The craft of screenwriting
One of the most exciting aspects of Screenwriting Master Class is that it provides Tom Benedek (Cocoon, Free Willy) and myself the opportunity to drill deep into the craft of screenwriting. Indeed, we have recently started offering 1-week Craft courses, each of which deals with some fundamental aspect of the practical side of screenwriting.
To that point, the newest Craft class has just begun today: “Handling Exposition.” Any time you have to provide the reader setting, information, data, or background about your characters or story universe, you are trafficking in exposition. However as every professional writer knows, nothing can squash drama or slow a story’s momentum more than an exposition scene. For an example of this attitude, check out David Mamet’s memo last year to the writing staff of the TV series “The Unit.” Here’s just one quote:
THIS MEANS ALL THE “LITTLE” EXPOSITIONAL SCENES OF TWO PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT A THIRD. THIS BUSHWAH (AND WE ALL TEND TO WRITE IT ON THE FIRST DRAFT) IS LESS THAN USELESS, SHOULD IT FINALLY, GOD FORBID, GET FILMED.
There’s a reason why you sometimes see this adage floating around: “Exposition = Death.”
In the Craft course “Handling Exposition,” we do the following:
* Delve into various types of exposition.
* Explore six principles that enable a writer to minimize the boredom factor and maximize the entertainment value of exposition.
* Learn six insider tips to handle even the most irksome exposition.
In addition, there are daily forum conversations and a one-hour teleconference.
All for $95.
For more information, go here. But hurry as the course has gone live today and we are planning on scheduling it only once per year.
We will be rolling out more 1-week Craft courses in the months ahead to augment all our other online offerings.
Thanks for your continuing support of Screenwriting Master Class!