The First Draft
- All levels
- 18 and older
- $480
- Online Classroom
- over 10 sessions
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Whether you're writing your first play or your hundredth, it's not always easy to set the creative wheels in motion. This 10-week class will guide you through the development of your first draft. Open to new and returning students located anywhere in the world, this class will be run just like a real-life writing room, interacting with your instructor and classmates live via Zoom.
This class might be for you if you:
In this class you will:
By the end of this class you will:
Section A:
This class is run as a writers' workshop. Caridad believes in an equitable and respectful writing room, sensitive to each person's respective process, but also one where a vigorous, rigorous, and intuitive approach is manifest in establishing a group atmosphere. The sessions will be structured around response to work turned in (on average 5 to 8 pages a week) with pieces read out loud in the virtual room live in class with peer and instructor response time after each sharing of work using the Liz Lerman approach. At the beginning of the semester, you will determine if everyone will share work at every session or every other session. There will be occasional in-class writing exercises, and homework will be limited to recommended reading, prompts, and/or viewings assigned. In other words, the focus will be on your generative process, and as such, homework will be minimal outside of that.
Section B:
This class is specifically for bringing in material that hasn't yet seen the light of day. Rogelio and your classmates will be your first audience for this brand new first draft. Each week you will bring in 8-10 pages of new work, and as you go deeper into the workshop, you'll also incorporate rewrites. Using his extensive knowledge of plays, Rogelio will facilitate discussion that incorporates the specifics of the text and his general beliefs about writing. Rogelio believes a first draft is all about risk-taking and making bold choices – it's about making the right choice as much as it is about making the wrong choice. Both are okay when you're talking First Draft. They each offer a chance to understand what good writing looks like and how to achieve it with some level of consistency.
Note: For this section, writers should bring in a piece that is brand new and has not been workshopped in class before.
Section C:
This is a class of the IMAGINATION. This class will be very much focused on what you are passionate to write a full-length about and what is theatrical – and what MUST be a play. In the class, you will focus mainly on structure, in addition to character, language, and dramatic action. Consider Crystal your producer, that at times you adore and at times you find challenging, but who always keeps you on track. Each 3-hour session will be mixed with writing exercises Crystal has created which will support the play you are writing, lessons, and feedback each week on 8-10 pages. Crystal will be your guide and advisor as you write. Your full-length will embrace a modern two act structure (though it very might well be a long one act, 45-60 minutes, or a classical 90 minutes, or longer), and the class is set up to move onto act two at the mid-way point of meeting, so there will strict deadlines that will help you achieve this goal. Breaking of the rules is very exciting, but you'll be sure the rules are learned to smash all the more efficiently. Crystal will touch on the rules of dramatic action in all media, and will often discuss the differences between TV, screenwriting, musical theater book writing, and playwriting as you make strong choices of what unfolds on stage in your play. You will also learn how to "dramaturg" you own work and drive your own feedback sessions/process. In addition to weekly page assignments, you will be assigned specific playwrights to read.
Section D:
This class is run in the spirit of a dramaturg running a workshop for playwrights. You will read each other's pages out loud over Zoom and follow that with structured feedback led by Michael. Peer-to-peer conversation is central, along with hearing from Michael each week about your writing. Playwrights will be encouraged to write as many pages each week as they feel inspired to, and we'll commit to actively reading and discussing around 12 minutes of writing per student per week (typically 10-15 pages). The feedback Michael leads each week aims to illuminate what the pages have already accomplished, and not predict what you should do next. Weekly participation will keep you on the path toward a complete first draft. Michael will help you articulate the style and structure that your particular play wants to be told in by meeting you on your own turf and reflecting back to you what he sees in your writing—where it may want to push ahead, where it may be losing steam or clarity, and where certain playwriting tools (such as character, reversals, language, song, and physical action) may push a scene to the next level.
This course is available for "remote" learning and will be available to anyone with access to an internet device with a microphone (this includes most models of computers, tablets). Classes will take place with a "Live" instructor at the date/times listed below.
Upon registration, the instructor will send along additional information about how to log-on and participate in the class.
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