The Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives - Lajos Egri Audiobook

Written by Lajos Egri
Read by Troy W. Hudson
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Date: July 2019
Duration: 12 hours 42 minutes
Publisher: BN Publishing On Line

Published in 1942 as How to Write a Play. Revised, renamed and reissued in 1946.

Among the many ‘how-to’ playwriting books that have appeared over the years, there have been few that attempt to analyze the mysteries of play construction. Lajos Egri’s classic, The Art of Dramatic Writing, does just that, with instruction that can be applied equally well to a short story, novel, or screenplay.

Egri stresses three points:
What premise are you trying to prove? (This is not theme or plot summary, but the plot should be obvious from it.

Find characters who, because of their very nature, must inevitably be led to choices that will prove the premise.

Fill your plot with conflict that exposes the characters’ nature, so that in the end the reader will understand your premise and your characters.

Examining a play from the inside out, Egri starts with the heart of any drama: its characters. All good dramatic writing hinges on people and their relationships, which serve to move the story forward and give it life, as well as an understanding of human motives - why people act the way that they do. Using examples from everything from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Egri shows how it is essential for the author to have a basic premise - a thesis, demonstrated in terms of human behavior - and to develop the dramatic conflict on the basis of that behavior.

Using Egri’s ABCs of premise, character, and conflict, The Art of Dramatic Writing is a direct, jargon-free approach to the problem of achieving truth in writing..

Note: The author clicks off point after point in rapid succession, about 70 or more, so an ebook is included for reference.