edited by Julie Checkoway Hardcover – 304 pages (April 1999) Story Pr; ISBN: 1884910408 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.19 x 9.37 x 6.45
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by Janet Burroway
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by Thaisa Frank and Dorothy Wall
Paperback - 256 pages (January 1997) St. Martin’s Press; ISBN: 0312151284 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.70 x 8.27 x 5.51
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by Steve Kowit
Paperback - 288 pages (June 1995) Tilbury House Publishers; ISBN: 0884481492 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.76 x 8.94 x 5.96
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by William Zinsser
Paperback - 224 pages Revised edition (May 1998) Houghton Mifflin Co (Pap); ISBN: 0395901502 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.63 x 8.28 x 5.55
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by Naomi Epel
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by John Gardner
Paperback – 172 pages (October 1999) W W Norton & Co; ISBN: 0393320030 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.43 x 8.27 x 5.52
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by William Zinsser Paperback – 308 pages 6th Rev&up edition (April 1998) Harper reference; ISBN: 0062735233 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.76 x 7.98 x 5.34
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by Kim Addonizio, Dorianne Laux
Paperback – 284 pages 1 Ed edition (September 1997) W W Norton & Co; ISBN: 0393316548 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.81 x 8.17 x 5.45
edited by Robin Behn and Chase Twichell
Paperback – 320 pages (September 1992) HarperCollins (paper); ISBN: 006273024X ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.79 x 7.98 x 5.35
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by Syd Field Paperback – 272 pages Rei Expnd edition (July 1, 1984) Dell Books (Paperbacks); ISBN: 0440576474 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.63 x 7.97 x 5.38
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by Ursula K. Le Guin
Paperback – 130 pages 1 Ed edition (April 1998) Eighth Mountain Pr; ISBN: 0933377460 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.54 x 8.46 x 5.50
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by Louise Purwin Zobel
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by Natalie Goldberg
Paperback – 171 pages 1 Ed edition (October 1986) Shambhala Pubns; ISBN: 0877733759 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.57 x 8.43 x 5.41 List Price: $11.95 Our Price: $9.56 You Save: $2.39 (20%)
Hardcover Reissue edition (November 1996) Shambhala Pubns; ISBN: 1570622582 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.80 x 8.84 x 5.73 Our Price: $20.00
by Deena Metzger
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by John Lee
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by William Strunk and E.B. White Paperback (August 1999) Anchor; ISBN: 020530902X; Dimensions (in inches): 0.61 x 7.97 x 5.20
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by Constance Hale
Hardcover - 224 pages 1 Ed edition (June 1, 1999) Broadway Books; ISBN: 0767903080 Dimensions (in inches): 1.14 x 8.56 x 5.32
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by Patricia T. O’Connor
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by Diana Gage and Marcia Coppess
Paperback – 590 pages Rev&Updtd edition (March 1994) Henry Holt (Paper); ISBN: 0805026894 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.68 x 8.94 x 5.98
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by Judith Appelbaum
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by Lisa Collier Cool
Paperback – 136 pages (March 1990) Writers Digest Books; ISBN: 0898793912 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.50 x 9.00 x 6.03
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by Michael Larsen Paperback – 207 pages 1 edition (July 30, 1996) John Wiley & Sons; ISBN: 047113046X ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.67 x 9.03 x 6.03
A writer herself, Christine Krieg specializes in author portraits. Click on Portraits on her site.
Wednesdays, April 20 to June 22 (no class 5/11), 7-9:30 p.m. East Bay $315 members/$345 non-members
"When I was sixteen I jumped out of a second story window into a snow bank, wearing only a belly-dancer’s costume and body make-up," says instructor Karen Bjorneby. "I turned that one anecdote from my life into a story titled, Christmas Bombings, 1972. You too have similar anecdotes – the story you tell at a party (or the one you overhear!) But how do you make the leap from anecdote — or simply from your imagination — to a full-fledged story? How do you stretch and twist the truth into something even better – what should or could have happened, but didn’t! How do you create a fictional world so real your readers see, smell, feel and taste what you’ve written? How do you create characters so compelling the reader just has to know more about them? How do you keep the reader eagerly turning the pages? How do you write an ending that echoes in the reader’s mind long after he or she has put down the story?
