• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Marilyn Horowitz

Marilyn Horowitz

Screenwriting Classes, Coaching, and Resources

212-600-1115
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing Services
  • Guidance
    • Writing Evaluation
    • Writing Guidance
    • Comprehensive Packages
    • Ongoing Coaching
  • Classes & Seminars
    • New York University Classes
    • Seminars
    • Free Video Tutorials
    • Movie Breakdowns
    • Online Stores
  • Books & Media
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Word of the Day
    • Word of the Day Cheat Sheet
    • Free Word of the Day Webinar
    • What people are saying about the Word of the Day Practice!

Don’t get it right…

November 5, 2021 by Marilyn Horowitz

Happy Friday,

As promised, I have photos of my first tango Halloween party. Like the old song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow  goes, “Sometimes dreams really do come true.”

     

    

In my various classes and private sessions, the recurrent theme of time and suspense occurred in each project. The job of the writer is to make the story feel as if it’s actually happening before the audience’s eyes. To accomplish this, the writer must create both a context in which the story can believably happen, and not telegraph to the audience what’s going to happen next.

Two examples of the successful use of time and suspense are the movie Se7en which happens in a week, and the TV show, Ted Lasso, where each season mirrors the actual soccer season.

The only way to succeed is to change your point of view and see the project as if you were the audience, not the creator. Generally, this is more possible in the second draft than the first, since the part of our brains that creates stories doesn’t reckon time in the literal sense. This is why the motto of my writing system is, Don’t Get It Right, Get It Written. The most important job the writer has is to write the entire story down from beginning to end. Then and only then should the writer concern themselves with time and suspense. Think of the first draft as the “What happens” draft, and the second as the “How it happens” draft.

’m excited to share how well my New York University class is doing: every student is halfway through their story! Hooray for them!

The most important thing is to avoid second-guessing yourself at any point in the writing process, and the best way to do that is to work from a strong structure laid out as an outline. and the best way to create that structure is to work with your character’s possibilities before locking down a plot.

Enjoy edition #97 of Joke on a Stick!

Here’s to your successful writing,

Professor Marilyn Horowitz

 

Primary Sidebar

Sign Up

for our Screenwriting Newsletter and Receive Our FREE Gift How To Write a Treatment.

Testimonials

Thank you. If it hadn’t been for you Marilyn, I don’t think I would have made the Woodstock film which… Read more “Nancy C.”

I’m very grateful to be able to learn from Marilyn, Her focus on the psychological and spiritual foundations necessary to… Read more ““…grateful to learn from Marilyn””

Marilyn’s techniques helped me stop overthinking and start writing! She gave me exercises to take the pressure off beginning a… Read more “The Word of the Day”

You are always a light. Thank you.

Desiree

“Working with Marilyn Horowitz has challenged every aspect of my creative process from conception to preparation, and most importantly, execution.… Read more “– Larry Lowry”

- Larry Lowry
Writer/Producer, Nickelodeon
View All Testimonials

Television Writing Evaluation & Guidance

Screenwriting Evaluation & Guidance

Classes & Seminars

Footer

Connect

Contact

CLASSES

Contact the office at 212-600-1115

MEDIA & SPEAKING INQUIRIES

Contact Marilyn Horowitz at 212-600-1115

PUBLISHING & FILM INQUIRIES

Contact Koehler Books at 757-289-6006

  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing Services
  • Guidance
    • Writing Evaluation
    • Writing Guidance
    • Comprehensive Packages
    • Ongoing Coaching
  • Classes & Seminars
    • New York University Classes
    • Seminars
    • Free Video Tutorials
    • Movie Breakdowns
    • Online Stores
  • Books & Media
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Word of the Day
    • Word of the Day Cheat Sheet
    • Free Word of the Day Webinar
    • What people are saying about the Word of the Day Practice!
Copyright © 2023 · Marilyn Horowitz. All rights reserved.