The Benefits of a Writing Workshop
Imagine having your very own private script workshop. A structured environment with content and a schedule tailored to meet your specific creative needs, your own unique online course site, and a one-on-one mentor relationship with a professional screenwriter and educator.
You can do that through Screenwriting Master Class.
Maybe you have gotten through a few drafts of your story, but you need to do a page 1 rewrite.
You could have already worked out your story and want guidance during the first draft process.
Or you’re just starting with a concept and want to do prep and page-writing.
Maybe you are a beginner looking to learn the essentials of screenwriting and take you through a comprehensive process where you end up with a finished screenplay.
At Screenwriting Master Class, we can create private script workshops to match up with your individual goals as a writer.
Since launching SMC in 2010, Tom Benedek and I have worked with writers of all backgrounds and interests in the context of numerous private script workshops. Here are testimonials from two:
“Working with Scott in SMC’s private workshop was an invaluable experience. The private workshop gave me the attention I needed to address my script’s problem. I was so impressed with the quality of his teaching, the way the course was structured and the interactive process. In the end, not only did Scott help me solve my character problem, he elevated my script as a whole. He is a wonderful mentor and I learned a lot about the craft of screenwriting.” — Gladys Stone, screenwriter of “Tulio” (Semifinalist, Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition)
“Working with Scott in a private workshop arrangement through SMC greatly accelerated my screenwriting knowledge and craftsmanship. Scott is a most dynamic, gifted and generous educator. He offered a holistic, character-driven approach to story that helped bring out my best as a writer. The flexible syllabus of the mentorship invites exploration of creative impulses without fear of losing direction or purpose. The script on which Scott consulted placed in the top one percent of the 2011 AFF screenwriting competition and has opened industry doors. Most importantly the SMC has cemented lasting self confidence in my abilities as a writer.” — Gyan Alexander, screenwriter of “Convinced” (Seminfinalist, Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition, signed with Madhouse Entertainment)
People who have done private script workshops through Screenwriting Master Class include professional screenwriters, best-selling non-fiction authors, playwrights, and novelists, as well as beginning, intermediate and advanced writers.
Here are some private one-on-one workshops you can do with either Tom or myself:
Prep: From Concept to Outline: This 6-week online workshop guides you through the story development process from concept to outline.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
A proven, professional approach to prep-writing: From a Protagonist Character Treatment to a Master Brainstorming List, Ten Major Plotline Points to Narrative Throughline.
WHO SHOULD CONSIDER TAKING THIS PRIVATE SCRIPT WORKSHOP
Screenwriters, TV writers, novelists, and playwrights who want to develop their story to an outline enabling them to have the confidence to pound out a first draft.
“From Concept to Outline is a course I wish I had known about years ago. I would recommend this wholeheartedly for anyone who is about to embark on their first script or ANY script. This lays the foundation stone to your story.”
— Camilla Castree
Pages I: Writing the First Draft: There is only one rule about a first draft: “Get the damn thing done.” In this 10-week online workshop, you will use a series of lectures and weekly writing assignments to pound out pages and push you from FADE IN to FADE OUT.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
A professional approach to writing a first draft, everything from hitting deadlines to constructive critique, how to handle page notes to finding the motivation to write even when you don’t want to, and much more.
WHO SHOULD CONSIDER TAKING THIS PRIVATE SCRIPT WORKSHOP
Screenwriters who will benefit from the structure of an online class to encourage them to start and finish a complete screenplay draft.
“Over the years I’ve bought and read many books on screenwriting. None of them got me as far in my goals and understanding as the Pages I: The First Draft workshop with Scott Myers. Scott was a mentor, brain-stormer, and cheerleader. I felt encouraged and informed all the way to Fade Out.”
– Dawn LeFever
Pages II: Rewriting Your Script: In this 10-week workshop, you will not only drill down into your story and understand it more clearly, you will get from FADE IN to FADE OUT on your next draft, and move your script toward the point you can bring it to market.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
A professional approach to rewriting your script, everything from how to do a clean read assessment to identifying things that work and don’t work, characters and theme, structure and pace, and a structure to spur you from FADE IN to FADE OUT.
- Four weeks to analyze your existing draft and work up a revision outline
- Four weeks to rewrite your pages
- Two weeks to polish and edit your new draft
WHO SHOULD CONSIDER TAKING THIS PRIVATE SCRIPT WORKSHOP
Writers who could benefit from a structured environment to motivate them to get through the rewrite process and want to learn a professional approach to rewriting.
“Ever since taking this class, my own ability and confidence as a screenwriter has blossomed and brought my writing goals and ambitions closer than ever.”
— Aarthi Jayaraman
The Quest: The Quest is a 20 week private online screenwriting program that teaches you all the theory you need to know and a structured environment in which you prep an original story and write a full-length feature screenplay.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN AND DO
CORE: Four weeks covering the essential aspects of screenwriting: Plot, Concept, Character, Style, Dialogue, Scene, Theme, Time. 48 lectures [over 250 pages] written by Scott Myers, weekly workshop exercises, and teleconferences with Scott as your private mentor.
PREP: Six weeks, six lectures, six writing assignments to develop one of your original stories from concept to outline, all lectures written by Scott, who also provides extensive one-on-one feedback on your writing assignments, plus teleconferences.
PAGES: Ten weeks, ten lectures, ten writing assignments to pound out a first draft of your original screenplay, all lectures written by Scott, who also provides extensive script page notes, plus teleconferences.
WHO SHOULD CONSIDER JOINING THE QUEST
- If you have studied screenwriting, but feel confused by contradictory and confusing screenplay paradigms…
- If you are just beginning and want a comprehensive, coherent approach to screenwriting, but don’t know where to go…
- If you want to learn screenwriting theory, then put it to use in writing an original full-length screenplay…
- If you need the structure of an online course environment to compel you to really make progress in your learning and writing…
- If you are looking to take a giant stride forward in your understanding of the craft and your writing ability in a compressed period of time…
The Quest is for you!
“The Quest changed my life. It gave me the structure to be immersed in screenwriting and the flexibility needed to write and accommodate work and family life. And not only did I come out with a quality screenplay, but a practical approach that I can apply to each script I write.”
— Taylor Gordon
Here are three big reasons to consider a private script workshop with us:
* Writing a screenplay involves making thousands of choices about characters, plot, theme and so forth. Wouldn’t it be helpful to have feedback from a professional to help steer you through the process enabling you to avoid huge story pitfalls that could derail your scripting process?
* Writing a screenplay is a thankless, lonely job. Wouldn’t it be great to have the ongoing support of a professional to enable you to overcome inevitable story problems and emotional downswings?
* Writing a screenplay is a mystery. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to learn proven principles and practices from a professional with years of experience working in the entertainment industry, an approach to writing you can use again and again on your future stories?
For more information, contact us here.
Tom and I look forward to the opportunity to work with you.