Break your story in prep
Have you ever started a script and not finished it?
Has it ever taken you 6 months, 1 year, or more to finish a script?
Have you ever gotten so lost when writing a story, you became incredibly frustrated, and gave up?
Chances are you did not do enough story preparation.
Don’t you think it’s time to approach writing like many professionals do and break your story in prep?
Screenwriting Master Class offers a 6-week online Prep: From Concept to Outline writing workshop, a unique approach to develop your story, enabling you to crack it before you type FADE IN.
The beauty of this approach is three-fold:
- You can go into the page-writing part of the process with confidence because you’ve already broken the story.
- Since you won’t be overwhelmed with finding the story when writing pages, you can focus your creativity where it should be — characters, dialogue, themes, mood, pace, etc.
- By devoting six weeks to prep, you will almost assuredly cut the overall amount of time you spend writing your script and increase the odds you will finish your draft.
Here are a few testimonials from writers who have participated in the Prep: From Concept to Outline online workshop:
“‘From Concept to Outline’ is a course I wish I had known about a couple of years ago. I would recommend this whole-heartedly for anyone who is about to embark on their first script or ANY script. This lays the foundation stone to your story.” — Camilla Castree
“This has been an outstanding class. I’ve taken a few from other sources and most don’t live up to their promises (they shall remain nameless). But here, I’ve learned so much and gotten way more than my money’s worth.” — Daniel O’Donahue
“I went into Scott’s Prep class doubting I’d ever finish a script; I came out with the tools, confidence and inspiration to power through a complete first draft in just a few months. Amazing!” — Jessica Sada
In the nearly six years I’ve been teaching through Screenwriting Master Class, I’ve led multiple Prep workshops as it has proved to be one of the most popular classes we offer. Why? Because it works! If you fully engage yourself in the six stages of this process, you will end up with an outline you can use as a springboard for writing your screenplay.
Moreover I hear from writers frequently who have taken the workshop, how they continue to adapt and use it on other stories. I’m not saying it’s the way to break a story, however it has proved to be a viable approach for many writers.
In fact, Christian Contreras whose script “LAbyrinth” made the 2015 Black List is a Screenwriting Master Class alumnus, having taken this same Prep class with me back in 2014.
What the workshop consists of:
* Six lectures written by me
* Six writing assignments which take you from a Protagonist Character Treatment all the way to a Narrative Throughline outline
* Six due dates to spur you to make progress on your story
* Online forums with feedback from myself and your fellow writers
* Weekly teleconferences for yet more feedback
In other words, a structure which steers you through the prep-writing process… from concept to outline.
I will be leading the next session starting January 11. For those of you thinking about taking up the Zero Draft Thirty Challenge in March, if you take my Prep workshop, you will have a scene-by-scene outline in hand and ready to go on March 1, there to guide you through your Zero Draft process. In other words, perfect timing!
For more information Prep: From Concept to Outline, go here.
As always, I look forward to the opportunity to work with you!