This is a four class series focusing on Character, Conflict, Dialog, Genre and Analysis
Who are these courses for?
Beginner writers who want to understand the basics of dramatic writing and learn to apply the fundamentals to their own writing for the big or small screen.
Intermediate writers looking to brush up on craft topics and techniques will also benefit a lot from this class!
How long are the classes?
Each session is 2.5 hours. The specific schedule will be released based on the time zones of the participants.
Do I have to take all four courses?
They are designed to build on one another, but each session can serve as a stand-alone class.
If you are a fairly experienced screenwriter, then I'd recommend skipping Genre & Analysis :)
If you want to take a class but aren't a screenwriter, then Character and Conflict will have plenty of takeaways for prose writers!
Are they just lecture-based or will there be time for writing and workshopping?
Each session includes a lecture with examples and interactive exercises, as well as writing and workshop time to close out each class. Students taking all four classes will also have the opportunity to do homework assignments for feedback from the instructor.
What Topics Are Covered?
Character: Are our characters just fragments of ourselves? We will dig into the foundations of a great character, understanding their psychology and behavior, how to chart out their emotional arcs throughout a film or series, and how to figure out what they want. Students will come away with practical tools and exercises to help deepen their characters and brainstorm new characters to populate the worlds of your series or film.
Conflict: how to lean into it to make our characters and world richer in the development of a series, and how to infuse it into your scene work in the draft phase. Students will understand how to incorporate conflict as part of the series structure and story-breaking process and apply conflict principles within act structure and scene work. (Elements of this class are the foundation of class 3, dialog).
Dialog: We will dig into the dialog in dramatic writing, scene work, tactics, and character voice. We will build upon the ideas of Character and conflict and work through a few exercises to experiment with how our characters speak and how they can use their voice to further the plot. Students will come away with a toolbox of writing exercises and frameworks to help them make character decisions a breeze in the future!
Genre & Analysis: What are the genre conventions you’re writing in? What about the sub-genre? We will explore genre as a social contract with the audience and dig into the major genres in TV and Film, the conventions of each, and how to consider genre when approaching your material. We will then build on what we have learned to work through how to break down any film or television script to understand better the narrative arcs, genre conventions, characters, and structure. This will give you the tools to write a spec script if you’d like, or look at any genre, break down its essential elements, and replicate it for your work as you grow into your voice and style as a writer.
What Students are Saying: “Throughout the course, I went from feeling conflict-averse in my writing to understanding where my aversion comes from and learning tools to work around that. This is such a specific topic, but crucial for any type of storytelling, and I think anyone, regardless of where you are in your writing journey, would greatly benefit from this course.”- Sarah Stein, Returning Student.
About the instructor: Alicia Carroll is a screenwriter and playwright based in NY and LA. Previous writing credits include BUMPER IN BERLIN (Peacock), THE WATCHFUL EYE (Freeform), ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST (NBC), and Crooked Media’s live show and podcast, LOVETT OR LEAVE IT. She has participated in fellowships and labs across mediums in film, television, and theater, including Film Independent: Project Involve, Women In Film: Insight, IAMA Theatre’s Emerging Playwrights Lab, The Workshop Theater’s Rewrite Intensive and EST/LA’s Ignite Lab. She’s currently a member of EST/LA’s New West playwrights group, and the play she developed at Ignite, HORSE PLAY, is a 2024 O’Neill Theater Center NPC Semifinalist. When she’s not writing, Alicia runs the Substack publication Write Bites and produces See What Sticks, a staged workshop series in LA. With over ten years of experience as a teaching artist, Alicia shares her knowledge as a TV instructor independently and at The Writing Pad in Los Angeles. Alicia is an Emerson College’s Visual Media Arts program. aliciadcarroll.com | @aliciadcarroll
