Introduction to Screenwriting with Nathaniel McAuley

Course Summary

Join poet and script writer Nathaniel Joseph McAuley in An Introduction to Screenwriting. This course is designed for those who have always wanted to write for screen and never quite known how to get started. By unpacking famous examples, this course will cover the basics of storytelling – structure, character and world-building – while addressing the realities of industry-standard requirements and exploring what makes screenwriting unique from other mediums. Each day students will be given a different task to work on in their own time to encourage skills and plot development and, should they choose to do so, workshop their script in the class setting.

Course Outline

Day 1

Storytelling – How do we structure a story and how do we maintain momentum?

Day 2

Openings – What do we expect to see in the first 3 pages of a screenplay?

Day 3

What to leave in, what to take out – What exactly does an industry standard script need to include and what is the role of the screenwriter?

Day 4

Character and Settling – What makes characters iconic, and how are they shaped by the world around them?

Day 5

Final Workshopping

Nathaniel McAuley is a Belfast writer currently living and working in London. Nathaniel is a creative writing tutor at the Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith, and a teacher of English and Storytelling at the London Screen Academy.