Screenwriting workshops

Unlock your creative curiosity with acclaimed writer, Jan Worth

Whether you:
– have an idea for a screenplay but are not sure how to progress;
– or if you have a work in progress that would benefit from good feedback and a stimulating development environment;

this screenwriting workshop programme will help you to realise your writing potential and develop your script under the expert tuition of a successful writer and script consultant.

This course consists of 6 workshops that will run every Thursday evening from 13 March 2014

Venue: Sheffield Live 93.2fm

Time: 6:30pm – 8:30pm every Thursday

Start date: 13 March 2014 until 17 April 2014

Many script manuals present the issue of writing as a problem of craft. There’s a suggestion that if you know about structure, plot points and narrative arcs that you will be able to produce a good commercially viable script; this in my experience is not the case.

Any good piece of writing in any genre needs to have about it some element of risk and authentic resonance. Authenticity comes from finding the true core of your story; risk comes from having the courage to explore it. Once you begin to connect and engage with your material then learning the craft will follow.

It is amazing how imaginative and coherent you become when you really find the essence of what you want to say.

The first sessions prioritise content development, we then go on to workshop your script with the aim of producing an outline and full treatment and sample scenes. Your script idea is central to the process. In each session the formal workshop topic is taught as part of the process of the script review of your work.

Content development

Through a series of exercises the workshops encourage and enable you to become aware of both location and character; some of these exercises will relate to your lived experience . This work demonstrates how a keener awareness of the space you inhabit and the complexity of yourself and those around you, will spark ideas and give depth and insight to your writing.

Introduction to a structured approach of assessing example outlines, treatments and scripts

In this session we follow the structure of a script report to assess example work, providing an opportunity for participants to take what is relevant to use as a tool to assess their own work.

Characterisation

One dimensional character can kill a good idea. Character development runs through the entire workshop programme.

Story Structure

You will learn how the factors of plot, pace, and credibility of the story should be developed – and harnessed – to effect the coherence of the overall script.

Dialogue

The most common problem is that, often, there is too much of it, it is lacking in authenticity and expositional. You will spend time listening to how people actually speak and discovering the importance of silence and subtext.

Visual Scripting: the centrality of prose description

Film is a visual medium. Prose description is the expression of the visual. A good script uses the power of the visual to create a third layer of meaning; evoking mood through metaphor and subtext.

Course fee: £95 + booking fee.

Please book your place here:

More information about Jan Worth is available at www.janworth.org