Courses of Study
First Year of Program (3rd year at NU)
Quarter One: Story Structure and The Writing Process
Through a variety of exercises, readings, and the analysis of screenings, juniors study the day-by-day challenges of writing itself; character development; dialogue; the harnessing of visuals in words on paper; story design; format for plays, screenplays, television, the internet, treatments and outlines; the professional and financial hurdles particular to writing for the media; the peripheral professional duties of a writer in the media. Lastly, students are encouraged to give their native talents a reliable framework for the development of their stories. The goal of this class is the completion of a 30-minute screenplay or video-play.
Quarter Two: Writing a Play
Building on the rudimentary lessons of the first quarter, students are taught a creative approach to the craft of Playwriting, and introduced to the capabilities of the theatre medium. Creative techniques are tailored by the course instructor to provide students with structural insight into play-making, thereby providing students with a growing sense of competence as writers. The goal of this quarter is the completion of a full-length play.
Quarter Three: Writing a Feature-length Screenplay
With the basics of format and dramatic structure already defined in previous instruction, writers tackle the visual, technical, and thematic complexities of writing film. Students are encouraged to further develop their personal writing style that accommodates the technical demands of the medium without sacrificing visual or literary aesthetics. The goal of this class is the completion of a full-length screenplay.
Second Year of Program (4th year at NU)
Quarter Four: Writing for Television
From idea through second draft, from pitch to sale, senior students learn the process of developing scripts for television. Here, the structural demands of commercial television (as well as pay-cable) are enumerated and mastered. The selling and buying of a script and/or an idea are analyzed, as well as the factors influencing a writer's employability. Writers are given tools to cope with the business disciplines that are part of being a television writer, including how to master writing in another's voice. The goal of this class is the completion of two drafts of a spec script for an existing television show.
Quarter Five: Writing A Full-length Project
Writers choose to develop a full-length play, screenplay, or an original television script (either a pilot or long-form piece). Tackling a full-length script at this stage of a writer's development answers the growing sense of readiness within the class, and helps them develop material in time to submit it into various competitions or use it as support material for graduate work at other institutions. In addition, since every writer must be the primary advocate for the production of their work, a one-class intensive in Business Writing is held. Here, the crafting of query and cover letters as well as the designing of resumes and business cards are discussed. The goal of this class is the completion of two drafts of a full-length project.
Quarter Six: Revision and The Business
In this final quarter, the instructor guides each writer through a revision of one or more projects written during the previous five quarters. Since students have had only ten to twelve weeks both to learn and write complex scripts, this workshop is devoted to the refinement of those writing efforts. Extensive one-on-one attention from the instructor is another important element of this workshop. In addition to the creation of material, students will also focus on preparing for their writing life outside of college. Career-oriented strategies such as getting an agent and/or manager; applying to competitions, grants and/or scholarships; creating job opportunities; and the issue of graduate school will be addressed. The goal of this class is the rewritten completion of a previous project.
