The GITS Club Treatment Challenge: Volume 1: “House on Wheels”

Mike Scherer who moderates the script peer review site The GITS Club came up with this idea which I posted about here:

Each month, we invite TGC members to write and submit a 2-page treatment of a story they plan to write or have written as a full-length movie screenplay. One treatment will be selected in a process to be determined by TGC membership and Mike. I will read that treatment, then post an analysis of it, just like I do when participants submit a story synopsis at Screenwriting Master Class. 

What’s the value? (1) Writing a treatment is a skill all aspiring screenwriters should master. Hopefully the process of writing them and resulting analysis will help. (2) Writing a treatment forces the writer to work out key plot points and dynamics in the story, thereby advancing their understanding of their story. (3) Feedback from me as well as TGC members and GITS readers can confirm areas of the story’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as provide ideas to improve it.

Mike just got back to me with our first one: “House on Wheels” by Brock Weaver. If you’d like to read the treatment, go here. 

To view all the treatments that were posted at TGC, go here.

This is a good opportunity for you to stretch your analytical muscles, so feel free to weigh in with your thoughts on the treatment in comments. Remember these keys of constructive criticism:

* Always focus your comments on the material, not the writer.

* Give an honest appraisal of what you think works and does not work.

* Whatever story issues you think there are, post suggestions to improve it.

I will post my analysis next week.

Thanks, Brock. I look forward to reading your treatment. 

If you’re interested in doing another treatment challenge, let us know in comments here.

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