Composer Quote by Edward Albee
“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, I tell my students, between a semi-colon and a period. A difference in duration. And we have all these wonderful things, we use commas and underlining and all the wonderful punctuation things we can use in the same way a composer uses them in music. And we can indicate, as specifically as a composer, the way we want our piece to sound.”
About This Quote
Source Interview: The Art of Playwriting, 1975
Playwriting can be treated like music, using punctuation as rhythmic and tonal cues to shape performance.
In simple terms: Use punctuation to control pacing like musical notation.
Key Takeaway
Apply musical timing to dialogue for richer drama.
Themes
creativity
writing technique
performance
punctuation
rhythm
Mood
inspirational
thoughtful
Type
theoretical
practical
When to use this quote
- script editing
- actor rehearsal
- directing
- voice coaching
Key Concepts
musical metaphor
structural pacing
expressive timing
Questions to Reflect On
- How does punctuation affect audience perception?
- Can musical pacing replace traditional dramatic beats?
A Different Perspective
Over‑emphasis on musicality may distract from narrative clarity.
![“I was twenty-nine years old and I wasn't a very good poet and I wasn't a very good novelist, [so] I thought I would try writing a play, which seems to have worked out a little better.” quote by Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/01d/edward-albee-1684_littles_i-was-twenty-nine-years-old-and-i-wasn-t_1642881.jpg)
![“Writing a play is like smashing that [glass] ashtray, filming it in slow motion, and then running the film in reverse, so that the fragments of rubble appear to fly together. You start - or at least I start - with the rubble.” quote by Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/271/tom-stoppard-437_ashtrays_writing-a-play-is-like-smashing-that-gla_733373.jpg)
