Let NYU Professor Marilyn Horowitz help you…
Finish your screenplay, get an agent, sell your script, make your movie, publish your book.
Coach privately, enroll in classes at NYU, buy the books, come to events where Professor Marilyn Horowitz is speaking.
How to Write a Screenplay in 10 Weeks
This is a new and improved version of the workbook used as the standard reference for several New York University screenwriting courses. It can be used at both the graduate and undergraduate levels as well as adult and continuing education. Unique in the field of screenwriting education for their classic, workbook-style format, Marilyn’s “How to Write…” series of books combine instruction with fill-in-the blank exercises to lead students, step-by-step, through the process of writing a screenplay.
Cost: $49.95
The 4 Magic Questions of Screenwriting
This book will end the agony that plagues screenwriters of all levels: How to structure a script.
This revolutionary technique helps writers structure, write, and rewrite scripts with ease. By asking your characters these four simple questions you will be able to outline your screenplay like magic. The Four Magic Questions of Screenwriting, part of the Horowitz System of writing taught at NYU for over 10 years, has helped hundreds of writers create their screenplays fast.
Cost: $29.95
Writing a Screenplay in 10 Weeks Spring 2012: Section 2
February 14 – May 8 – Tuesdays
6:40pm – 10:00pm Location: Washington Square
The Four Magic Questions of Screenwriting
Saturday 10:00am-1:00pm
February 4 &
Saturday 10:00am-1:00pm
March 31
Script Tip: Are You Writing For Yourself?
A few years ago I was teaching my “How to Write a Screenplay in 10 Weeks” at NYU and I asked the class ‘how many of you would go see your movie?’ Out of 16 students not one raised their hand. When I asked why they were writing that particular screenplay they thought it would ‘be commercial.’ Take a moment and ask that question of yourself. Would I pay $12 to see my movie? If not, why did you write it? If you thought it would be commercial, that’s a valid reason, but without personal passion, any screenplay probably won’t be good.
Step 1. Set a timer for 5 minutes.
Step 2. As yourself, invite your friend to see your screenplay as if it were already a completed movie. Describe it as if you have heard great things about it and can’t wait to see it.
Step 3. Answer a few basic questions about your movie, what’s it about, and what makes it so good.
Step 4. Go a step further – who’s in the film? What awards did it win?
In my writing system, the first audience we write for is ourselves. If you are interested in making your product more commercial, find one movie you love and become intimately familiar with it – ask yourself why it became commercial. Hopefully you’ve written something you want to go see in the movies. If you are having trouble describing the story, go back to the basics – using The 4 Magic Questions and make sure your 3 act structure is strong. If you’re not familiar with your material, (or you don’t like it) how can you expect it to be good?
Good luck and happy writing,
Marilyn Horowitz
Copyright ©2012 MarilynHorowitz