Playwriting Bootcamp
Weekend 1: Curing The Block - Stretching Your Creative Muscles
Weekend 2: Building Blocks - Writing Your First Draft

Whether you’re battling writer’s block, intimidated by the blank page, or are just too overwhelmed to make time for yourself to write, this bootcamp is designed to give you the jolt of inspiration you need to get your ideas on the page. Over the course of two weekends, playwright, director, and dramaturg Mêlisa Annis will lead you through a generative writing process to complete a messy first draft of a play. 

This workshop might be for you if you:

• Are a playwright with a seed of an idea that you'd like to explore in a fun, focused, and intensive environment.

• Need a jumpstart to get creative ideas out of your head and onto the page.

In this workshop:

• The first weekend is about inspiration. Use writing exercises and in-class discussion to bypass your critical mind, generate material without judgement, and kick off your first draft. 

• Take the time between the two weekends to process, dream, research, and focus on an idea, character, or world. 

• Fueled by your first weekend, use the second weekend to write and share, focus your ideas, and expand your writing into a messy first draft.

By the end of class you will have: 

• A solid start on—or even complete!—messy first draft of your next play.

• Notes, feedback, and next steps to continue your play outside of the bootcamp setting. 

• New writing exercises if you ever find yourself stuck and need some inspiration.