How to Write a Play Letters from Augier, Banville, Dennery, Dumas, Gondinet, Labiche, Legouvé, Pailleron, Sardou, and Zola was published in 1916 and edited by James Brander Matthews. In the Introduction William Gillette says that there are no rules for writing a play and no answers to be found in these letters. Instead the letters written by contemporary playwrights are to be enjoyed. It is a fact that these playwrights do know how to write a successful play and for many they themselves do not know how they do it.