This is a course designed to

tap into your creativity, and is based on active learning. That is most of the
actual learning takes place within your own
activities, which is writing. You will learn by doing. In this course, you will
write a complete script for a
full length feature film, a serious drama, a
romantic comedy, science fiction, horror, or anything else
you can think of. You'll learn to break down the creative process
into components, and you'll discover a
structure that allows you to produce a polished and
pitch ready script. We'll aim for a finished
script of about a 110 pages. Now the course
curriculum is simple, you'll write, read the
work of your peers, share feedback with
your fellow writers, then revise your work from the good feedback you
will get from there. I'm an ardent proponent
of experiential learning. My lectures are short, sometimes just two minutes long,
and to the point. Designed in a
step-by-step process essential to your success
as a script writer. I will guide you, I will show you how to get there. Hopefully,
I will inspire you. I will show you how to use
script writing software, but I won't show you how
to write or what to write, that is up to you. You are the only one who can
illustrate your
creative thoughts. I firmly believe that
the only way to become a writer is to
write, write, write. You need to unleash
your creativity, and my plan is to help
you do exactly that. I will show you how to break down script writing into
components, and will guide you to finishing a pitcher bowl
feature film script by the end of the course. You will write a script, and it will
be as
good as it can be, and after finishing this course you will be able to
write another script, any script, and you will feel confident that
you can do it. So what should I write about? A very good question, and there's a
simple answer. You should write about
anything at all, anything, you take any idea and develop it into something
plausible. Developing the idea
is what's important, more so than the idea itself. Really? Take any idea and
just start writing about it. Nicholas Baker wrote
an entire novel about a 30 second escalator ride. You can start with
something like, "I like to buy my
underwear at Walmart." One day, you go to Walmart to buy some new underwear
and a robbery takes place leading to a chase
and a gunfight and you are mistaken from accomplice
and you go to prison, and become a drug dealer
and well that could be pretty exciting film starting with a trip to buy underwear.
The point I'm making is, that you never know
how good an idea might be until you start to develop it. So I want you now
to pitch your idea, write it up in just
a paragraph or a few sentences and post
it for peer review. If you have more than one
idea and can't decide, post them all together,
keep it to just three, and let your peers
help you decide, and remember any idea can be developed into
something really good. Just a word about the
importance of peer review, the success of this course
and your success in creating the best script possible relies heavily on
robust peer review. Your full participation
is absolutely crucial, it's very easy to just check the boxes for grading but
the essential part lies in your willingness to leave really good feedback in
the comments section. Tell your peers what
you liked and why, and also tell them what
didn't appeal to you and why. But you must make
suggestions on how they might make their work
more appealing to you. Do not be lazy about this. In order to become a good writer,
you will need to develop
your critical thinking, one of the most important
aspects of this course. You will need this in order to be analytical and critical
of your own writing, and the best way
for you to develop this critical thinking is to read the work of others
and give thoughtful, helpful, constructive,
meaningful feedback. Every time you give feedback, think about it as you would
critiquing your own work. Think about what
you'd like to hear, what you need to hear, and give that great feedback
to your fellow writers. Post your idea, and review the ideas of at least
five of your peers.