--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In playwriting, you've got to be able to…" description: "\"In playwriting, you've got to be able to write dialogue. And if you write enough of it and let it flow enough, you'll probably come across something th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cb/david-mamet-1178_able_in-playwriting-you-ve-got-to-be-able-to_642202.jpg" --- # In playwriting, you've got to be able to write dialogue… ![“In playwriting, you've got to be able to write dialogue. And if you write enough of it and let it flow enough, you'll probably come across something that will give you a key as to structure. I think the process of writing a play is working back and forth between the moment and the whole. The…” quote by David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cb/david-mamet-1178_able_in-playwriting-you-ve-got-to-be-able-to_642202.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cb/david-mamet-1178_able_in-playwriting-you-ve-got-to-be-able-to_642202.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cb/david-mamet-1178_able_in-playwriting-you-ve-got-to-be-able-to_642202.jpg) > “In playwriting, you've got to be able to write dialogue. And if you write enough of it and let it flow enough, you'll probably come across something that will give you a key as to structure. I think the process of writing a play is working back and forth between the moment and the whole. The moment and the whole, the fluidity of the dialogue and the necessity of a strict construction. Letting one predominate for a while and coming back and fixing it so that eventually what you do, like a pastry chef, is frost your mistakes, if you can.” [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Effective playwriting balances spontaneous dialogue with overall structure, alternating between improvisation and careful revision to refine the work. **In simple terms:** Balancing natural speech and planned structure improves a play. Key Takeaway Blend improvisation with revision. Themes writing structure dialogue Mood reflective analytical Type instructional creative When to use this quote - playwriting workshops - script drafts - rehearsals - director notes Key Concepts Narrative design creative process Questions to Reflect On - How do you decide when to edit versus when to let dialogue flow? - What structural elements most often need tightening? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on spontaneity can lead to incoherent narratives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Actor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) [Back and forth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/back-and-forth/) [Chef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chef/) [Coming back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coming-back/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Construction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/construction/) [Dialogue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dialogue/) [Dialogue Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dialogue-write-2951726/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Fixing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fixing/) [Flow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow/) [Fluidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fluidity/) [Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frost/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keys/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Pastries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pastries/) [Pastry chef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pastry-chef/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Playwriting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/playwriting/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Process Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process-writing/) [Strict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strict/) [Structure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/structure/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) [Write Dialogue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-dialogue-403875/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-play/) ## Related quotes > [When I'm writing a play I hear it like music. I use the same indications that a composer does for duration. There's a difference,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/when-i-m-writing-a-play-i-hear-it-like-music-i-use-the-same/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [I write to make peace with the things I cannot control. I write to create fabric in the world that often appears black and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-write-to-make-peace-with-the-things-i-cannot-control-i-write-to-2/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [I didn't necessarily have a total idea when I was writing the movie of where everything was going. I just wanted to have really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/i-didn-t-necessarily-have-a-total-idea-when-i-was-writing-the-movie/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [I don't write shows with dialogue where actors have to memorize dialogue. I write the scenes where we know everything that's going to happen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-david/i-don-t-write-shows-with-dialogue-where-actors-have-to-memorize/) [Larry David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-david/) > [“As a youth I enjoyed — indeed, like most of my contemporaries, revered — the agitprop plays of Brecht, and his indictments of Capitalism.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/as-a-youth-i-enjoyed-indeed-like-most-of-my-contemporaries-revered/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [Learn from cinema. Be economic with descriptions. Sort out the telling detail from the lifeless one. Write dialogue that people would actually speak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-tremain/learn-from-cinema-be-economic-with-descriptions-sort-out-the-telling/) [Rose Tremain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-tremain/) > [The way you write dialogue is the same whether you're writing for movies or TV or games. We use movie scriptwriting software to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-lake/the-way-you-write-dialogue-is-the-same-whether-you-re-writing-for/) [Sam Lake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-lake/) > [When I'm writing a script, before I can write dialogue or anything, I have two or three hundred pages of notes, which takes me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kaufman/when-i-m-writing-a-script-before-i-can-write-dialogue-or-anything-i/) [Charlie Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kaufman/) > [Whenever I write, I write very dialogue-heavy things because I love to force my characters to interact with one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-ashley-carter/whenever-i-write-i-write-very-dialogue-heavy-things-because-i-love-to/) [Lauren Ashley Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-ashley-carter/) > [I'd be the first person to say I can't write dialogue. My dialogue is very utilitarian and is designed to move things forward. