Sean Lawrence

    Assignment Goal: Writing organic, believable dialogue can be one of the most difficult tasks for a writer to master. The goal of this assignment is to help us become better dialogue writers by becoming better listeners. Listening is research! Instructions: 1. Choose an environment that’s accessible to you, to which you haven’t been exposed at all. Perhaps it’s a small town diner where the local women’s club gathers, a clothing store in China Town, your local Laundromat, a dive bar, an exchange or Veteran’s club meeting, or a courthouse. It should be a place you don't normally go. Don’t put yourself in harm’s way , but do take yourself somewhere new . Plan to spend at least an hour there. 2. Listen for interesting and/or specific ways people are speaking . Do they speak differently than you? Is there a specific jargon or shorthand they use? How are different people in the same environment speaking uniquely from one another? Is there an age factor? Gender factor? Doctor/pati...

  Assignment Goal: The goal of this assignment is to get students engaged in an interview conversation and critically thinking about ways to elicit information from an interview subject. Instructions: 1. Make sure you’ve read my interview with Toupydoops writer, Kevin McShane, which was part of Week One: Lesson Three. 2. Based on Kevin’s answers to the questions asked, come up with a follow-up question for him that specifically draws from one of his responses, and is intended to gain further information on the topic he discussed. 3. Send your question in Word format along with your general thoughts about Toupydoops. Did you like/dislike it? Any specific reasons why? Be sure to also say whether or not you would like your question and comments sent to Kevin. Note: I will post his answers to follow-up questions in a future week of the course for you to review. Response Due: • Submit your assignment by Sunday (11:59 PM EST). • Follow the guidelines as outlined in the Assignment Two Rub...

  Assignment Goal: When developing a story, we might have a great idea for a character. Often times, however, once we start to write, we realize we haven’t fully conceived the person we're creating, determined everything we need to know about them, or done enough research into the aspects of their life that need investigation. The goal of this assignment is to provide you with a template for identifying basic information about your character and assist in identifying areas that need further development or research. Instructions: 1. Download asset 1.10.1, the Character Fact Sheet. 2. Using the Character Fact Sheet excel template, complete the blank fields with information about your protagonist. Note: • If you’ve based your protagonist on yourself, you MUST complete the assignment for your antagonist. 3. Pay special attention to any areas for which you don’t have an answer or that give you pause. These may be areas of your character’s life that could be researched. If you don’t have...

  1. Watch the video about The Information Cycle 2. Watch Keynote – “Information Sources.” Based on what you've seen, consider the following questions: • If you were writing a story set in the immediate aftermath of a national disaster, what information source/s would capture the information that was immediately available in the aftermath of the event? • How would setting your story a week, a month, or even a year after the disaster change the information sources you might utilize? • What types of Trade, Educational, and Reference Books are available for the elements of your script that need researched? 3. Then watch this instructional video on evaluating information sources: 4. Read the Research Tips at – Writing.com 5. Make sure you've visited Full Sail's Library, which can be accessed from the tab at the top of your FSO home page. Specifically, make sure you've played around with EBSCO to look for articles . Contact Full Sail's Librarian, Barbara Rainey, for a t...

  1. Watch Keynote – “Research Through Personal Experience.” 2. Watch the first episode of the web series, The Guild 3. Read the interview with “The Guild” writer, creator and star, Felicia Day. Reflect on what you’ve just seen and read. Then ask yourself: • Do you think “The Guild” would be as successful if Day had not been a gamer herself? • Are you including personal experience in your story? • If so, is there anything you’d still need to research if you were to write a story based on an element of your personal experience? 4. Read the online preview of the comic Toupydoops . Consider the following as you read. • Would Toupydoops have been different if it'd been set in New York, London, or Austin, Texas? In what ways? How might the different locations impact the setting of scenes, what encounters the main characters have, or what visuals the artist is depicting? 5. Then read the uploaded asset, my interview with Toupydoops writer/artist, Kevin McShane.

