Meanings
- alternativeuncountableAlternative form of playwriting.
Only by bearing the audience constantly in mind can the student learn the numerous devices which make play-writing an art quite different from any other form of narration.
1916, Daniel Homer Rich, “[Introduction] II.—Elementary Laws of Dramatic Construction”, in The Merchant of Venice: As Originally Performed by Shakespeare’s Company (The Globe Theater Shakespeare), New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, page xix2 more examples
One does learn a little through the years, of course, but what one learns is the surface tricks of play-writing, never how to avoid the major errors. Perhaps the reason that one can never practice the art of play-writing with any degree of sureness or security is that each play has a peculiar and separate life of its own.
1959, Moss Hart, Act One: An Autobiography, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →LCCN, page 167As a playwright she has won the Nick Darke award for her script Paradise (an environmental play) and the Generation Zed play-writing competition for a script idea for the Pilot Theatre to be developed for young people (11–15 year olds).
2013, Margaret Rogerson, “Medieval Mystery Plays in the Modern World: A Question of Relevance?”, in The Yearbook of English Studies, volume 43, Modern Humanities Research Association, pages 343–366
Cite this entry
play-writing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/play-writing
“play-writing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/play-writing. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “play-writing,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/play-writing.
Source: play-writing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.