--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't write a play from beginning to…" description: "\"I don't write a play from beginning to end. I don't write an outline. I write scenes and moments as they occur to me. And I still write on a typewriter..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d88/richard-greenberg-19897_actor_i-don-t-write-a-play-from-beginning-to-e_141428.jpg" --- # I don't write a play from beginning to end. I don't write… ![“I don't write a play from beginning to end. I don't write an outline. I write scenes and moments as they occur to me. And I still write on a typewriter. It's not all in ether. It's on pages. I sequence them in a way that tends to make sense. Then I write what's missing, and that's my first draft.” quote by Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d88/richard-greenberg-19897_actor_i-don-t-write-a-play-from-beginning-to-e_141428.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d88/richard-greenberg-19897_actor_i-don-t-write-a-play-from-beginning-to-e_141428.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d88/richard-greenberg-19897_actor_i-don-t-write-a-play-from-beginning-to-e_141428.jpg) > “I don't write a play from beginning to end. I don't write an outline. I write scenes and moments as they occur to me. And I still write on a typewriter. It's not all in ether. It's on pages. I sequence them in a way that tends to make sense. Then I write what's missing, and that's my first draft.” [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing organically, scene by scene, embraces spontaneity and physical drafting. **In simple terms:** Write scenes as they come, not a full outline. Key Takeaway Allow the story to unfold naturally. Themes creativity process spontaneity Mood thoughtful creative Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - novel writing - play development - journalism Key Concepts writing drafting Questions to Reflect On - How do you maintain narrative cohesion? - What tools help organize spontaneous ideas? A Different Perspective L lack of structure can cause incoherence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Actor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) [Beginning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/) [Draft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/draft/) [End](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end/) [Ether](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ether/) [First](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first/) [I write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-write/) [Make](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make/) [Me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/me/) [Missing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/missing/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Occur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occur/) [Outline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outline/) [Outline Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outline-write-300983/) [Pages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pages/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Scenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scenes/) [Sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense/) [Sequence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sequence/) [Still](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/still/) [Tends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tends/) [Them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/them/) [Then](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/then/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Typewriter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/typewriter/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [Write Outline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-outline-929240/) [Write Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-play/) [Write Scenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-scenes-257829/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I always work from outline and almost always write out of sequence. It just works for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-s-kemp/i-always-work-from-outline-and-almost-always-write-out-of-sequence-it/) [Paul S. Kemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-s-kemp/) > [Outlining is like putting on training wheels. It gives me the courage to write, but we always go off the outline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hallie-ephron/outlining-is-like-putting-on-training-wheels-it-gives-me-the-courage/) [Hallie Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hallie-ephron/) > [I don't plan the books ahead of time. It's not like Harry Potter. I don't work in a straight line. I don't write with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/i-don-t-plan-the-books-ahead-of-time-it-s-not-like-harry-potter-i-don/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [My general writing preface is to write an outline and then ignore about half of it, both on a micro level with the individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-handler/my-general-writing-preface-is-to-write-an-outline-and-then-ignore/) [Daniel Handler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-handler/) > [I don't write with an outline. I don't often know what I'm going to do as I'm writing. And I do everything by feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/i-don-t-write-with-an-outline-i-don-t-often-know-what-i-m-going-to-do/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [If you take a few days to write an outline, you're just making up scenes that you think will work, that you think will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/if-you-take-a-few-days-to-write-an-outline-you-re-just-making-up/) [Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/) > [“I never used an outline until I started "The Bourne Legacy" project for which I was required to write an outline. To be honest,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-van-lustbader/i-never-used-an-outline-until-i-started-the-bourne-legacy-project-for/) [Eric Van Lustbader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-van-lustbader/) > [I have a number of writers I work with regularly. I write an outline for a book. The outlines are very specific about what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/i-have-a-number-of-writers-i-work-with-regularly-i-write-an-outline/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [The older I get and the more fiction I write, the more I outline, the more I think about plot before I dive in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/the-older-i-get-and-the-more-fiction-i-write-the-more-i-outline-the/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [“When I have a chapter finished, I jot down who the viewpoint characters are, what they are wearing, what happened in the chapter. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-wesley-smith/when-i-have-a-chapter-finished-i-jot-down-who-the-viewpoint/) [Dean Wesley Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-wesley-smith/) > [I plot as I go. Many novelists write an outline that has almost as many pages as their ultimate book. Others knock out a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-cussler/i-plot-as-i-go-many-novelists-write-an-outline-that-has-almost-as/) [Clive Cussler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-cussler/) > [It is horrible to sit in front of the keyboard and write those scenes because you're losing too. You lose somebody you enjoy working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-m-gimple/it-is-horrible-to-sit-in-front-of-the-keyboard-and-write-those-scenes/) [Scott M. Gimple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-m-gimple/) > [Some of my earliest work was in comics. I tend to think in pictures and always like to write scenes possessing the dynamic you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moorcock/some-of-my-earliest-work-was-in-comics-i-tend-to-think-in-pictures/) [Michael Moorcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moorcock/) > [I write with music. I write scenes in movies that hopefully can earn the use of some songs that