Start Date
7 October, 2024
There will be 10 weekly meetings on Monday, 6 - 8pm, starting from 7 October.
Overview
This course is ideal for beginners, aspiring creative writers and experienced writers who wish to take their work to the next level.
Conflict, action, relationships, killer lines. They all begin at the writer’s desk. You’ll be introduced to the concepts behind screenwriting by a professional working screenwriter, exploring key principles as they’re expressed in a range of TV and film scripts, including Adam’s own broadcast work. Videos, script excerpts and discussion steps will offer you the opportunity to learn about script layout, loglines, pitching, intention and obstacle, story structures and their unifying shape, character development, arcs, dialogue and the rhythm of speech patterns, developing good writing habits and how the comfort zone can be the enemy of creativity.
By the end of the course, you’ll understand what’s necessary to write an effective screenplay and be fluent in the language used to discuss the medium.
Syllabus
1. TV & Script Layout/Intention and Obstacle
2. The Writing Process/Getting Started/Writing Dialogue
3. Show Don’t Tell and Introduction to Character Development
4. Developing Characters I
5. Developing Characters II
6. Rules of a story and story structure
7. Writing scenes and story ideas
8. Research, Audience, and Developing good writing habits
9. Re-writing And Responding to Notes
10. The Big Elevator Pitch/Closing Thoughts
Please note that the ‘last date available to book’ date is only a guide. We reserve the right to close bookings earlier if courses are over- or under-subscribed. In order to avoid disappointment, please be sure enrol as soon as possible. Registrations will not be processed until the following day if received after 3pm.
Course Lecturer: Adam Simpson
Represented by Alexandra Cory and Julia Wyatt at Berlin Associates, Adam is a playwright and Royal Television Society Award-winning screenwriter. His TV drama, One More Unfortunate, was short-listed for the Red Planet Prize. The subsequent stage adaption was performed nationwide. His next play, Saved by the Bell Jar, was shortlisted for the Bruntwood International Prize for Playwriting and is in development with BBC Radio Drama North and the Liverpool Everyman. He has penned episodes for continuing dramas across multiple platforms and has written for Jimmy McGovern’s MOVING ON for BBC1. Adam’s first episode, BEATEN, was Sunday Times Critic’s Choice. He’s written extensively for the Guardian and worked with both the Guardian and Faber on The Secret Teacher Book. Adam is currently writing for Waterloo Road (BBC1) and Hollyoaks (C4, E4) as well as working on original projects and a new, Liverpool-based Netflix drama.
Courses fees: Full fee £155/Concession £80.
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