In this course, we will explore contemporary dramatic writing for the stage and screen, with particular attention to the ways writers create compelling characters, worlds, scenes, and narratives. We will begin the semester with each student writing a personal dramatic manifesto, which will serve as a foundation for their creative work and inform their engagement with contemporary works for stage and screen. Through a series of intensive writing exercises, students will develop characters, settings, scenes, dialogue, plot, and structure, culminating in a one-act play or screenplay. Students will present and discuss their work in class throughout the writing and revision process. We will also read, analyze, and discuss a range of dramatic texts to develop an understanding of different approaches to form, narrative structure, and theatrical and cinematic storytelling. Throughout the course, students will have the opportunity to experiment with form and develop an individual voice as writers. This course is one of the required foundational courses for theater majors and minors. For Literary Studies Writing majors, playwriting can fulfill the secondary genre requirement.