Screenwriting Motivation

Remember when I blogged about all the scripts I never finished?  Since then, I've partially written some more stage plays, started work on a new book project, and of course worked on my daily blog, but those screenplays of mine are still gathering dust, both in boxes, drawers, and the cobwebby corners of my mind. Friday night I attended a free class presented by the Bronx Writers Center called "This Script Could Change Your Life: A Screenwriting Workshop" and it has motivated me to get back to the keyboard and finish those stories I started, while also inspiring me to start some new ones as well, with the goal to bring them to fruition one at a time.

I had already taken some screenwriting courses in college, written and produced a few student films, and drafted a feature-length script as part of my Master's Degree thesis, so even though a lot of what was presented in the workshop was familiar territory to me, I found a lot of value in the class, as I had hoped.  The instructor was playwright and screenwriter Linda Manning who recently won a BRIO Award for her work. She crammed a lot of great information in the two-hour time that she had, including developing a logline not just as a potential easy pitch for your story, but as a tool to keep you focused on the major dramatic question of your story, the inciting incident of your plot, and the ultimate journey of your character(s).

Attendance was larger than I expected and it added to the learning experience as my fellow aspiring writers brought their collective creative energy to the exercises and raised some very good questions.  We talked about everything from formatting a script to developing a strong three-act structure. Ms. Manning gave us suggestions on free software, reference Web sites, and some suggested reading material to build on the groundwork she laid for us.

More workshops are on the way, including one on developing characters and one on writing poetry, just to name two.  For details on these and everything else that the Bronx Writers Center has to offer, check out their Web site at BronxArts.org.