This workshop will help you find your artistic strengths while giving you the tools you need to sculpt a solid piece of work. We’ll mine your funny, frightening, or poignant anecdotes for story material. We’ll practice working with the elements of fiction: setting, character, point of view, plot – and learn how to manipulate these elements. Each week, we’ll discuss each other’s work to discover and encourage each writer’s individual talents and to learn how to critique helpfully. Through these discussions, you’ll build up your own story-editor abilities so you can read your work with a sharp, critical eye. Karen will also give individual feedback to each student.
Karen Bjorneby started writing by participating in workshops just like this one. She is the author of Hurricane Season: Stories from the Eye of the Storm (Sourcebooks, 2001), which received a Foreword Honorable Mention as best independent/university press short story collection of the year at Book Expo America. She has received a Pushcart Special Mention, two other Pushcart nominations, a National Magazine Award nomination, and she was named a Tennessee Williams Scholar at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in nearly two dozen publications including The Threepenny Review, The North American Review, New Letters, StoryQuarterly, Confrontation, The New Orleans Review, The Nebraska Review, and The Sun.
Sunday, Aug. 7th, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. San Francisco $85 members/$95 non-members
In the words of one Hollywood agent, “Think not what the star can do for your script, but what your script can do for the star.”
“The emotional core of a successful screenplay is almost always built around two unlike, warring characters,” says instructor Terrel Seltzer. “Sometimes these two characters end up married, sometimes one defeats or even kills the other, sometimes they agree to part. Whatever the hundreds of variations, the goal of the screenwriter is to create a page-turning, burning need in the reader to find out how these characters resolve their connection at the end of the story, in an emotionally satisfying and (hopefully) unsuspected manner.
“We’ll cover a lot of ground in this six-hour day. The challenges of writing both protagonists and antagonists, how to create their motivations and objectives, the paramount importance of their transformational arcs. We’ll also discuss the role of supporting characters who either help or raise the stakes for the main characters, thereby adding dimension and atmosphere to your story. We’ll talk about tools for creating original, authentic characters. I’ve personally used both mythical models and the enneagram personality types to brainstorm my characters. We’ll also use examples from two films, THELMA AND LOUISE and MEAN STREETS, so it will be helpful for students to either view these movies or read the scripts (available at www.simplyscripts.com) before attending the class.”
Terrel Seltzer is a self-taught screenwriter. She learned the craft by watching and outlining literally hundreds of movies. Her career started in the Bay Area, working with SF director Wayne Wang, for whom she wrote the screenplays for the independent films Chan is Missing and Dim Sum. Her two produced Hollywood screenplays are How I Got into College (with Lara Flynn Boyle and Anthony Edwards) and One Fine Day (with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Cloony). Currently, she has two scripts in development: Magick written for director Robert Zemeckis at Dreamworks, and Foolproof, a spec script recently optioned by Warner Brother Classics.
One Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Berkeley & SF $95 members/$110 non-members
Sometimes a writer skims on top of a subject. Or dog-paddles around the edges. Or is too nice. The writing is glib and clever and maybe even funny, or the story moves along from plot point to plot point, but the piece is as shallow a wading pool.
This is not to say that writing can’t entertain; it can and often does. Or that it can’t be “just a diversion.” Some of the best-selling books are “just a diversion.” But even in that diversion there is a depth, of character or relationship. A depth of emotion. So when we talk about going deeper, we’re not talking “heavy.” We’re talking texture and layering, getting beneath the skin. As writers, when we throw our stone into the pond, we want to make ripples, circles that enlarge from the base and encompass a larger area than simply a hole in the water where our stone sank. Kafka said “A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us.”
This workshop examines what can cause a writer to keep her head above water — from being in a hurry to finish, to not trusting her own voice or intuition or fear of what might be discovered or revealed, then suggests ten ways to take a deep breath and dive in. Life jackets optional.
