behind bars to help prisoners face these challenges. The contest honors the best short stories, plays, essays, and poems among hundreds submitted annually by men and women nationwide.

In this heartwarming, bookish debut, a young widower of a famous children’s fantasy author teams up with a down-on-her-luck MFA dropout to write the final book in his late wife’s series...and find their own perfect ending along the way. Whit Longacre has a monumental task and a looming...

He saved the Union with a sword. Now, he must save his family with a pen. New York City, 1884. Ulysses S. Grant is the most revered man in America, but a Wall Street swindle has left him destitute. Facing a terminal diagnosis of aggressive throat cancer, the General confronts a humiliation worse than defeat: leaving his beloved wife, Julia, in absolute poverty. Enter Mark Twain. The literary icon proposes a daring gamble to secure the Grant legacy. Fueled by cocaine to numb the agony and fighting through a fog of morphine, Grant races to finish his memoirs before the silence takes him. ...

Soaps are very popular around the world. Think of Emmerdale, Coronation Street or Eastenders or Home and Away or Neighbours. They are brilliant entertainment but who writes them? Well they have teams of writers and they are always on the look out for new talent. You too could be a soap writer. Chris Thompson was a full time teacher until he started writing, now he writes for Emmerdale. he has also written for the BBC radio series The Archers so if anyone can guide you to becoming a soap writer then surely Chris Thompson can. He takes you through all of the stages in writing a popular drama ...

Peter Heller’s masterful coming-of-age tale, the story of a mother and daughter living on a Vermont apple orchard, escaping ghosts of the past. Hayley and her seven-year-old daughter, Frith, live in a rustic cabin with no electricity in the foothills of Vermont’s Green Mountains. A renowned...

The long-awaited follow-up to the perennially bestselling writers' guide Story, from the most sought-after expert in the art of storytelling. "Dialogue is a masterwork. There's nothing harder to teach. Now this book exists. McKee has written an essential book akin to The Elements of Style for...

“It’s a stunner.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) From award-winning South African author Nadia Davids comes a gothic psychological thriller set in the 1920s, where a young maid finds herself entangled with the spirits of a decaying manor and the secrets of its enigmatic owner. I...

Gotham Writers' Workshop has mastered the art of teaching the craft of writing in a way that is practical, accessible, and entertaining. Now the techniques of this renowned school are available in this audiobook. Once you've listened—and written—your way through this book, you'll have a command of craft that will enable you to turn your ideas into effective short stories and novels. You will be a writer.

The New York Times bestselling memoir from the creator of some of the most iconic television programs ever, including All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons, and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. “Charming, candid, and copious . . . There is still a lot of zest, passion, and whimsy in...

In her bestselling memoirs Ruth Reichl has long illuminated the theme of how food defines us, and never more so than in her dazzling fiction debut about sisters, family ties, and a young woman who must finally let go of guilt and grief to embrace her own true gifts. Billie Breslin...

The long-awaited essay collection from one of the most influential voices in disability activism that detonates a bomb in our collective understanding of care and illness, showing us that sickness is a fact of life. In the wake of the 2014 Ferguson riots, and sick with a chronic condition that...

A memoir from Chuck Lorre--one of the most prolific television writers and showrunners in TV history (The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Mom, The Kominsky Method, Young Sheldon), on his life, career, and the deal with all those vanity cards. Ever wonder what it’s like to spend decades...

Armed with extraordinary medical talent and a winning smile, newly trained surgeon, Chase Callaway, enters the world of private practice in Los Angeles, only to be greeted by a wall of stunning peer rejection. A charge of malpractice is levied a mere three days into his career, followed by professional attacks intended to ruin, effectively ending his surgical practice after only one month. Battling back to respectability takes many years, but even then, dark clouds linger. Significant mental injuries still fester, reinforcing his growing fear and belief in a multi-generational family curse,...

Scorching-hot summer. Scorching-hot chemistry. Two teens can’t forget they’re just friends in this sweet, funny, electrifying romance from New York Times bestselling author Tia Williams—perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Nicola Yoon. Meet Audre. Junior class president. Debate team captain...

In Jonathan True's "Honorable Order of Drunken Liars," readers are transported into the midst of a unique writers' group that defies the challenges of the pandemic by convening in the familiar setting of a local bar. Led by the charismatic storyteller William S. Black, this eclectic group of wordsmiths gathers to share their tales, discuss life's intricacies, and find solace in each other's company during uncertain times. Against the backdrop of social distancing and safety precautions, the writers' group transforms the bar into a sanctuary of creativity and camaraderie. As they sit at a ...

New York Times bestselling author Ali Wentworth offers a comedic look at family, friendship, and lessons learned during the Covid-19 pandemic in her new collection of laugh-out-loud comic vignettes. Like many, Ali Wentworth spent the pandemic seesawing between highs, lows, and baking an...

Provence, 1970 is about a singular historic moment. In the winter of that year, more or less coincidentally, the iconic culinary figures James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, Richard Olney, Simone Beck, and Judith Jones found themselves together in the South of France. They cooked and ate...

George Washington crossing the Delaware. Tom Paine reading, “These are the times that try men's souls.” Nathan Hale's defiant cry, “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” And the Declaration of Independence proclaims the birth of a new nation, the United States of America. The Summer Soldiers takes us into the second year of the American Revolution as the story of Josiah Hartford and the people around him continues to unfold. Hugo, Josiah's nemesis, struggling with his doubts about the war even as he must hide who he truly is. Violet, following Josiah to New York...