How to Write a Play in a Week
WriteForTheStage is very excited to announce the 2025 playwright’s summer school.
WFTS has been running for over a decade, and we have helped hundreds of burgeoning playwrights develop their first play. We have also developed the craft for many experienced playwrights, offering expert dramaturgical support to help guide more confident writers while they create a piece of work.
Playwright’s Summer School
We will be running two one-week-long summer schools this year, helping beginners to write their first play, and supporting experienced playwrights to create a new first draft in a supportive, focused environment.
And at the end of the summer, we’ll share the work with an audience (date TBC), offering writers valuable feedback from an audience to help shape, guide, and nurture the piece into a new, more complete and ready draft.
Reviews for WriteForTheStage online courses
Excellent!
The Finding Starting Points course is a fantastic resource for anyone writing a play, novel, or short story. Split into three accessible modules (the first even useful for poetry), it clarifies the difference between plot and theme, helping writers define their work’s core message. A key tip: allow at least an hour between modules to reflect on previous writing. The course guides you from idea generation to theme progression and character development in ways you may not have explored. Plus, Mike offers a 30-minute online feedback session for those completing the course—an invaluable opportunity to refine and advance your work.
— Michael Rumney
Highly recommend!
This course really helped me as a first time writer to formulate ideas and build characters. It brought structure and deadlines to my writing process and the constant prompts and reflection questions really helped me to delve deeper into what I was writing. It is full of nuggets (that I don’t want to give away) that I would never have thought of, had I not done the course. My confidence as a writer was really boosted after I completed the course and I would highly recommend it to anyone thinking of writing for a stage play.
— Suzanne Robertshaw
Five stars!
This course is ideal for both new and experienced writers seeking fresh inspiration. Having completed the three modules, I now have a theme, character outlines, and a strong starting point for a new piece. Module 1 was especially useful in breaking down my next steps. The timed exercises were helpful, and there was no pressure to produce something perfect—Mike provided strategies for overcoming blocks. I wasn’t stuck but had many ideas, and his guidance helped me narrow them into a single theme. By the end, I had a solid foundation, and the ability to pause and restart tasks was invaluable.
Highly recommend this course.
— Sarah Cassidy
How does the playwright’s summer school work?
To maximize accessibility, we’ll be running the summer school on Zoom.
Over the course of the week, we’ll meet every morning for warm-ups, writing exercises, and discussions to help fuel your day’s writing.
Each evening over the week, we’ll meet to read, discuss, and support each other through the journey of writing a first draft. The evening session will offer excellent insight into the day’s writing, set for the following morning’s warm-up.
And for those interested, we’ll start the day with a yoga session, ideal for focusing the mind and getting into a creative headspace.
What is the time commitment for the playwriting summer school?
The morning sessions will be one-hour long, and the evening sessions will run for two-hours.
In terms of time commitment, we recommend trying to get as much of the week available for writing as possible.
If you have a couple of spare hours, it could be enough for a short play. But if you’re looking to write a longer piece, we’d recommend trying to clear your diary as much as possible for the week.
Morning sessions
Each morning during the week, we’ll get together at 9.30am (UK time) for warm-up writing exercises to get the creative juices flowing. Then, we’ll deliver a prompting session, focusing on a specific playwriting element, such as tension, characterisation, dramatic questions, and monologue.
Then, we’ll give you the day to write.
Evening sessions
We’ll meet up again in the evening on the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 8-10pm (UK time) so you can get the kids to bed if you need to and have your tea beforehand. Then, we’ll treat each evening as a WritersLab – reading the work we’ve written during the day.
A WritersLab provides immediate feedback, but the writer is in charge: they tell the group what type of feedback they want. This keeps the sessions constructive and drives the discussion.
What are the dates?
We’re going to run two summer schools this year:
- w/c Thurs 3rd June to Mon 7th July
- w/c Monday 25th Aug to Fri 29th Aug
Who is the tutor?
Mike Heath is a professional playwright and qualified teacher. He has been writing for the stage for over 20 years, and has an MA in Creative Writing (Playwriting) and teaches the Playwriting and Writing for Performance modules at Salford University.
Check out Mike’s publications.
How much does it cost?
We’re doing our best to keep costs low while keeping groups small to ensure everyone gets a great experience.
The cost for the week is £80 per person. Please note that the course won’t run if we don’t meet minimum numbers, but you’ll receive a full refund in that case.
Book now
You can pay with Apple/Google Pay, Paypal, and most debit/credit cards.
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