are powerful to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-crowe/i-write-with-music-i-write-scenes-in-movies-that-hopefully-can-earn/) [Cameron Crowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-crowe/) > [With TV-writing, you write scenes and those scenes pretty much stay as they are when you come to filming them. Sometimes you might change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-jones/with-tv-writing-you-write-scenes-and-those-scenes-pretty-much-stay-as/) [Ruth Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-jones/) ## More by Richard Greenberg > [When we watch a play under the standard circumstances, we've lost volition and time is passing. A still play feels like an existential threat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/when-we-watch-a-play-under-the-standard-circumstances-we-ve-lost/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [I want to be a playwright the way people are bank tellers. I want to keep doing it and have it go steadily and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/i-want-to-be-a-playwright-the-way-people-are-bank-tellers-i-want-to/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [I came to New York, and it was fascinating and intimidating and yielding, and all the stuff it's supposed to be. But whatever the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/i-came-to-new-york-and-it-was-fascinating-and-intimidating-and/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [I'm always amazed by those people who get up at 5 and write till 8 and then eat a peach and walk their canary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/i-m-always-amazed-by-those-people-who-get-up-at-5-and-write-till-8/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [I do think the past changes at a slower rate. It sits a little more still for its portrait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/i-do-think-the-past-changes-at-a-slower-rate-it-sits-a-little-more/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [I had a plot connection that nobody understood for this fourth character, and decided, Oh, nobody gets it, that's all. I'll write another draft…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/i-had-a-plot-connection-that-nobody-understood-for-this-fourth/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [The idea of a rupture between acts occurs in a number of my plays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/the-idea-of-a-rupture-between-acts-occurs-in-a-number-of-my-plays/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [I'm sort of anti-Aristotelian. I want to get an entire life onstage while conveying a sense of how time feels, how unstoppable it is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/i-m-sort-of-anti-aristotelian-i-want-to-get-an-entire-life-onstage/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [It seems that the hurdle you have to jump over is everyone's informed opinion. When you're a young playwright, you're probably too precarious in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/it-seems-that-the-hurdle-you-have-to-jump-over-is-everyone-s-informed/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [I think I can be an intimidating energy in the room. I think I come in with an aura of wanting results because as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/i-think-i-can-be-an-intimidating-energy-in-the-room-i-think-i-come-in/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [My mother wanted me to be a writer. But she was a child of the Depression and never understood that she wasn't poor. So,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/my-mother-wanted-me-to-be-a-writer-but-she-was-a-child-of-the/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [But you don't have your druthers in life, do you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/but-you-don-t-have-your-druthers-in-life-do-you/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [A play gets on Broadway by fluke. And you don't even start out with that ambition. When I do a play, the intention is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/a-play-gets-on-broadway-by-fluke-and-you-don-t-even-start-out-with/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [You do think, if you have your druthers, 'I want to sort of be, not anonymous, but unknown'. But you don't have your druthers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/you-do-think-if-you-have-your-druthers-i-want-to-sort-of-be-not/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [People talk about alienation in the city. Diners are a place where you feel comfortable, an extension of your house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/people-talk-about-alienation-in-the-city-diners-are-a-place-where-you/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) [Explore all 32 Richard Greenberg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) ## More Actor quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/) [Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/) > [I once told someone I could act. They totally bought it. I've been getting away with it ever since.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akshay-kumar/i-once-told-someone-i-could-act-they-totally-bought-it-i-ve-been/) [Akshay Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akshay-kumar/) > [There has got to be a way for me to have a role on TV or in film that is just as normal as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adeel-akhtar/there-has-got-to-be-a-way-for-me-to-have-a-role-on-tv-or-in-film-that/) [Adeel Akhtar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adeel-akhtar/) > [I love casting against type and doing things you wouldn't expect, because I think you get more interesting performances that way. Hollywood loves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-s-goyer/i-love-casting-against-type-and-doing-things-you-wouldn-t-expect/) [David S. Goyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-s-goyer/) > [I'm an actor, so I'm never going to feel like I've done enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italia-ricci/i-m-an-actor-so-i-m-never-going-to-feel-like-i-ve-done-enough/) [Italia Ricci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italia-ricci/) > [I am tired of our characters being so incomplete. When do we ever save the day in a film? When does a Latino actor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esai-morales/i-am-tired-of-our-characters-being-so-incomplete-when-do-we-ever-save/) [Esai Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esai-morales/) > [When I was 13, I auditioned for the theater school, and I was there for four years. In the meantime, I did my first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-de-armas/when-i-was-13-i-auditioned-for-the-theater-school-and-i-was-there-for/) [Ana de Armas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-de-armas/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) > [Actors don't hate acting. Most people don't hate acting! Whether you're a child mucking around with your friends or a grown up being paid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liv-hewson/actors-don-t-hate-acting-most-people-don-t-hate-acting-whether-you-re/) [Liv Hewson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liv-hewson/) > [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/) [Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/) > [I never planned to do female roles. It just happened. I was typecast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divine/i-never-planned-to-do-female-roles-it-just-happened-i-was-typecast/) [Divine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divine/) > [Once I committed to acting, this has been it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-hudson/once-i-committed-to-acting-this-has-been-it/) [Ernie Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-hudson/) [Browse all 21,590 Actor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't write a play from beginning to end. I don't write an outline. I write scenes and moments as they occur to me. And I still write on a typewriter. It's not all in ether. It's on pages. I sequence them in a way that tends to make sense. 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