Script Writer Course

Lesson 1 • Industries and Formats Overview

Survey the major script formats—film, TV, stage, audio, corporate, and interactive—and the industries that commission them. Grounds students in the professional landscape before specializing.

Lesson 2 • What Scripts Are and Do

Define scripts as structured blueprints for performance, distinguishing them from prose. Establishes the functional purpose that drives every formatting and craft decision ahead.

Lesson 3 • Core Vocabulary of the Craft

Introduce the essential terminology used across all script formats. Shared vocabulary enables precise communication with collaborators and accurate reading of professional scripts.

Lesson 1 • Alternative Structural Models

Examine five-act, episodic, non-linear, and modular structures used in TV and experimental work. Expands the writer's toolkit beyond classical form.

Lesson 2 • Theme, Premise, and Central Question

Define theme as an active argument embedded in story events, not a topic. Guides writers to anchor structural choices in a unifying dramatic question.

Lesson 3 • Plotting and Outlining Techniques

Apply practical outlining methods—beat sheets, index cards, and step outlines—before drafting. Reduces structural problems in later drafts and speeds revision.

Lesson 4 • Scene-Level Dramatic Logic

Analyze how individual scenes function as units of conflict, change, and information. Teaches writers to enter late, exit early, and ensure every scene advances story or character.

Lesson 1 • Character Arc and Transformation

Map a character's internal journey from flaw to change—or deliberate non-change—across the script's structure. Links character arc to act-structure turning points introduced earlier.

Lesson 2 • Supporting and Ensemble Characters

Design secondary characters who serve distinct dramatic functions without overshadowing the lead. Covers ensemble balance and the risk of underdeveloped supporting roles.

Lesson 3 • Protagonist and Antagonist Design

Build protagonists with clear agency and antagonists with coherent motivation. Establishes the oppositional dynamic that generates the central conflict of any script.

Lesson 4 • Character Anatomy

Distinguish between a character's want, need, wound, and flaw as the four engines of behavior. These layers create internal conflict that sustains dramatic tension across a script.

Lesson 1 • Exposition and Information Delivery

Deliver necessary backstory and world information without clunky, on-the-nose exposition. Teaches disguising exposition as conflict, action, or character revelation.

Lesson 2 • Dialogue Revision Techniques

Apply targeted revision strategies to tighten, sharpen, and differentiate dialogue in later drafts. Builds the habit of treating dialogue as a craft element requiring multiple passes.

Lesson 3 • Distinct Character Voice

Develop unique speech patterns, vocabulary, and rhythm for each character so dialogue is identifiable without speaker labels. Prevents the common flaw of all characters sounding alike.

Lesson 4 • Subtext and Indirect Communication

Train writers to embed meaning beneath the literal words characters speak. Subtext creates dramatic irony, tension, and the sense that characters have inner lives.

Lesson 1 • Corporate and Short-Form Formats

Format two-column AV scripts, explainer scripts, and ad scripts for corporate and commercial use. Short-form formats require precise visual-audio alignment on the page.

Lesson 2 • Stage and Audio Script Formats

Apply the distinct formatting rules for stage plays and audio drama scripts. These formats prioritize spoken word and stage direction over visual description.

Lesson 3 • Television Script Formatting

Distinguish single-camera and multi-camera format conventions, including act breaks and cold opens. TV formatting varies by network and production style, requiring format flexibility.

Lesson 4 • Screenplay Format Fundamentals

Master slug lines, action blocks, dialogue blocks, and transitions for feature and short film scripts. These conventions are non-negotiable in professional film submission contexts.

Lesson 1 • Writing for the Camera

Translate story events into visual action that a camera can capture, avoiding unfilmable directions. Teaches writers to think in images without directing on the page.

Lesson 2 • Montage, Intercutting, and Time

Apply montage sequences, parallel editing, and time compression as scripted storytelling tools. These techniques condense story time and create meaning through juxtaposition.

Lesson 3 • Action Lines and Scene Description

Craft action lines that are vivid, precise, and fast to read without over-describing. Strong action lines set tone, pace, and visual style while serving the story.

Lesson 4 • Opening and Closing Scenes

Design opening scenes that hook immediately and closing scenes that resonate beyond the final image. First and last impressions define how a script is remembered and evaluated.

Lesson 1 • Giving and Receiving Feedback

Use structured feedback frameworks to give useful notes and extract actionable insight from criticism. Feedback literacy is a professional skill as important as writing itself.

Lesson 2 • Structural Revision Pass

Evaluate and repair macro-level story problems—act structure, pacing, and plot logic—before addressing line-level issues. Structural revision precedes all other revision passes.

Lesson 3 • Character and Dialogue Revision

Audit character consistency, arc clarity, and dialogue voice across the full script. Targets the most common mid-draft failures: voice drift and arc abandonment.

Lesson 4 • The First Draft Mindset

Adopt strategies for completing a first draft without self-editing paralysis. A completed rough draft is the essential raw material for all subsequent revision work.

Lesson 1 • Understanding Genre Conventions

Map the structural, character, and tonal conventions of major genres and their audience contracts. Genre literacy allows writers to fulfill, subvert, or blend conventions intentionally.

Lesson 2 • Tension, Suspense, and Horror Craft

Build and sustain tension through information control, pacing, and dramatic irony. Applies to thriller, horror, and any script requiring sustained audience anxiety.

Lesson 3 • Comedy Writing Techniques

Apply the mechanics of comedic writing—setup, misdirection, timing, and character-based humor. Comedy is a craft with learnable rules, not a talent reserved for a few.

Lesson 4 • Tonal Control and Consistency

Establish and sustain a consistent tone across a script's action lines, dialogue, and scene construction. Tonal inconsistency is among the most common reasons scripts are rejected.