  Analyzing Act Three Discussion Board Goal: The goal of this discussion is to understand how Act Three works by breaking down Act Three of the film Witness. Instructions: 1.) Read the screenplay Witness. 2.) Delineate the sequence(s) in the third act of the film Witness. 3.) Delineate what each sequence is about, or what it revolves around. 4.) Figure out if there is a twist in the Third Act of the screenplay and if so, what is it? 5.) Explain the resolution of the screenplay. 6.) Please list your responses by numbering 1- 5 and answering the questions above. 7.) www.screenplay.com/downloads/scripts/witness.pdf 8.) And, finally, after I’ve responded on Thursday. Go ahead and comment on one of your peer’s post (of your choice)

  :: Activities The Resolution Instructions 1. Read pages 250-263 in Syd Field’s book The Screenwriter’s Workbook. 2. Watch the: Act Three Video (FSS Act3), which you can find in the assets section.  3. Understand the concept of tracing your narrative action from the end of Plot Point 2 to the end of the story. 4. Understand Field’s example of Annie Hall. 5. Understand Field’s example of Terminator 2.

First, you will be learning to identify the elements within a script that indicate the author has done research and, thereby, has made her or himself an authority on the topic, characters and locations they’re writing about.  Assignment Goal: The benefit of this assignment is twofold. First, you will be learning to identify the elements within a script that indicate the author has done research and, thereby, has made her or himself an authority on the topic, characters and locations they’re writing about. Second, you will be gaining exposure to script analysis, which you will utilize later in the program as you critique your own work and the work of your classmates. Instructions: 1. Download the screenplay, The Hurt Locker. 2. Read the script and look for examples where Boal’s research of the war shows authenticity in dialogue and description. You will not be able to print the script, so jot down on a piece of paper when you note an example. 3. Cite examples – one of dialogue...

Understanding what obstacles to give your character requires knowing their background, lifestyle, location, current situation, and how all those factors affect their responses to situations, impact their motivations and, therefore, how believable they'll be. Discussion Board Goal: Over the next few weeks, we’ll be taking your story from logline to basic outline. In order to chart the journey of your protagonist, you need to understand how he or she would respond in any given circumstance. Understanding what obstacles to give your character requires knowing their background, lifestyle, location, current situation, and how all those factors affect their responses to situations, impact their motivations and, therefore, how believable they'll be. If you let your idea for the story dictate character rather than the other way around, you’ll run into scenarios where you’ll end up with contrived characters, scenes and dialogue, and an audience that can’t connect to your story.  This di...

Week Two "Yes and then What", Discussion Board: Okay, since I know you are all busy working on you First Act---I want us to have a little fun with the Week Two Discussion board. We are going to play an interactive writing game. It is called Yes and then What? It's an improv game. The way we will do it here is that, based on a line of dialogue that I will provide, you each have to respond to the last person that posted. So the first person to write in will use my line of dialogue in a story and then each person will write off of it. (250 word limit per post) The goal is to take what the last person wrote and write something creative and funny. The rules are that you have to accept what the person who posted before you has said, and THEN take it in a unique, new, and funny way. It's okay to be creative but don't get so outlandish that you leave nothing for your peers to work off of. The goal is to give your peers good material to write from. Again- you have to write...

  News & Updates From Our Master Cats The Top 5 Moments That Define Unforgettable Characters How do you define an unforgettable character? Why, with a defining moment that you (and they) can't forget, of course! From "life-changing discovery" to "healing or growth," Christopher and Kathy Riley—authors of  The Defining Moment : How Writers and Actors Build Characters —have contributed an impactful piece to our blog that offers up 5 categories of "defining moments" to ensure that your characters make a lasting impression. READ MORE » JUST ANNOUNCED: AUGUST 20-29 WORKSHOP   ONLY 7 SEATS REMAINING! Save the Cat! ®   Live Storytelling Workshop   Start with an idea and finish with the 15 beats of your story, across 4 LIVE 2.5-hour sessions on Zoom with Master Cat John Yearley. A MAXIMUM OF 8 STUDENTS MEANS YOU WILL BE GUIDED BY THE INSTRUCTOR STEP-BY-STEP, BEAT-BY-BEAT. You'll... Find your story according to Blake’...