Judy Reeves is a writer, teacher and writing practice provocateur whose books include A Writer’s Book of Days; Writing Alone, Writing Together; A Creative Writer’s Kit and The Writer’s Retreat Kit. In addition to leading private writing and creativity workshops, Judy teaches writing at UCSD Extension and in private workshops, and speaks at writing conferences internationally. She is a co-founder of San Diego Writers, Ink where she served as Executive Director. A revised edition of A Writer’s Book of Days was recently released.
“I loved the class…”
“Judy made this workshop come alive for me…”
NOT BEING OFFERED THIS SESSION, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Berkeley $85 members/$95 non-members
Are you a food enthusiast who loves to write, cook and eat? Do you devour food magazines and cookbooks in bed, or secretly dream of whipping up your own cookbook on Tuscan main dishes? Do you read restaurant reviews and think, “That’s my dream job!”? This overview class will give you a taste of food writing in all its variations: magazine and newspaper features, literary memoir, recipes and reviews. You’ll also learn which ingredients constitute an irresistible cookbook proposal. Instructor Dianne Jacob will lead you through exercises designed to bring your simmering creativity and style to a boil, focusing on the senses, memory, and place.
Dianne Jacob is the author of Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Restaurant Reviews, Articles, Memoir, Fiction, and More. She has been published in Writer’s Digest, Salon, Sunset, Gastronomica, The San Francisco Chronicle and elsewhere, and has won two national awards as a top editor of magazines and interactive books. Dianne also judges the international cookbook awards of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, and chairs the Food Writing Conference at Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA.
Saturday, Feb. 24th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $85 members/$95 non-members; Berkeley
Course description to come.
Saturday, May 2nd, 2:30-5:30 p.m. $55 members/$65 non-members San Francisco
Special Package Deal: Take this afternoon Interviewing workshop along with Cary’s morning “Breaking into Magazine Writing” workshop and get a discount: $95 for members, $115 for non-members. You must be sure to select the “Breaking into Mags/Interviewing” option when you register.
“In order to write a good magazine article, you have to do good research,” says instructor Cary Pepper. “And part of doing good research is doing a good interview. In this class you’ll learn: how to get that interview…the pros and cons of interviewing in person and by phone…how to prepare so you’re at your best… techniques for getting good quotations…how to control an interview…what to do when things don’t go as planned…how to make the most of unexpected moments…and what to do if an interview begins to go bad.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sunday, April 19th, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. San Francisco $55 members/$65 non-members
This mini-workshop may well whet your appetite for more, in which case you may want to consider Julie Bruck’s 9-week “Fearless Poetry Workshop” on Thursday evenings in SF, or Alison Luterman’s “Magpie Poetry Workshop,” also on Thursday evenings, but in Berkeley.
Robert Frost famously wrote “a poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom.” After you’ve drafted a poem, how do you find the true beginning–the place where the delight begins? And how do you know when you’ve followed the poem to a wise ending? In this workshop, we’ll examine a generous mix of how other poets have chosen beginnings and endings for their poems. Then we’ll look at (and listen to) our own drafts, focusing on identifying the emotional starting point for the poem and how to craft an ending that enlarges the poem’s intention without sacrificing authenticity. You’ll need a draft of a poem that you’ve been working on and a willingness to listen to your work and the work of others with an open mind. Read the rest of this entry »
Five Tuesdays, April 14-May 12, 7-9:30 p.m. $185 members/$215 non-members Berkeley
Note: This class, as well as the “Exploring Creative Nonfiction” class, are both good general “exploration” classes. Neither focuses on just one genre; instead, they introduce you to a sampling of different genres and/or sub-genres.
Chekhov said that writing should “hit the reader on the snout.” A metaphor, sure, but fantastic advice for apprentice writers: a reminder that art needs a unique, compelling personality. In this class, students will nibble on appetizers from all the major genres—fiction, creative nonfiction, memoir, poetry, and others.
Sunday, April 5th, 10 am to 4 pm; San Francisco $95 members/$110 non-members
Would you like to learn how to recognize the deadwood in your copy? Do you want to write punchier sentences, free of redundancies and clunky phrasing? Does an assigned word count fill you with fear?
