Happy Friday and Happy Spring! Many remain stuck at home, so this is a great opportunity to get busy and write!
This week I gave my second webinar to 30 interesting and talented writers. We discussed how to use a deeper understanding of your characters to create a better second act of a story using the techniques discussed in my N.Y.U textbook, The 4 Magic Questions of Screenwriting.
The goal is to make the work of structuring a story easy, so that the writer can focus on the hard part which is creating great characters. Using the 4 MQS, you can easily structure 2/3 of your story, leaving the most difficult part, Act 2, part 2 for last. Since Act 2, part 2 is about a new journey that your character must take in order to accomplish the goals set up in Act 1, exploring what’s preventing your character from succeeding is what will give you the best insight into how to structure the challenges he or she must overcome in order to accomplish the goal. I use the character exercises in How Write A Screenplay in 10 Weeks , and also suggest that you “interview” your character using the 9 Questions that Uta Hagen created for actors, changing the questions to be directed at the character.
Free Webinar: Use screenplay structure to create post-pandemic stories and get back to “normal.”
May 6th from 8:00 to 10:00 pm. EST/ 5:00 to 7:00 pm PST
Via Zoom
It’s exciting to see that there may be an end to our quarantine sometime soon. The challenge will then be to return to ”normal.” Hopefully, because we were in close proximity to people we love, and trapped with ourselves, we have reevaluated what’s really important to us. We need new stories to help us navigate our way to a new life filled with more heartfelt meaning. We’ve been forced to spend less time away at work or school, less time on our phones, and more time with people we care about. Our values have changed, and that’s a good thing. Please join me to explore what these new stories might be, and how to tweak a current story to make it relevant to the crisis that is passing.
Please email me at marilyn@marilynhorowitz.com if you’d like to attend.
I’m also holding a rewrite class inspired by my recent N.Y.U class to help writers rewrite fast and efficiently. There are four spaces left.
Rewriting the Screenplay in Six weeks
Monday nights, 6:30-9:30 pm EST
May 18-June 22
Via Zoom for now
In this class you’ll take your first draft and transform it into a presentable second draft.
You’ll learn:
-A new method for executing an efficient rewrite that you can use forever
-How to edit your own work without pain
-The easy way to improve scene work and to add comedy and wit.
-How to work with a partner
You get 6, 3-hour classes plus a professional evaluation of the second draft of the script at the end of the class, an $1850.00 value.
Investment fee: $800.00.
Remember that the most important task we have in life is to feel good! I’m excited about our new episode of Jokeonastick.com. Please visit, laugh, get a free subscription and share!
Stay safe and healthy! Find things that make you laugh, and laugh!
Here’s to your successful writing,
Professor Marilyn Horowitz
