"What Novelists Can Learn From Screenwriters"

Announcing a New Writing Lab!

"What Novelists Can Learn From Screenwriters"

Thursday, July 23, 2020

1:00 - 3:00 PM PDT on Zoom

$45. for members of the Palm Springs Writers Guild

$90. for nonmembers

To register: Ariella Moon Writing Lab

I am super excited to teach

"What Novelists Can Learn From Screenwriters."

Description: 
Well-written screenplays contain concise, innovative writing that reveals character through dialogue and action, grounds the viewer in a particular setting, and moves the story forward with dynamic scenes. In this interactive boot camp, we will delve into seven techniques of visual storytelling. We will also examine and discuss the opening scenes of a few illustrative screenplays as a launch pad to improving our own writing. Attendees should have a printed copy of the first chapter of their manuscript on hand for reference during the writing lab.

Location: Zoom online

To Register: Writing Lab

Be ready to learn cinematic techniques that will enhance your writing!

~Ariella Moon

Eric Edson's Story Solution

Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey has long been my Go To book for plotting and story structure. So I was intrigued when Eric Edson presented “Cracking Screen Story Structure” to the Palm Springs Writers Guild. Edson has developed a new paradigm that builds upon Vogler’s work and takes it in a new direction. He shares all in his book, The Story Solution: 23 Actions All Great Heroes Must Take.  

Edson is a screenplay writer for movies and television, and is a Professor of Screenwriting and Directing of the Graduate MFA Program in Screenwriting at California State University, Northridge. He lectures through the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program and holds a Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting from UCLA. So it is no surprise that he developed his theory of story structure after analyzing numerous successful movies.

Hero Goal Sequences

At the heart of Edson’s approach to story structure are Hero Goal Sequences.

“A Hero Goal Sequence generally consists of 2 to 8 pages of screenplay…in which the hero pursues a single physical, visible, short-term goal as one immediate step in achieving the main overall story objective driving the plot. The Goal Sequence ends when the hero discovers FRESH NEWS, which is some form of new information that effectively ends the necessity to pursue the current goal and creates a new physical, visible, short-term goal - thereby beginning the next Hero Goal Sequence.”

The day after I attended Edson’s presentation, I went to the local Regal Cinema and saw The Grand Budapest Hotel. Then I viewed (for the third time) The Hunger Games. Two very different movies, but the Hero Goal Sequences leapt out at me in both. The next movie you watch, see if you can spot the Hero Goal Sequences.

As with other well-known approaches to screenwriting and story structure, Edson’s paradigm includes rising tension and major hooks at the end Acts I and II. But his interpretation is a little different and well worth a visit to his website http://www.thestorysolution.com for a free download of his analysis of Back to the Future. Or, for a more full explanation and more analysis, consider purchasing The Story Solution: 23 Actions All Great Heroes Must Take.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Story-Solution-Actions-Heroes/dp/1615930841/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352799547&sr=8-1&keywords=Story+Solution

Happy writing!

~Ariella Moon

Spell Struck, Book 2 in the Teen Wytche Saga, has been nominated for a RONE AWARD. Public voting for the YA Paranormal category is open from April 14-20. Follow this link to cast your vote. http://www.indtale.com/2014-rone-awards-week-six
Thank you!
~Ariella