If you’re like most writers, you probably have trouble editing your own work. Sure, it would be nice to hire an editor every time you needed one, “but let’s face it,” says instructor Cheryl Ossola, “most of us are on our own.” So why not tune in to your inner editor? Come spend a day learning how to prune text without sacrificing content, thus making more room for all the facts and insights that give your writing power.
Six Fridays (once a month): March 20, April 17, May 15, June 12, July 10, Aug. 7th 7-9:30 p.m; Berkeley $335 members/$365 non-members
“When we read writing we love, it transports us,” says instructor Elaine Beale. “We travel to other places, inhabit the minds of characters vastly different from ourselves. We are awed by beautiful language, perfectly crafted sentences, marvelously constructed plots. And our experience of the world and ourselves is enriched. As writers, we want our readers to be similarly transported.
Saturday, May 19th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. San Francisco $85 members/$95 non-members
Asked why she wrote flash fiction, writer Diane Williams said, "I need thrills…quick thrills, …[I need to] get answers fast and get relief." The hallmarks of flash fiction are brevity, conciseness, suggestion, and surprise. Coming in at under 1500 words, and sometimes as short as a few pithy sentences, it not only gives us quick thrills but also sudden, often profound insights into the human drama. "In this class we’ll read some of the very best flash fiction written in the past 20 years," says instructor David Booth. "We’ll ask many questions about the form: what about this story makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up? How can I create moments of surprise and sudden shifts in the reader’s perception? How do plot, character, setting, and dialogue work in a story that fits on a postcard? We’ll develop our own recipes for flash fiction—our own original concoctions. Come to the Writing Salon with your sleeves rolled up: we’ll read some wonderful stories and write a few of our own!"
David Booth has led many fiction workshops at the Writing Salon and San Francisco State University. He currently teaches fiction in the MFA writing program at the University of San Francisco. His flash fiction has appeared in a dozen journals, including Switchback, Absomoly, Quick Fiction, The Carriage House Review, and Sudden Stories: A Mammoth Anthology of Miniscule Fiction.
Five Sundays, June 3rd thru July 1st, 7-9:30 p.m. San Francisco $165 members/$195 non-members
The basic premise behind almost every successful feature film can be stated in one simple sentence: Someone we care about wants something badly and is having a terrible time getting it. "Pretty simple, right?" says instructor Terrel Seltzer. "But how do you make a character sympathetic? How do you establish a compelling desire? How do you structure rising tension so that the Hollywood Reader keeps turning the page? That’s the art and the craft of screenwriting."
In this class, every aspect of writing your screenplay will be explored in the following five stages: Story Concept; Characters; Plot Structure; Individual Scenes; Writing Visually. "As in my nine-week class," says Terrel, "my approach is to teach by personal example, to provide a professional insider’s look at the screenwriting process. By studying scripts of well known movies and referencing my own work, I’ll take you through the process of choosing and writing a viable story premise, and then how to work that premise into a feature length screenplay." Writing assignments (for those who want to do them) will encourge students to devolop an idea, or to hone an alreadly written screenplay into a more polished spec script.
Nine Sundays, July 15th thru Sept. 22nd
(no class Sept. 2nd), 7-9:30 p.m. Berkeley $315 members/$345 non-members This class combines the energy and expertise of two of our favorite teachers, Suzy Parker and Alison Luterman. Suzy will help you get those creative juices flowing. She’ll rip through the nuts and bolts of the personal essay by presenting dozens of quick and clever exercises, and by examining your own and other people’s essays. "I like to pack as much into class as possible," says Suzy. "Students will leave every week with an abundance of new and imaginative ideas."
