“Smoothly add bits of backstory along the way in ways that will not interrupt the story’s forward thrust. Information should blend in perfectly with the whole story, not feel like it’s the writer telling us a necessary thing in order for the...
“Like all stories, musicals can be joyous, somber, thrilling, meditative, lively, plodding, goofy, emotional, political, instructive, and on and on. What they are obliged to be, first and foremost, is entertaining….” ~Steve Cuden If you’re going to...
The Challenge of Creating Memorable Moments Ever wonder why we mere mortals—those of us living without benefit of a photographic memory—upon seeing a musical only once, are usually unable to remember in any true detail more than a handful of scenes and production...
Where Do Musical Ideas Come From? A question commonly asked of writers is, “Where do you get your musical story ideas?” Fair enough, though I think it should be obvious. The simple answer is, “Everywhere.” Of course, that’s easy for me to say and doesn’t tell you...
First Drafts: A Necessary Evil There are two major types of writers in the world: those who love to write, and those who love to have written. Whichever category you fall into, you must learn to love to rewrite because that is where the art truly comes alive and is...
The Pitfalls of Misusing Musical Lyrics One of the traps that novice writers of musicals frequently step into is the misapplication of lyrics. Although most every memorable musical tells a story, the songs should rarely have the burden of explaining the narrative or...
