What is it about playwrights that makes them write books in a smug, supercilious manner that implies that they have strong, rock solid evidence that there is one particular way to write plays? No, collecting anecdotes from working playwrights does not constitute that, because first, you can pick what anecdotes to include; second, you can (and do) interpret anecdotes to mean the opposite of what they say; and, third, how do you know the playwright isn't saying what you want to hear? I have read books by physicists that didn't come across nearly as smug or self-important. That being said, you might wonder why I gave this book as many stars as I did. The final part, the part about how to develop and market your work, is truly useful and all too often neglected in books of this sort, and he does seem to drop a bit of that telling you what color legal pad to handwrite your plays on style during this section. ( )

Amazon: ...It's worth talking about premise, since the matter is so controversial among playwriting texts. There are two points of view on the subject: premise is central to a good play, and theme arises from the play and should not be put first. Essentially, those who place premise first are realists, and tend to write plays in the realist vein. If you want to write realist plays, this book works well as a supplement for Egri's Art of Dramatic Writing; it is not a functional substitute. If you don't, you should head to other texts, because this one is quite openly biased.
Still, McLaughlin has a couple of good points of view in the book for any playwright. His chapter on ideas is one of the better ones out there; if you need help on that area, this book might be worth it on that alone. And his chapter on practical issues in playwriting is solid, if not perfect, but this advice would be available in books that will be more amenable to your style.

If you agree with the realists that premise should be central, buy this and Egri. Use Egri for your dramatic theory, and McLaughlin for your practical writing. If not, look for another text.