Basic Training establishes a professional writing approach with an intensive agenda, clear screenwriting definitions, work strategies, and strict deadlines. Starting with as little as a single sentence, you’ll start shaping your script idea, identify a 15-point checklist for building a complete story and articulating your Premise Line within the context of the professional industry, as well as begin defining the fresh entertainment (conceits) of your project.
Obstacle session defines a main-character driven, four-segment (three-act) screenplay structure, as well as strategies for character development. Unique tools empower the expression of your ideas in accessible, professional terms to create a more dynamic, layered adventure. The structure is also broken down for a half-hour and hour-long television and articulates how the tools apply to any variation.
Conflict Escalation helps you to write with a new understanding of the script page and format. You’ll use a practical outlining approach to get past the opening of your script to develop the parts of the entire story, allowing you greater mobility between big-picture story points and smaller scene choices. You’ll learn distinctions of movies and TV, including TV Pilot bible exercises, and an accelerated writing technique to quickly build the pages of your script-or any prose project.
Trench Warfare pushes you through the middle pages, literally and structurally, to discover new possibilities while you write. Common First Draft Problems are identified to make you aware of many of the typical issues that every writer faces and that are a natural part of the writing process. A comprehensive evaluation checklist helps you review the tools you’ve learned to refine your project goals and reflect deeper thematic stakes in your scene choices.
Character Crossfire tests the motivations of your principal characters and connects the supporting roles to your main character’s journey. An advanced scene work checklist helps you evaluate your own style to get you writing more visually, leaving unnecessary material behind and making every part of your story entertaining as you anticipate writing additional pages through the deadline.
After the last teleconference or release of Week 5 materials, you’ll have three weeks to complete your first draft or set of prose chapters. Office Hours will remain available for assistance through the overall deadline.
At the equivalent of seven full weeks of your commitment of 10 hours per week, the LA group will meet to discuss the status of each writer’s draft. The Two Levels of Rewriting will be reviewed to help each writer reset their creative goals over the remaining five weeks, identifying one Component Level Rewrite and One Craft Level Rewrite. One-on-One writers will do this individually on a previously scheduled conference call with their mentor.
You’ll send a .pdf of your material for evaluation by the Writers Boot Camp staff. You’ll prepare for an individual conference (45-60 minutes via phone) using the Evaluation Checklist learned in session to create a set of notes for your ongoing rewrite objectives.
In Basic Training you complete a first draft and two rewrites very quickly; while our full development and empowered rewriting process takes you through 10 drafts every six months–without quitting your day job!
For more information please call 310/998-1199.
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