Screenwriting 101

Want to learn to write a screenplay in a weekend? 

Michael Lucker has packed nearly every nut and bolt of the screenwriting craft into one wild and woolly two-day seminar that teaches you what you need to know to bring your story to life.  You’ll learn the tricks of the trade for creating great ideas, characters, plots, scenes, dialogue and description and leave confident of facing the blank page on your own.  Filled with film clips, screenplay reads and innovative class exercises, Michael makes the writing process real, easy, compelling and fun!  The class is lively with discussion, ripe with laughter and a comfortable environment for you to get all your questions answered.

OVERVIEW

The Big Idea - Where does it come from? Where will it go? Screenwriting vs. Coal mining. Compelling, distinctive, marketable ideas. Choosing a genre. Themes and titles. Settings and arenas. Your new best friend. What you know or want to know.
 
Charismatic Characters - Heroes, opponents and allies. Do we like them? Do we have to? Personal need vs. want. Strengths and weaknesses. Motivations and destinations. Quirks and arcs. Point of view. Free psychotherapy.
 
Story Structure - Twist and turns and turn-ons.  Situation, complication and resolution. Shakespeare who? Goals and obstacles. Act turns and plot twists. Inciting incidents. Gauntlets and graves. McGuffins and red herrings. Open or closed mysteries. 

Pounding Out Pages - Having something to say and saying it differently.  Formatting fun. Scene design. Style and rhythm. Active vs. passive. Adverb power. The Wham-O Chart. Beginnings and endings. Underestimating and overwriting. Time and discipline.
 
Unforgettable Dialogue - Whose head are you in now?  A window to the soul and psyche. Communicating values and morals. Avoiding cliches and noses. Escaping exposition. Let the character write. Intuition vs. Imagination. Keeping it real.
 
Rewriting the Writing - Making magic out of molehills.  Laughter, tears and fears. Overlapping tension. Peeling onions. Sex, violence and other nifty stuff. Painting the canvas. Fourth walls and flashbacks. Killing darlings. Hemingway's theory.
 
Selling Your Screenplay - How do get it into the hands of the power brokers and get it sold!