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lucas/i-d-be-the-first-person-to-say-i-can-t-write-dialogue-my-dialogue-is/) [George Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lucas/) > [I was intentionally curbing the impulse to be funny and hiding the ability. I wrote any number of very serious attempts at poems, short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-dewitt/i-was-intentionally-curbing-the-impulse-to-be-funny-and-hiding-the/) [Patrick deWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-dewitt/) > [Much to my surprise, there's a sense for people in the cable industry that fiction writers might actually be good at script writing. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/much-to-my-surprise-there-s-a-sense-for-people-in-the-cable-industry/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [When I first started, I didn't really know how to structure a play. I could write dialogue, but I just sort of failed beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-shepard/when-i-first-started-i-didn-t-really-know-how-to-structure-a-play-i/) [Sam Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-shepard/) > [In real life, people fumble their words. They repeat themselves and stare blankly off into space and don't listen properly to what other people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-guest/in-real-life-people-fumble-their-words-they-repeat-themselves-and/) [Christopher Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-guest/) > [I'm not so sure that I can teach people how to, you know, write dialogue or create plot or anything like that. But if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-not-so-sure-that-i-can-teach-people-how-to-you-know-write/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) ## More by David Mamet > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [Culture exists and evolves to relegate to habit categories of interactions the constant conscious reference to which would make human interaction impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/culture-exists-and-evolves-to-relegate-to-habit-categories-of/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [When I started out I was a failed actor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/when-i-started-out-i-was-a-failed-actor/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/we-must-have-a-pie-stress-cannot-exist-in-the-presence-of-a-pie/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“We cannot live in peace without Law. And though law cannot be perfect, it may be just if it is written in ignorance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/we-cannot-live-in-peace-without-law-and-though-law-cannot-be-perfect/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [Films have degenerated to their original operation as carnival amusement - they offer not drama but thrills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/films-have-degenerated-to-their-original-operation-as-carnival/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [The Oscars demonstrate the will of the people to control and judge those they have elected to stand above them (much, perhaps, as in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/the-oscars-demonstrate-the-will-of-the-people-to-control-and-judge/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [I know very well what it is to be out of work and to be cheated by employers and I know what it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/i-know-very-well-what-it-is-to-be-out-of-work-and-to-be-cheated-by/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [Hitchcock denigrated American films, saying they were all 'pictures of people talking' - as, indeed, most of them are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/hitchcock-denigrated-american-films-saying-they-were-all-pictures-of/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“Life in the movie business is like the beginning of a new love affair: it's full of surprises, and you're constantly getting fucked.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/life-in-the-movie-business-is-like-the-beginning-of-a-new-love-affair/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“How was her crumbcake? oh.. from the store... …”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/how-was-her-crumbcake-oh-from-the-store/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [A dramatic experience concerned with the mundane may inform but it cannot release; and one concerned essentially with the aesthetic politics of its creators…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/a-dramatic-experience-concerned-with-the-mundane-may-inform-but-it/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [The product of the artist has become less important than the fact of the artist. 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We wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/the-product-of-the-artist-has-become-less-important-than-the-fact-of/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [In a world we find terrifying, we ratify that which doesn't threaten us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/in-a-world-we-find-terrifying-we-ratify-that-which-doesn-t-threaten-us/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“As a youth I enjoyed — indeed, like most of my contemporaries, revered — the agitprop plays of Brecht, and his indictments of Capitalism.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/as-a-youth-i-enjoyed-indeed-like-most-of-my-contemporaries-revered/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) [Explore all 278 David Mamet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. 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To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) [Greg Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-perry/) > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. 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