An invaluable resource for anyone wanting his or her acting to matter, this groundbreaking guide defies most modern acting methods by rejecting emotion as an acting tool. With the advice in this book, actors will see beyond the prevailing "objective-obstacle" approach and look primarily to the text the playwright provides. Actors learn how to dissect a text for key words and phrases, as well as how to score a script, find proper tempo and rhythm, modulate volume and intensity, use theatric...

"This is a book about making art. Ordinary art. Ordinary art means something like: all art not made by Mozart. After all, art is rarely made by Mozart-like people; essentially—statistically speaking—there aren't any people like that. Geniuses get made once-a-century or so, yet good art gets made all the time, so to equate the making of art with the workings of genius removes this intimately human activity to a strangely unreachable and unknowable place. For all practical ...

One of the world’s leading creative artists, choreographers, and creator of the smash-hit Broadway show, Movin’ Out, shares her secrets for developing and honing your creative talents—at once prescriptive and inspirational, a book to stand alongside The Artist’s Way and Bird by Bird.All it takes to make creativity a part of your life is the willingness to make it a habit. It is the product of preparation and effort, and it is within reach...

With an introduction by Geoff Dyer and personal insights into how some of the most internationally known authors have crafted their best loved works, How to write fiction is a must-read for every aspiring fiction writer. Comprehensive exercises by Kate Grenville to accompany each stage of the writing process will help to embed your learning as your novel progresses.Chapters are:Jill Dawson on Getting startedAndrew Miller on CharacterRachel Cusk on Point of ViewMeg Rosoff on VoiceDBC Pierre...

It’s never too late—to reclaim your creativity, recapture long-lost dreams, and embark on an exciting new life!New York Times bestselling author Barbara Sher has transformed the lives of millions with her phenomenally successful books, workshops, and television appearances. Now, in a provocative new book, she offers a bold new strategy for creating a “second life”—no matter what your age!Combining step-by-step exercise with motivational techniques,...

Discover the poet within! You’ve read poetry that has touched your heart, and you’d like to improve your own writing technique. But even though you have loads of inspiration, you’re discovering that good instruction can be as elusive as a good metaphor.The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Writing Poetry will help you compose powerful, emotion-packed poems that you can be proud of. You’ll learn:• Simple explanations of poetry building blocks, such as metaphor, imagery, sym...

Honed by the author's 35 years of teaching, this advanced book offers different warm-up exercises concentrating on the actor's sense of smell, sound, sight, and touch; sensory tools for conveying the climate and environment of the text; tips for suggesting a character's physical conditions; and much more. Individual exercises will help actors to free the voice and body, create a character, find the action and condition of scenes, and explore the subconscious for effective emotional recall....

In this step-by-step guide, an actor and improvisational teacher brings his tested methods to the page to show how actors can take risks and gain spontaneity in all genres of scripted theater. Through 28 lessons-each of which includes warm-ups, points of concentration, and improvisation exercises-Improv for Actors provides insights into thinking and reacting with fluidity, exploring a character’s social status, using the voice and body as effective tools of storytelling, and more. Actors o...

This all-new book, by the co-author of Companion, invites you to discover and enjoy your poetic self.Inspired by the gratifying success of Companion, Kim Addonizio presents exciting new insights into the creative process, craft, and the lessons of her own creative subjects--love, loss, identity, community--are here, along with a heady variety of writing exercises (and innovative ways to use the Internet). Chapters on gender, race, and class challenge readers to ex...

Not since Strunk and White’s ELEMENTS OF STYLE has a book compressed so many insights into so few pages. With his trademark simplicity and wit, Marty Neumeier has written and illustrated a concise guide that can be read quickly over a lunch break or savored slowly over a lifetime.Part 1, “How can I innovate?” offers insightful guidance such as “Feel before you think,” “See what’s not there,” and “Ask a bigger question.” Rule #1 gives the paradoxical advice: “Break the rules.”

Brimming with advice and techniques, this essential reference for book- and songwriters clearly explains the fundamentals of the three crafts of a musical-book, music, and lyrics. Using copious examples from classic shows, Frankel has created the quintessential musical writers' how-to. Among the topics:definitions of musical theater; differences between musical books and straight plays and between poetry and lyrics; what a score is and how it develops; how to write for the voice; and how t...

Robert Brewer, editor of Writer's Market and author of the popular poetry blog Poetic Asides, compiles in this book all of his best, most popular and thought-provoking writing prompts for poets. The goal is to create new poems and this book provides 366 - enough for every day of the year! The world needs more poets. So get inspired, get creative, and start writing poetry - now!