Since the 1990s, there has been a large number of ‘how-to’ manuals published in English for aspiring playwrights. By and large, these texts treat the pedagogy of playwriting as a recent phenomenon. However, a series of relatively unknown books from the mid-nineteenth century were written with the purpose of teaching the craft of dramatic writing, emphasizing the importance of a hands-on understanding of the theatre and the individual roles within it. This article argues that, while these books are representative of the historical context in which they were written, they also contain advice which is still useful for playwrights, along with fascinating individual characteristics. Texts featured include one of the earliest manuals discovered, written by the anonymous ‘A Dramatist’; a text by the first (known) woman to write a how-to manual in English; and a book which uses a mathematical formula as a foundation for writing a script. Karen Morash is Lead Academic Tutor on the BA Theatre Studies at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance. She is a playwright and poet, and works as a dramaturg with the theatre company Head for Heights.

中文翻译：

---

剧本创作手册，1888-1925 年：杰罗姆·K·杰罗姆、阿尔弗雷德·亨内昆、艾格尼丝·普拉特和摩西·马列文斯基

自 1990 年代以来，为有抱负的剧作家出版了大量英文版的“操作方法”手册。总的来说，这些文本将剧本写作教学法视为最近出现的现象。然而，从 19 世纪中叶开始，一系列相对不为人知的书籍以教授戏剧写作技巧为目的，强调了对戏剧及其个人角色的实际理解的重要性。本文认为，虽然这些书代表了它们所处的历史背景，但它们也包含对剧作家仍然有用的建议，以及迷人的个人特征。特色文本包括发现的最早手册之一，由匿名的“戏剧家”撰写；第一位（已知的）女性用英语编写操作手册的文字；和一本使用数学公式作为编写脚本基础的书。卡伦·莫拉什 (Karen Morash) 是罗斯布鲁福德戏剧与表演学院戏剧研究文学学士的首席学术导师。她是一名剧作家和诗人，在 Head for Heights 剧团担任剧作家。