Category: Courses for writers
Securing A Solid Foundation For Your Story
The Write Foundation is the first step in the write direction, laying a solid foundation for a Perfect Story and securing development funding.
During the last 24 years The Writing Studio has shaped the successful careers of many of South Africa’s leading filmmakers and storytellers and is now honing the skills of future writers in the art and craft of storytelling.
The Write Journey offers 3 courses for screenwriters and novelists:
- The Write Foundation is the first step in the write direction, laying a solid foundation for a story that will secure development funding.
- Once the foundation is set, The Write Craft takes writers through the process of building the first draft (or rewrite).
- Working closely with our script editor, The Write Draft explores the editing and refinement of the finished draft, getting the screenplay / novel ready for the marketplace.
The Write Foundation focuses on aspects that relate to the marketability of your story, ticking off all the boxes that producers and investors look for. It is not just about learning how to write but learning to write and market yourself in a way that is attractive to managers, producers, and studios.
With funding organisations such as the NFVF (National Film and Video Foundation) it is essential for writers to deliver an MTP/research document that summarises the foundation of the story you are writing.
If you have built a solid foundation for your story, it will also make it easier for you to write the First Draft of your story. If you have already completed a draft and are working on a rewrite, The Write Foundation can also help you to solve problem areas in your draft.
Without a solid foundation for the screenplay/ novel, writers will deliver an underdeveloped and flawed draft that is dull and lifeless.
The Write Foundation explores and develops the building blocks to build your story.
- Who are you as a storyteller and storymaker? If you want to be a writer, there are some basics you must know from the outset, before start thinking about writing your masterwork.
- What is the IDEA for your story? A great story begins with a great idea. Before you can put one word to paper, you must know what you want to write.
- What GENRE will you set your story in? What type of story do you want to write, and who you are writing for?
- What is the PREMISE of your Story? The hardest thing about writing is knowing what to write.
- What is the CONCEPT of your Story? It is time to take the seed of an idea and dramatise it, to define who and what the story is about and articulate it.
- What is the THEME of your Story? All great writing is about something. You need to know what the intention, objective or controlling idea – theme – of your story is.
- What is the TITLE of your Story? A dull, confusing, or pretentious title will put people off.
- Who are the CHARACTERS in your Story? Focus on the people who live your story and identify and create your characters: Protagonists, Heroes and Anti Heroes; Antagonists and Villains; and supporting and function characters.
- How to write CHARACTER BIOGRAPHIES. A biography of the character is the reader’s introduction to the character and is articulated by the physical, visual, and behavioral attributes the writer ascribes to any given character.
- How to write a TREATMENT and SYNOPSIS. Treatments help the writer acquire an overview of the story, the synopsis is a brief summary of the story.
- Take OWNERSHIP of your writing. The Top Sheet will write to protect your intellectual property and have enough information to warrant the funding of the development of your story, and give those interested to develop your project a crisp, clear overview of what your story is about.
For the full agenda and registration details, send us an email
Copyright © The Writing Studio 1998 – 2024 / All Rights Reserved
The Art Of Crafting Your First Draft
The Write Craft is the first step in skillfully creating the first draft of your story.
Once you have built a solid foundation for your story with The Write Foundation, it is time to action.
If you have already completed a draft and are working on a rewrite, The Write Craft can also help you to solve problem areas in your screenplay and novel.
As a writer, you will constantly ‘show don’t tell’ and must grasp visual dynamics that are important tools in writing your story, know who you are writing about and crawl under the skin of your characters, master the essence of dramatic structure, control your story creatively, outine and format your story.
In The Write Craft course there are twelve units that each have self-tasks that you must research and complete in your own time, as well as tasks to submit to your coach to make sure that you are on the right track – during this process, your coach is there to help you understand the material and solve problems.
You will also write your first draft with guidance from your coach.
The Write Craft takes you through the process of writing your first draft:
- Being a WRITER – To get your story off the page and to the big screen, small screen, or stage, you need to see the bigger picture. One of the most important issues that an aspirant screenwriter must come to terms with, and fully master, is the difference between the writing process and the development process.
- The Craft of VISUAL NARRATIVE – Grasping visual dynamics is an important tool in writing a screenplay for film or television, but is equally important for any writer who would like to perfect the art of visual narrative.
- Creating CHARACTERS – We will give you tips on writing characters for the screen, explore 21 elements that define characters.
- STRUCTURING your story – Structure is discipline, it is the starting point in the process of writing.
- PLOTTING your story – You will explore four different plots to structure your story, the relationship between plot and subplots and 14 structural points /structural signposts that will help you to write a solid story outline.
- OUTLINING your story – The function of your story outline is to write what happens in your story from opening to ending, identifying the story events (scenes) of the most important events in your protagonist’s life.
- FORMATTING – Readers — interns, assistants, story analysts, professional readers – producers, managers, actors and agents — know what it’s like to open a script that is properly formatted
- Writing the FIRST PAGE – Now it is time to write your screenplay. There is a moment in the development process that separates an idea from a screenplay. It starts with the letter F. FADE IN
- Writing ACT ONE: Set-Up – The setup has five pivotal moments: The opening, ordinary world, inciting incident (catalytic event), dilemma and first major turning point (first choice)
- Writing the ACT TWO: Confrontation – The middle section is the confrontation between these opposing forces and forces the protagonist to deal with the new situation they have entered as a result of the first choice made.
- Writing ACT THREE: Resolution – The purpose of the resolution is to solve the story problem and to confirm the theme of the story.
- What happens after THE END? You will look at the secret to standing out as a screenwriter, finding your authentic voice as a screenwriter, and how to market yourself.
For the full agenda and registration details, send us an email
Copyright © The Writing Studio 1998 – 2024 / All Rights Reserved
Craft Your Draft
Are you tired of talking about your story and not writing it? It’s time to take action.
The Write Draft is an advance course that is ideal for writers who have completed The Write Journey Course or The Write Journey Workshop and understand the principles of writing a screenplay for feature film or TV, a novel or stage play.
Following in the tradition of 23 years of extensive workshops throughout South Africa, and courses internationally, The Writing Studio has shaped the successful careers of many of South Africa’s leading filmmakers and storytellers and is now honing the skills of future writers in the art and craft of storytelling.
Who is the course aimed at
- Ideal for Screenwriters (writing for film of TV), Novelists and Playwrights who have done The Write Journey Course or workshop
- Writers who are ready to write their story
- Experienced writers have conceptualized their idea, fully developed their characters, structured and plotted their story
- Writers who need to rewrite a draft
Goals and Objectives
- To complete a TOP SHEET
- Complete a STORY & SCENE OUTLINE
- Craft a story from opening to ending
- Submit a complete DRAFT for editing / polishing
What does the course involve?
- There are 12 Units in the course, and each unit will be completed with a mentor.
- During this process, your mentor is there to help you understand the material and solve problems
What you need to have for this course
- Access to the Internet
- The course is done via email correspondence, offering a one-on-one interaction with your mentor
- Patience & Persistence
The course is done by Daniel Dercksen, the driving force behind the successful independent training initiative The Writing Studio and a published film and theatre journalist of 40 years. Daniel has been teaching workshops in creative writing, playwriting, and screenwriting throughout South Africa for the past 22 years, and fine-tuning screenplays and stories as a story-editor
