Playwright's Process Podcast

In this special New Year episode I invite you to reflect on your writing year and share a practical way to kick off January: Choosing an Artist Word of the Year. I also reflect on my artistic values and share a personal update on life with a newborn. In This Episode: A personal update about motherhood so far Why choosing a word of the year can be more powerful than traditional resolutions The diff...

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Jenni Medway, Head of New Work at Melbourne Theatre Company. With over a decade of experience in dramaturgy within theatre companies, Jenni shares her approach to developing plays, the role of a company dramaturg, and the unique responsibilities that come with programming new works for a state theatre company. As a dramaturg dedicated to new writing, Jenni has so...

How does a new Australian play end up on the main stage? One way is by being commissioned by a theatre company. In today's episode, Dom Mercer, Head of New Work at Belvoir, talks us through this process. We discuss how new plays go from an idea to a story outline, and then through three drafts before they are considered for programming in a main stage season. Dom takes you step by step through the...

Today I answer your writing questions in an ‘ask me anything’ episode. I cover loads of topics related to playwriting, theatre and dramaturgy. Here’s what you asked: - How do play development workshops work, and how do you structure each day? - What do you do when you're struggling with writer's block? - How do you organise your life as a writer? - Do you speak to people about your plays in early...

AMA (Ask Me Anything) episode is next up! Send me any questions you want answered to emily@emilysheehan.info , or via DM on Instagram @emilysheehan__ . We all have ideas for plays (and movies and novels) that never make it to a finished draft. So today’s episode is about the steps you can take to develop an idea into an outline for a play. Turning your ideas into a play is the process of asking yo...

Today I’m riffing on Taylor Swift and how as playwrights we can find ways to write in a way that feels incredibly truthful, to the point that it feels confessional. In what ways can we better embrace the cringey, diaristic, oversharing in our early drafts, so that we can move through to subtle, nuanced insights in our polished work? Because you can’t get to sophisticated sincerity, if you don’t nu...

Should we have multiple scripts on the go? Today I delve into the benefits and challenges of writing more than one idea at the same time. As well as some strategies for focus and momentum when bouncing between stories. I touch on:  - The temptation to do 'all the things' when it comes to new ideas. - The complexities of managing more than one writing project at once. - Identifying a primary p...

Having our work reviewed publicly is a strange and unavoidable part of writing. It's something we all have to deal with when we put new work out into the world. In today's episode I talk about reviews, theatre criticism and 'perfect opinions'. I touch on:  - Writers' different appetites for reading reviews of their work.  - The difference between theatre criticism and reviews. - Frustrat...

Today I'm joined by Artistic Director of the Old Fitz Theatre, Lucy Clements, to talk about the rehearsal room for my play Frame Narrative. We speak about: - Finding the right artistic team to build out the world of the play. - The rehearsal process and the role of a director and playwright at different stages. - The many design elements and working with composition in the rehearsal room. - Workin...

I've been writing an adaptation! ( Frame Narrative and it’s on March 8-30, 2024 at The Old Fitz in Sydney.) Working with source material has changed some parts of my writing process. So I thought it could be useful to share what's been helpful along the way. I speak about: - The many kinds of adaptations: retellings, reimaginings, cover songs, fan fiction, prequels, sequels etc. - Bridging the gap...

Sometimes in order to make a piece of writing stronger you have to remove something. Whether that's a conversation between two characters, a whole scene, a whole narrative thread or maybe even a whole character. In today’s episode I unpack the common piece of writing advice to ‘kill your darlings’ and share some of the provocations and writing tasks that have helped me cut material from my latest...

What’s your play about? What questions is it trying to answer? What provocations does it make? After a period of intense focus on the big ideas of the play, it can be helpful to switch focus and 'stay with the story'. In today's episode I speak about: - Writing from your authentic voice. The place where you are the most honest, most lyrical, most creative.
 - The difference between what your play...

