Screenplay time

Time is a mystery and perhaps nowhere more than in stories. As writers, we can jump through decades with one scene transition. Conversely we can stretch out mere moments for many pages, slowing down, even stopping the clock. Indeed something so fundamental as the choice of past tense, typical of novels and short stories, and present tense, the standard for screenplays, influences how we approach our writing.

And yet do we as screenwriters even think about screenplay time? Consider all of these narrative devices available for us to use: Flashback, Flash Forward, Set-Up / Payoff, Callback, Series of Scenes, Montage, Series of Shots, Cross Cut, Visual-to-Visual Transition, Audio-to-Audio Transition, Pre-Lap. All related directly to time.

Yet for all that, I don’t think I have ever seen anything of substance written about this subject — no article, no book, no class. That’s rather shocking because the simple fact that we can control time in a screenplay makes us a little like a god… but only if we know how to handle that power.

Beginning Monday June 18, I will be teaching a brand new SMC class: Core VIII: Time. It is a 2-week online screenwriting course featuring 6 lectures, inside tips, forum discussion, writing exercises and two teleconferences. The first week we focus on a theory of time based on the principle: Time = Present. The second week, we explore a plethora of ways we can manage time in a screenplay including most of the narrative devices listed above.

Over the last year or so, I have created 8 Core classes at Screenwriting Master Class, each with a specific subject [Plot, Concept, Character, Style, Dialogue, Scene, Theme, Time], each exploring an essential screenwriting principle. It’s been a fascinating journey for me personally as I carried through each subject and every lecture a character-based approach to the craft. The result: Over 250 pages of lectures, dozens of insider tips and techniques, and a comprehensive, coherent take on screenwriting that I think is pretty damn good.

So I invite you to join me for the introduction of this new Core class on Monday, June 18. For more information, you may go here.

Note: I will be going through the entire cycle of 8 Core classes on a bi-weekly basis beginning July 23rd. To check out that schedule and all of the Screenwriting Master Class courses, you may go here.

As always, I look forward to the opportunity to work with you.

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