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“The best way to learn anything is to DO it,” says instructor Kate Montgomery. “In this fun, informative 3-session boot camp, you’ll throw yourself in right away, learning and applying the basics of professional screenwriting."
With an interactive mix of lecture, discussion, screenings, group and individual writing exercises, and course materials you can keep to reference later, you’ll learn the foundations of professional screenwriting and how to write a screenplay that can sell.
Along with story structure and format, we’ll focus on the essential elements that always set a great script apart:
- Why it’s important to hook your audience right away
- How to drive a strong story with layered, unpredictable characters
- The true role of subplots
- How to craft dialogue that flows
- What all great scenes have in common
- How to create the cliffhangers that make a film exciting and a TV show binge-worthy
In a lively and encouraging online environment, you’ll experience the fun of crafting characters on the fly, you’ll “spit-ball” in a virtual “writer’s room”, and participate in table reads. You’ll also learn how to kick-start your professional career by setting and meeting your writing goals as well as developing tricks that can help you stay inspired along the way.
*Writing Salon students are eligible for a significant student discount on FinalDraft software, which is widely recognized as the industry standard.
About The Writing Salon's Remote Classes
Due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19, The Writing Salon is running all classes in a remote learning format. You will be able to participate in live class meetings via Zoom videoconference. To attend classes, you'll need a phone, tablet or computer and access to the internet. You can participate in the class from wherever you'd like, whether on your living room couch or in your office. Before your class meets, you'll receive an email from The Writing Salon with more information about Zoom and your remote class. If you have any questions about remote learning, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at hello@writingsalons.com.
No Instructor Specified
- Live Zoom Meeting: Saturday, January 09, 10:30am-1:00pm
- Live Zoom Meeting: Saturday, January 16, 10:30am-1:00pm
- Live Zoom Meeting: Saturday, January 23, 10:30am-1:00pm
Kate Montgomery was not only warm and inviting, she was 100% prepared, providing stacks of carefully considered handouts while also maintaining a flexibility to follow the rhythm of our group. Her knowledge in the field was undeniable and her enthusiasm for discussing and dissecting students' ideas was balanced by honest notes and critiques. I hope to be signing up for another class of hers soon.
It was a wonderful class! Kate really helped us understand the structure of a screenplay and had great tips on how to get the creative process of writing started. I’d love to be able to take a continuation of the course at some point . . . Thanks for the great experience!
Now, this may sound like a cliche, but Kate inspired me to make time in my life for what I really want to do: write stories. And that’s hard, I’m a cynical Eastern European, hard to impress and convince. But now I’m going to spend a couple of hours each week to write something down, and if she’ll invite me I’ll go to all her events and workshops, pitch my story ideas, and do my best to create amazing work. She is incredibly charismatic, and it feels great to be around her. But the whole inspiration part is what makes her a standout teacher.
Kate is terrific. Her passion and energy for her art is clear. She was anecdotal, forthright, engaging, and informative. She drew us out of our writerly shells and had us creating on demand. It was fun. While the interactive screenplay activity engaged us, it also taught me some new tricks. When I take away something from a workshop, and put it into my writer’s toolkit — it’s a win-win for me.