A seductive psychological defence is that we will one day feel ready. Ready to start a draft. Ready to tackle these rewrites. Ready to send the script to a friend to read. But feelings of readiness don’t always arrive… Today I share my thoughts on whether we need to feel ready before we take the next step in a creative project. And some strategies and tools to try out if we don’t feel ready. I spe...

It’s time to reacquaint ourselves with rest. Rest and recovery are as much a part of the creative process as phases of enormous artistic output. And we can validate our ambition to create our best work and chase our dreams, at the same time we talk about wellbeing and meeting our needs as artists. ‘Pushing through’ when we’ve hit our limit is rampant in the arts industry. This podcast is an invita...

As part of the publicity for Monument at Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre, I’ve done a number of radio interviews. This episode is a compilation of three of my favourite radio conversations. So much about theatre and live performance is ephemeral, so including these in my podcast feed is a way to archive interesting conversations about the play. And even though art and writing can and should speak for i...

Today I'm joined by Artistic Director of Red Stitch Actors' Theatre, Ella Caldwell, to talk about the rehearsal room for my play Monument. We speak about: - Finding the right artistic team to build out the world of the play. - Bringing different perspectives into the development room. - The rehearsal process and the role of a director and playwright. - New discoveries in the rehearsal room and goi...

Monument by Emily Sheehan Directed by Ella Caldwell Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre 9 August - 3 September, 2023 Book now: www.redstitch.net/monument-2023 Next Episode If you have questions about the rehearsal room or working with a director that you want Ella or myself to speak about, DM me on Instagram @emilysheehan__ and that will give Ella and I some ideas for our podcast chat later this month. Pla...

I’ve been intrigued by the concept of ‘slow looking’ from my visits to galleries in my travels. Slow looking is an approach to visiting a gallery that encourages spending more time with a few selected artworks, rather than rushing through to try and see everything. In today’s episode I’m sharing some thoughts on slow looking, how it’s extended to my experience watching theatre, and how I’ve been u...

In today’s episode I share one of my favourite pieces of writing about playwriting. José Rivera’s ‘36 Assumptions About Writing Plays’, originally published in the American Theatre Magazine. It’s a beautiful list of provocations about playwriting craft which I have found enormously helpful and returned to again and again. References ‘36 Assumptions About Writing Plays’ by José Rivera To learn more...

Today I talk about staying consistent in our writing practice even when life gets busy. I've been feeling motivated and inspired, but despite my best intentions, life has been intruding on my writing time. This has made for some rushed and unsatisfying writing sessions this month. So today I'm sharing what has been helpful creative process wise when it comes to writing when life gets in the way. B...

As playwrights, it’s useful to understand the audience-facing aspects of the genre we’re working in, so we can make interesting decisions as we write. In this episode I share how I'm letting genre inform many of the dramaturgical choices I’m making in this draft. I speak about: - Leaning into the natural momentum of a genre you’re writing in and letting it draw things out of you. - Managing and pl...

Creating characters that are both interesting and integral to the plot of your play can take several rounds of revisions. I’m currently in a second draft and working on enmeshing my characters with the themes and story more. In this episode, I share some of the writing exercises and prompts that have helped me develop my characters in meaningful ways. These include: - Identifying when a character...

So you finished the first draft, now what? Today I share some thoughts about where to begin for Draft 2. Because if we jump in and start editing out the weird bits before we sit with what is so uncomfortable about them, and why are we so desperate to tidy them up, we’re going to lose that deeper insight. We won’t discover the gift of understanding the more shadowy depths of this play that could be...

Today I’m speaking about the benefits of hearing your script read aloud in a group environment and some methods for getting useful feedback on your play. I recently finished a polished first draft of a new play, and organising a table read with actors was a key part of moving the draft into its next iteration.  I speak about: - The similarities between playwriting and music composition, and w...

Today I share the habits that have helped me overcome procrastination and get back on track to finishing a polished first draft before the end of the year. I speak about: - The fatigue of continuous self-motivation. - Creating manageable and meaningful goals worthy of pursuing regardless of the outcome. - Deciding on a lighthouse to 'sail towards' for this draft only (knowing you can always change...