Alison will focus on helping you to identifying your personal themes, the stories you each return to tell, over and over again. "Every one of us is neck-deep in the middle of our own long and winding stories – stories that, when shared, can help us to bridge the gap between ourselves and the rest of the world," she says. "What’s wonderful about finding and honing these stories – about being a writer, in fact – is that it redeems everything, even the moment of burning shame when you flunked the driving test three times, even the fact that you could never decide what you wanted to be when you grew up. It reminds you that once you were twenty and limber and unafraid to sleep in the cornfield when hitchhiking across France. And, like the smell of fresh coffee or the first kiss of summer on your cheek, it heightens the senses. We’ll workshop your essays from the standpoint of craft, voice, and structure, using the techniques of fiction writing, playwriting, and even poetry to enliven your writing."
Suzy Parker has been published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, San Jose Mercury News, The Sun, Hope, the Chattahoochee Review, Salon.com, ZYZZYVA and elsewhere. Her commentaries have aired on NPR’s Morning Edition and KQED’s Perspectives. She is a winner of the Richard J. Margolis National Literary Award, the California Independent Newspapers’ Writer Prize and the Best of the West Award for most outstanding columnist in a daily newspaper west of the Mississippi. The movie rights to her memoir, Tumbling After, have been optioned by HBO. Her personal essay column appears weekly in the Berkeley Daily Planet.
Alison Luterman has been shamelessly telling tales from her own life ever since she could grip a sweaty pencil. She has published essays in The Sun, Radiance, Response, The East Bay Express, and The Boston Phoenix. Her book of poems, The Largest Possible Life, won The Cleveland State University Poetry Prize. She has taught poetry to thousands of school children through California Poets in the schools. The great love of her life is performing improvisational dance, singing, storytelling and poetry through the Wing It! performance ensemble. She has given workshops and readings around the country, and recently completed her first full-length play, Saying Kaddish with my Sister.
"Alison Luterman’s teaching style…."
"…touching and delicious…"
"Thanks to everyone…"
"…I’ve already gotten my money’s worth!…"
Two Saturdays, Nov. 10 & 17, 9 am to 6 pm, Berkeley; $295 members/$325 non-members
“If you write it, they will come” is instructor Terrel Seltzer’s writing mantra for herself and her students. But how to write “it” – the spec script that will open doors – is the rub. “Respecting the form of screenplay structure is key,” says Terrel. “Hitting all the dramatic marks in 110 pages is a major part of the creativity.” The other rub is sitting down and getting the work done.
“Let’s Get Busy” is a fast-paced, two-day intensive designed for those looking for advanced instruction on how to hone their movie idea – and get it down on paper! You’ll do this by developing a working “story map” that can serve as a guide to follow in writing the script. Starting with this premise, you’ll use writing exercises to identify the “Major Dramatic Question,” then develop the “Five Structural Tent Poles” to ensure that your story has sufficient turning points, conflict and escalation. Finally, you’ll fill in eleven “character beats” to describe the protagonist, his/her goals, what keeps him from his/her goals, the theme, and resolution.
The workshop will be two packed days of writing, interactive class discussion, positive encouragement, and always lots of laughs and fun. The goal will be to write a tight and active one page Story Map that will clarify how your unique story unfolds from its basic premise to its climax and resolution. So come with an idea, a favorite writing tool, and a burning desire to finally get it down on paper!
NOTE: This workshop is designed for writers who already taken at least one prior screenwriting class. Beginners should take Terrel’s 9-week introductory screenwriting workshop before signing up for this seminar.
Saturday, April 29, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Berkeley $85 members/$95 non-members
If you dream of writing a nonfiction book – self-help, how-to, biography, memoir or any other nonfiction genre – your first step (not your last) is to write a dynamite book proposal. A good, solid book proposal doesn’t merely sell your book, it helps you WRITE your book. “You’ll write a smarter, more focused book,” says instructor Eric Maisel, “if you write the proposal as you write the book.” In this class, through discussion and exercises, you’ll look at 14 elements of book proposal writing that will help you to hone your idea, frame your theme, pick an effective title, write a sample chapter, organize your table of contents, and more. Whether you have only a vague idea for a book or a completed first draft, this class will show you what you need to do in order to create a proposal that will sell your book.
