Best Playwriting Creative Writing Classes in 2023

It’s often said that you can make a bad movie with a good screenplay, but you can’t make a good movie with a bad screenplay. At the New York Film Academy’s Screenwriting School we take that to heart. Get training from a top screenwriting school without commuting or leaving your home.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Online

Categories: Playwriting

Level: Any

Class size: Limited

Price: $2,000.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://www.nyfa.edu/online-screenwriting/workshops/15-we...

Learn the basics of writing for the stage and connect with a community of like-minded writers in this introductory course in our playwriting stream. Working with a produced playwright, you'll learn important theatrical elements, including structure, character, dialogue and environment.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Toronto

Categories: Playwriting

Level: Beginner

Course length: 8 sessions (2.5 hours)

Class size: Limited

Price: $649.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://learn.utoronto.ca/programs-courses/courses/2825-p...

This class is built on the idea that all plays are adaptations; story comes first. Bring one or two pieces of material you’d like to adapt, along with a description of their dramatic action in one sentence, then an expanded description in one paragraph.

Prerequisites: You must have written and completed at least 1 full-length play.

Location: Online

Categories: Playwriting

Level: Beginner

Course length: 10 sessions (3 hours)

Class size: Unlimited

Price: $575.00

Start date: September, 2023

Website: https://www.hbstudio.org/classes/playwriting/adapting-sto...

From first-time writers to experienced playwrights who want to go back to the basics and/or expand their creative processes. The goal of this class is to explore what plays might be and how we might write them. And to have fun.

Prerequisites: Registration prerequisite.

Location: Online

Categories: Playwriting

Level: Any

Course length: 10 sessions (3 hours)

Class size: Unlimited

Price: $525.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://www.hbstudio.org/classes/playwriting/playwriting-1/

Write the next Sister Aloysius, Troy Maxson, Willy Loman, or Blanche DuBois! The goal of this class is to introduce participants to creative ways to think about character behavior and specific, unique dialogue.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Online

Categories: Playwriting

Level: Any

Course length: 10 sessions (5 hours)

Class size: 10

Price: $500.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://www.dginstitute.org/fall-2022/character-and-behavior

Writing for television has the potential to be not only artistically satisfying, but lucrative as well—just ask Aaron Sorkin from "The Newsroom." This class is your opportunity to learn the structure and language of television writing so you can work to join the ranks of these distinguished playwrights-turned-television writers.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Online

Categories: Playwriting

Level: Beginner

Course length: 7 sessions (2 hours)

Class size: Unlimited

Price: $460.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://primarystages.org/espa/writing/television-writing

If you're just stepping into the world of playwriting, welcome! In this 5-week class, you will build a toolbox of the fundamentals, so your first play (and each play you write after that!) can be built on a strong foundation. The goal is to get a comprehensive overview of the possibilities within playwriting.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Online

Categories: Playwriting

Level: Beginner

Course length: 5 sessions (3 hours)

Class size: Unlimited

Price: $440.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://primarystages.org/espa/writing/online-fundamental...

Nothing beats the intensity of actors sharing the same air as the audience. But a play will not soar in performance unless it’s great on the page. Here you’ll learn how to write for the stage and how to market your work. Whether you seek to write one-acts or full-lengths or musicals, we’ll show you how to write plays that draw the big applause.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: New York

Categories: Playwriting

Level: Beginner

Course length: 10 sessions (3 hours)

Class size: Limited

Price: $419.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://wp.writingclasses.com/courses/playwriting-i/

This hands-on class is designed to ready scripts for production by taking a close look at effective writing.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Online

Categories: Playwriting

Level: Beginner

Course length: 6 sessions (3 hours)

Class size: Limited

Price: $360.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://www.playpenn.org/developing-solo-show/

Ethics and Fundamentals of Playwriting provides an introduction or refresher for those serious about beginning or improving their scriptwriting skills, with added conversations built-in that help each playwright answer the questions, ‘Why am I doing this? What impact am I trying to make?’

Prerequisites: A strong creative writing background is preferred.

Location: Online

Categories: Playwriting

Level: Intermediate

Course length: 8 sessions (2 hours)

Class size: Limited

Price: $320.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://www.playpenn.org/ethics-and-fundamentals/#1505311...

Let's start a new play in the new year! This is the class for you if you: have an idea you're ready to explore on the page, need accountability and deadlines to help you prioritize your project, have some playwriting experience under their belt, and want to surprise yourself while writing.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Online

Categories: Playwriting

Level: Beginner

Course length: 6 sessions (2 hours)

Class size: Limited

Price: $175.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://pwcenter.org/event/online-workshop-draft-zero-A%2...

Revision is not a virtue. It is a tactic. And all evidence suggests that the revision of a work of art is the thing that makes it last. This frank and hands-on master class will convince you that you do not need a flash of inspiration to make your play better.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Online

Categories: Playwriting

Level: Any

Course length: 2 sessions (2 hours)

Class size: Limited

Price: $150.00

Start date: June, 2023

Website: https://pwcenter.org/event/workshop-intensive-strategic-s...