The Ten Month Novel and Script First Draft LIVE Course A practical step-by-step process that will enable you to find your story and write the first draft of your novel or screenplay in ten months. Roland Fishman conducts the LIVE sessions at our Bronte Studio. If you miss a class you may make it up online.

Aim of the Course The aim of the Ten Month Novel and Script First Draft course is to enable you to write a story that has readers wanting to know what happens next while taking your main character on an emotional and spiritual journey of change.

Length of the Live Course The live course meets once every month for nine months for a full Saturday and one full weekend. You will do the bulk of your planning in class and writing of scenes at home. You will be required to do planning homework and liaise with Roland Fishman in the weeks between the live sessions. The course is designed for people working full time and if you write, on average, five scenes a week, you will finish your first draft in ten months.

You Must Develop a Writing Habit The key to the whole course is to develop a writing habit. You need to steal back thirty minutes a day from your life to write. If you don’t make your writing time a priority, your novel or screenplay will remain a dream. The magic is always on the page.

The Course is a Two Part Process 1.Part One. Finding and exploring your characters and story.This is where you find the broad spine of your story. 2.Part Two. You will go back to the beginning of your story, start with the first scene and work through the structural steps and exploratory questions one turning point, one step, one scene at a time.

What is Structure? Character and structure are two sides of the same coin. One exists to reveal the other. The whole point of structure is to find the actions that put pressure on your main character to take them on an emotional and spiritual journey of change. Action reveals character.

The Purpose of Structure 90 % of novels and screenplays are rejected because of poor structure. Structure stretches your imagination and grounds your writing, so that your story is dramatic and takes your main character on a profound journey. Writing a story is a dance between structure and your imagination. ‘ The purpose of structure is to free your imagination.’ David Mamet

If you do the work and complete the process, you will have: 1. Found the story your want to write. 2. Developed your understanding of how story structure works at a practical level and applied it to your story. 3. Dramatically improved the quality of your writing and story telling ability. 4. Completed your first draft within ten months. A huge achievement. 5. Taken yourself and your main character on a profound and dramatic journey.

Steps and Scenes Within the structure of the course we will work through eight turning points and twenty nine story steps. These are classic story-telling dynamics and are designed to extract and expand the possibilities of your story. Each step is broken down into three to seven scenes. This is known as a scene breakdown, which will keep your writing focussed and on track. You will write between 150 and 200 scenes over the ten months.

You will also feel the joy of completing your first draft - a lifetime dream for many people