Eric Maisel is the author of The Art of the Book Proposal: How to Effectively Present Yourself and Your Ideas to Agents and Editors (Tarcher/Putnam). He has helped numerous clients improve their book proposals and sell their books, and has himself written and sold more than thirty books – Fearless Creating, A Life in the Arts, Deep Writing, The Creativity Book, The Van Gogh Blues, Sleep Thinking, Affirmations for Artists, Living the Writer’s Life and more. When not writing books, he works as a creativity coach and psychotherapist.
“Eric’s class is just great!”
Nine Tuesdays, July 15th-Sept. 9th, 7-9:30 p.m. $335 members/$365 non-members; Location: San Francisco
“I’ve done stories on everything from home computers — back when only three companies were making them — to a portrait of the Sherman House (a landmark hotel that survived the 1906 earthquake) to a profile of the Emmy Award-winning sound engineer who worked on Basic Instinct,” says Cary Pepper. “But my favorite piece is probably the one I did about a new reading program for kindergartners; the kids pulled me right into the class and I learned more that one day than I ever learned in kindergarten. That’s one of the things I love most about magazine writing — it’s a constant learning process. It gives you a license to probe into how the world — and the people in it — work. It’s also the most accessible way to break into professional writing. Even when you have no publishing credits, if you come up with the right idea, and pitch it to the right editor at the right time, you can get the assignment.”
In this class Cary will provide a nuts-and-bolts workshop on writing the magazine article. “We’ll analyze elements of craft such as structure, flow, and language. Students will write an article on a topic of their choice, bring it in, and we’ll break down the specifics of each one. We’ll also discuss editing: its power as well as its pitfalls. We’ll also cover: How to get ideas…how to determine your market…why the query letter is as important (sometimes more!) than the actual article…how to write a query editors will read…the rules of the game (and when to break them)…getting rejected (and how to handle it)…getting accepted (and how to handle it)…dealing with editors… being a professional…using one article to get the next assignment…and putting yourself out there as a freelance magazine writer.”
Cary Pepper has been a freelance writer for 30 years. He has published dozens of articles in such publications as The New York Times, TV Guide, Premiere, Advertising Age, Town and Country, and Mad. He is also an award-winning playwright whose work has been produced throughout the U.S. and in Europe. He has taught writing at Media Alliance, the San Francisco Art Institute, and privately.
Saturday, Oct. 4th, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Location: Berkeley $95 members/$110 non-members
Note: This is an especially good class for beginners, but it’s also for anyone who wants to make their writing more colorful, evocative and lively.
A picture is worth a thousand words, and the writer who learns to paint vivid images is more than halfway home. However, there comes a time in most essays, poems and stories when the underlying ideas need to be gently highlighted, a process akin to finding that long skinny vein on a shrimp and gently pulling it out. What is this story about? Where is this poem going? What is this essay trying to say? “In this workshop,” says instructor Alison Luterman, “we will write a lot and talk a little about the delicate, elusive process of making our meanings clear without overburdening our writing with too much explanation. No formulas will be offered, only some examples, and the good companionship of other writers who are struggling honestly to say what lies just beyond the tip of their tongues.”
Alison Luterman has been shamelessly telling tales from her own life ever since she could grip a sweaty pencil. She has published essays in The Sun, Radiance, Response, The East Bay Express, and The Boston Phoenix. Her book of poems, The Largest Possible Life, won The Cleveland State University Poetry Prize. She has taught poetry to thousands of school children through California Poets in the schools. The great love of her life is performing improvisational dance, singing, storytelling and poetry through the Wing It! performance ensemble. She has given workshops and readings around the country, and recently completed her first full-length play, “Saying Kaddish with my Sister.” In addition to teaching personal essay writing at the Writing Salon, she teaches playwriting through the Marin Theater Company.
Two Saturdays, 10/25 & 11/1, 10 a.m to 5 p.m.$185 members/$215 non-members; Location: Berkeley
Many student writers, after taking Terrel Seltzer’s nine-week "Calling Card Script” class, are asking for more. “They’re motivated and want to keep the dialogue going about screenwriting in general and their scripts in particular," Terrel. "The last day of session, I always feel protective. Like a mother bird nudging her fledglings out of the nest to fly on their own."
