The importance of prep-writing

I have pontificated about prep-writing on many occasions — as in here and here. I’ve also noted how almost all professional TV and screenwriters break their story before they type FADE IN — as in the email approach of Judd Apatow here. 

So there’s a pretty good chance you know what I mean by prep-writing: brainstorming, developing characters, plotting, subplotting, working on themes, outlining, etc. 

And there’s also a decent chance you understand how important it is to crack your story during the prep-writing phase.

But I’m guessing many of you are unsure about exactly how to do it.

It’s one thing to talk about brainstorming, character development, plotting, and so on. It’s quite another to go about actually doing it.

That is why Tom Benedek and I are proud of the Prep course we offer through Screenwriting Master Class. It’s a 6-week online course to take you from story concept to outline. This process is the surest way we know for you to craft the best version of your story, allowing you to make the page-writing part of the process much more about tapping into your creativity than worrying about what happens next. 

The Prep course is a writing workshop with an enrollment limit of six, ensuring that each writer receives individualized feedback, both from their classmates and the instructor. Feedback includes extensive written comments and weekly class teleconferences or text-based live-chat sessions.

There are six lectures and six writing assignments, one for each week, part of a process we have developed that enables you to engage your story in all critical aspects and develop it step-by-step. And while there are specific, tangible writing goals in place, spurring you to push your story forward, the course is structured to embrace the organic nature of the prep process including the hugely important component of brainstorming.

I’m just wrapping up a Beta version of the Prep class with six writers and all of them have conveyed to me that it has been a most helpful process. Here’s a quote from one of them Paul Labich:

“I honestly can’t wait to get started on this script now, and to use what I’ve learned in Prep to go back and rewrite other scripts.”

One of the values of the Prep course, as Paul indicates, is you can use the approach to break any story you come up with in the future.

Two final points. 

* While spending 6 weeks breaking your story may seem a counterintuitive way to speed up the process of going from concept to final draft, it’s true because when you type FADE IN, you can pound out a first draft because you know where your story is going.

* And because you know where your story is going, you are much less likely to suffer the fate of so many script projects: getting started, but not finishing. In my experience with writers, the single biggest reason why they quit writing a story is because they get lost. If you break your story in prep, you exponentially increase your chances that you’ll actually finish your script.

Tom and I are offering two sections of the Prep class running from January 3-February 13, 2011. I’ll be working with Beginning-to-Intermediate writers, Tom with Intermediate-to-Advanced writers. We will also be offering the course from February 14-March 27, 2011. For more information, go here.

Update on other Screenwriting Master Class courses:

Core I: Structure and Concept (4-week online course / January 3-January 30): Only 2 spots left. If you’re interested, go here. For Core II: Character and Style (January 31-February 27, 2011), go here

Pages I: The First Draft (10-week online writing workshop / January 3-March 13, 2011): This course is sold out. If you are interested in doing a private version of the course, go here to contact me.

Pages II: Rewriting the Script (10-week online writing workshop / January 3-March 13, 2011) with Tom Benedek: Only 1 spot left. If you’re interested, go here. Tom also welcomes those who prefer to do a private version of the course.

We have big plans for 2011 and beyond, some of which we’ll be announcing soon including more specifics of the script consulting and mentoring options we’ll be offering. To get on our mailing list to make sure you hear about all that, plus receive a free 28-page Spec Script Market Analysis and monthly newsletter, go here to sign up. 

Once again thanks for your support and interest in Screenwriting Master Class.

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