Screenwriting Crash Course for Teens

Last night I had the great pleasure of teaching a screenwriting workshop for teens at the American Library in Paris. I only had two hours--and screenwriting is such a vast subject! Luckily, I had started preparing weeks earlier.

When I first learned I was going to teach this workshop, I checked out a dozen videos  from the library's collection. Next, I went online and found as many of the scripts as I could. I screened each film for instructive clips and tried to match at least some of them with script pages. I narrowed the list down to 17 clips and constructed a short series of mini-lessons and exercises that lead step by step to the kids writing a scene of their own.

The plan went beautifully. I talked about what makes a good movie concept, how actions speak louder than words, and creating a compelling hero with a pressing goal. They came up with some great "what if?" questions, such as "What if school wasn't obligatory?" "What if technology didn't exist?" and "What if dogs could talk?" Their final scenes were creative and entertaining--and they even showed a grasp of some very basic screenwriting concepts! Having just finished writing 101 Screenwriting Tips, it was surprisingly easy to condense information to its essentials. Who knew that would be a skill I took away from writing the book--and that others would benefit from so quickly?

I had a great time, and so did the kids. I can't wait to do it again.