Writing a successful screenplay

This day saves you time and money trying to figure out how to write a screenplay, adapt a novel, and navigate marketing to Hollywood. Your instructor is a professional screenwriter and teacher who has worked with writers who have won prestigious contests, optioned scripts (including novel adaptations) to producers, and earned staged readings.

The instructor sifts through the tons of advice out there for writers today and presents the nuggets. Books you can buy teach you 12 steps, 7 steps, 22 steps, 15 steps, 3-act structure, 4-act and 7-act structure, and more. Are you confused? This workshop clarifies the issues with structure and characterization that can improve your story and its salability.

You’re invited to bring your idea along to work on in class discussion and exercises, if you wish. Sharing is always optional. Your instructor will demonstrate how to structure your idea beginning to end through its plot points. You also get tips on pitfalls to avoid.

You learn about format and what never to violate in script format. Sample script pages are included in the handouts you take home.

Join a friendly, supportive atmosphere, where your questions are welcomed, even long after the workshop day is done at no extra fee.

Who is this for?

• New screenwriters who want to start smart with professional guidance
• Writers frustrated by “passes” who want to rise above that level
• Novelists who want to borrow structure wisdom from scriptwriters or adapt their novels

Recommended movie to see before class: “Little Miss Sunshine.”

Why this movie? It’s the type of film that any of us can write because it’s a slice of life, and it demonstrates for screenwriters and novelists alike how to create “structure” from actions, setting, and characters’ needs. The principles apply to whatever you’re writing: action, drama, family films, romantic comedies, teen horror, fantasy, and others.

Topics include:

• FADE IN to greatness: The Page One Test
• The “First Five Pages Test”
• “Top Ten List of Don’t-Go-There Mistakes” screenwriters make
• Story concepts—how to test and reshape your ideas
• Characterization reasons for a “pass”
• Story structure reasons for a “pass”
• What matters most in the middle
• Scene sculpting tips (before & after exercises)
• You’re told to be more “cinematic.” What does that mean?
• Tips for making good dialogue great (before & after exercises)
• Formatting dos and don’ts (sample script pages included)
• Marketing reality: What to do and what’s a waste of time
• How to write the necessary “one sheet/one page/cover sheet” (samples included)

 

What they said about this workshop and your instructor

“Christine teaches with an amazing clarity. She helped me understand concepts I’d been struggling with for years.” —Kendall Mills, Waukegan, IL

“Lots of information in a short time.” —Bill Spevacek, Mineral Point, WI

“Pay her more. She’s priceless but you still need to pay for what you get. Wonderfully detailed with truly useful instruction relevant to my script. Great management of crowd to make sure everyone’s questions were answered.” —Mary Beth Schewitz, Lake Bluff, IL

“Chris is an excellent teacher.” —Jim Nolan, Merrill, WI

“I appreciate that it doesn’t start until 9:30. I have to drive some distance.” —Peg Cadigan, Fredonia, WI

“Very well-presented and uplifting.” —Julie Johnson, Spring Green, WI

 

Your instructor

Christine DeSmet is an award-winning screenwriter, novelist, playwright, and short story writer. She teaches screenwriting online through UW-Madison. With Peggy Williams, Christine has co-authored several scripts and optioned several, including “Chinaware-Fragile,” which won the Slamdance Film Festival contest and was optioned to New Line Cinema. Their stage play, “Climax!,” about a writer, finaled in the Top Ten in the 2007 Wisconsin Wrights New Play Project, and is now under production consideration by the Barestage Theatre in Red Bluff, California. Christine is a fellowship graduate of the Warner Bros. Sitcom Writers Workshop. She is a member of Wisconsin Screenwriters Forum, Romance Writers of America, and Writers Guild of America, East. Her novel and short fiction are published by Mundania Press and Whiskey Creek Press, including new anthologies published in Fall 2009, with excerpts available at www.JewelsoftheQuill.com. Christine grew up on a farm near Barneveld, Wisconsin, and earned a Master’s degree in Journalism from UW-Madison.

For details about this workshop, contact coordinator Christine DeSmet, 608-262-3447, or e-mail cdesmet@dcs.wisc.edu.

How to register

By phone: Call 608-262-7942.

By mail: Print and mail the UW Continuing Studies registration form.

By fax: Print and fax the UW Continuing Studies registration form.

Online: Secure online registration is available for this program.

Related resources

• Business writing workshops: Offered through the UW-Madison Department of Professional Development and Applied Studies.

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