Advanced Screenwriting is for students who have taken the nine-week class (or equivalent} and are ready to excavate below the three-act structure surface to delve deeper into the thorny and poetic mechanics of dramatic storytelling. "Simple stories with complex characters is one of my writing mantras," says Terrel, "and these two days will be devoted to finding the true and meaningful story inside your plot, by concentrating on the main character’s transformational arc."
Students should come with 13 copies of a one-page synopsis of their script, using Dara Marks’ book, Inside Story: The Power of the Transformational Arc” as a guide. The books is available on Amazon or on Dara Marks’ website. (Note: There will be a one-hour lunch break; a lovely cafe is located on the premises.)
Terrel Seltzer is a self-taught screenwriter. She learned the craft by watching and outlining literally hundreds of movies. Her career started in the Bay Area, working with SF director Wayne Wang, for whom she wrote the screenplays for the independent films Chan is Missing and Dim Sum. Her two produced Hollywood screenplays are How I Got into College (with Lara Flynn Boyle and Anthony Edwards) and One Fine Day (with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Cloony). Currently, she has two projects in development: FoolProof, a spec script optioned by Cherry Road Films, and Rule #1 optioned by Panther Films.
Saturday, Feb. 21st, 10 am-4 pm; San Francisco $95 members/$110 non-members
“Most beginning screenwriters have trouble determining where the writing ends and the directing begins,” says Terrel Seltzer. “They “see” a scene in their head, but they don’t know how much detail to write down on paper, or leave out. They usually end up with a pretty cluttered script.”
Screenwriting is the craft of writing visually and succinctly. “It’s a very poetic form,” Terrel says, “much closer to writing a sonnet than a novel. And rules apply.” In this class, you’ll learn ways to think visually and then get the picture in your head down on paper. “We’ll analyze how a screenwriter breaks down a scene into pivotal beats, and then builds that scene with the interplay of description and dialogue. We’ll compare script pages to actual scenes in movies, and also use writing exercises to discuss ways to write vivid, concise description and dialogue.”
Saturday, Jan. 31st, 10 am-4 pm; Berkeley $95 members/$110 others
One of the most popular types of magazine articles is the personality profile. Always in demand by editors and featured in publications of every stripe, the profile is a viable way for new writers to break into the magazine market. One advantage to the profile is there’s such a wealth of potential material. Anyone who’s interesting is a potential subject, and there are so many things that make people interesting!
Know of anyone who’s famous (doesn’t matter why – they can be infamous, too)…heroic (they risked their life; spoke out against injustice)…eccentric (they live in a tree; they collect cardboard boxes)…groundbreaking (they created that Web site!)…successful (and then sold if for seven million dollars)… visionary (they’re proposing a new fuel no one’s thought of yet)…artistic (whether they’re selling or not)… fascinating (which covers a lot of ground)…or interesting for any other reason? They’re all candidates for a profile!
NOTE: THIS CLASS IS NOW FULL
“There’s a deep DNA structure for a good movie idea,” says screenwriter Terrel Seltzer. “Someone we care about wants something badly (Act One), and is having a terrible time getting it (Act Two).” So what about Act Three? “It’s the answer to the question: Will they get it… or not?” says Terrel, “and it’s crucial. A story’s ending needs to stick in the mind. It pretty much determines whether the audience likes the movie or not.” On script level, it’s also decisive. An otherwise great script will likely be passed on if it doesn’t end well. Luckily — and regardless of the type of story you’re telling — there are common elements in a successful third act.
“A screenwriter needs to know the ending of the story before they start writing,” says Terrel. “Every word in your script is building to the climatic battle scene.” In this seminar, we’ll analyze the structure of a compelling third act by using writing exercises that help clarify the question/answer nature of good, dramatic screenwriting, and by discussing and watching movie endings that worked, and some that didn’t. Students can prepare by watching films from this list: Good Will Hunting, Gladiator, Saving Private Ryan, Thelma and Louise, Fatal Attraction, Million Dollar Baby, Lost in Translation, Diner, Rain Man, Road to Perdition.
