From text to performance in the Elizabethan theatre Book

Rabiger offers outstanding insight into the director's process in his book "Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics." I hoped he would offer a similarly incisive perspective on the writer's process in this book. I was disappointed. "Developing Story Ideas" consists mainly of writing exercises, with long bulleted lists of to-dos for each assignment. As such, the book reads as a compendium of assignments for teachers to hand out to students in a writing class and it reminds me why I didn't study writing in college. The assignments were too rigid and programmed to engage my creativity. The book might work for others; it might work well in a classroom; it didn't do much to stimulate my own writing. I did appreciate Rabiger's sensitivity to the writer as artist, and the sections on discovering and developing one's unique artistic identity, or voice. The author is always encouraging and sincerely desires to help nurture the writer's growth. I wanted to love this book but the practical exercise format just didn't work for me.