Preliminary Syllabus Anatomy of a Premise Line: Seven Steps to Foolproof Story Development EGL 22 W

Transcription

1 Preliminary Syllabus Anatomy of a Premise Line: Seven Steps to Foolproof Story Development EGL 22 W If a story is going to fail, it will first do so at the premise level. Knowing how to create, design, and validate a premise idea are essential skills every writer needs in their toolbox. The premise line is the only reliable tool that can tell you, before you start writing, whether or not your story will work. It is your canary in the coal mine, and when fully mastered can save you time, money and months of potentially wasted writing. In this class participants will learn how to master the process of premise line development the essential first step in any book s development process. All that students need to prepare for this class is to have an idea that sparks their passion and imagination. It doesn t matter how much, or little, actual writing has been done on the idea. Firstly, students will write out their premise idea, which will be the baseline for a compare and contrast to the final premise. Then, each week, they will work two or three steps of the Anatomy of a Premise Line seven-step process: identifying story structure elements, defining the high concept, designing the log line, and finally unit testing the final premise line. Starting in the first week, anyone who wishes to participate can work one-on-one with the me during a live phone conference, where we will work through the process with their premise idea. Students can just lurk in the background if they wish, but active participation is encouraged during each call, as this is a chance to have face time with me working the process live. This one-on-one activity is a powerful teaching tool that can show how quickly and effectively the process can work to develop any story into a workable premise line. We only have three weeks to cover an immense amount of material, so expect an intense and invigorating experience. Learning Outcomes: By the end of the third week, students will: understand the real purpose of the premise line, know how to tell a story from a situation, understand how premise relates to story structure, and they will have a working premise line and log line for one of their own stories. Page 1 of 6

2 But, most importantly, going forward, each student will have a repeatable and reliable premise development methodology they can use on any new story idea. Required materials: The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller, by John Truby (Farber and Farber order from Amazon) A Big City Copy Moves to a Small Coastal Town..., by Jeff Lyons (The Writer Magazine, Sept Issue, online access will be provided to article FREE) What High Concept Means in Any Genre, by Jeff Lyons (Writer s Digest Magazine, July/Sept 2013 Issue, article will be provided FREE) Reading assignments and discussion questions are not optional. These resources are invaluable tools for any writer, and I encourage all students to thoroughly read them. My Presence Online: I am almost always available online, either in class or via my . Each week begins on a Monday and ends on a Friday. Written assignments are due by Thursday night midnight Pacific time. You can use the weekends for commenting on discussion questions if you like. Please note, that once a week is completed, I will not go back to the previous week, in order to keep the class progressing. Of course, life sometimes gets in the way, so if you need extra time for a good reason, please let me know, and I can make arrangements. Weekly Reading and Discussion Questions: Each week, I will have you read something from the selected readings and will post discussion questions. It will be mandatory that students participate in these discussions by sharing ideas or asking additional questions. These will not be live, one-on-one, but rather in the chat area online. Weekly Written Assignments: Your assignments are the craft of the class, and they are mandatory. Templates and forms for written assignments will be provided at the beginning of the course. Weekly One-on-One Sessions: Twice weekly I will hold office hours. These will be Chat/Zoom sessions where I will work one-on-one with students and work through questions, blockages, and Page 2 of 6

3 work the 7-step process directly with individuals. There are two sessions per week (Monday & Friday). Sessions will be scheduled when most people are able to attend. If you can t make one, then make the other. At least one of these sessions is mandatory per week and will be part of your grade. Sessions will be minutes. In this context, group sessions, rather than individual sessions, are preferable, as a lot of learning happens when you watch other people go through the process real-time. Critiques: Because students are learning brand new techniques, they won't have the initial skills to critique other students, so instead we will be all discussing every student s assignments, guided by me, to ensure they understand each technique as it is implemented. This will be done as part of the one-on-one sessions held bi-weekly. Written Assignment Lengths: Weekly written assignments will be directed by template forms I will provide. The nature of the process and the assignments is such that brevity is the point; less is more. Keep each assignment to no more than 500 words per worksheet. The exception to this rule is the Visible Structure Workbook, which can be as verbose as you need it to be this workbook is or you. Three final written deliverables are required by each student at the end of the course: a finalized Premise Line Worksheet, a finalized Log Line Worksheet, and a filled out Visible Structure Workbook. Grades: For those of you who are taking this course for a grade, the breakdown is as follows. Please note that you can change your grading status at any point before the final class meeting (Friday of the last week of class) in your online Continuing Studies student account. Writing exercises (weeks 1-3) 50% One-on-one sessions (weeks 1-3) 35% Posted Discussions/Questions (weeks 1-3) 15% Week One: What is a story premise and why is it important? This week we look at the nuts and bolts of what premise development means and why it is an essential first step in creating any story. Topics: Steps 1, 2 and 3 of the 7-step process, Page 3 of 6

4 premise defined, the two structures needed to tell any story, story vs. a situation, and the anatomy of a premise line. Written Assignment (two parts): Part 1: BEFORE you watch the first week s video lecture, or read any of the required materials, write out your story premise as best you can and upload to the system for my review. This assignment will be used as your benchmark for later comparison to the final premise line in week three. Ideally, this should be uploaded by midnight PST, Monday January 27th again, please do this assignment before reading any of the resources I provided for the first week! Part 2: AFTER you have watched the video lecture for the week, and AFTER you have read the A Big City Cop Moves to a Small Coastal Town... article, using the Premise Line Worksheet, map your premise line to the Invisible Structure of your story idea. Upload this to the system for my review by midnight PST, Thursday January 30 th. Chat/ZOOM Session: Friday January 31 st, 6pm PST, 7pm MST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST. Length Week Two: This week we look at what high concept really means and what publishers are talking about when they ask you to give them high-concept writing. We will also define what a log line is and why you need one. We will also discuss in detail the ideas behind Visible Structure. Topics: Steps 3, 4 and 5 of the 7-step process, log line defined, the 7 component of any high-concept idea, Visible Structure, and take another pass at your premise line to refine and tighten. Written Assignment (three parts): Part 1: AFTER you have watched the video lecture for the week, and AFTER you have read the What High Concept Means in Any Genre article, using the 7 Components of Any High-Concept Idea Worksheet analyze your premise idea for its high concept elements. Upload this worksheet to the system for my review by midnight PST, Thursday February 6 th. Part 2: AFTER you have watched the video lecture for the week, and AFTER you Page 4 of 6

5 have read the What High Concept Means in Any Genre article, using the Log Line Worksheet write out your premise s log line. Upload this worksheet to the system for my review by midnight PST, Thursday February 6 th. Part 3: AFTER you have watched the video lecture for the week, begin filling out the Visible Structure Workbook. This does not have to be completed until the end of the third week, but start working on it this week. Chat/ZOOM Session: Monday February 3 rd, 6pm PST, 7pm MST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST. Length Friday February 7 th, 6pm PST, 7pm MST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST. Length Week Three: This final week we ll look at creating a final version of your premise line and log line, based on feedback from the one-on-one sessions, and learning the premise testing process. Topics: Steps 6 and 7 of the 7-step process, finalize premise line, finalize log line, fill out the premise testing checklist, complete the Visible Structure Workbook. Written Assignment (three parts): Part 1: AFTER you have watched the video lecture for the week, using the Premise Testing Checklist analyze your final premise idea per the instructions in the video lecture. Upload this worksheet to the system for my review by midnight PST, Thursday February 13 th. Part 2: Using the Premise Line Worksheet, write out the final version of your premise line and its clauses. Using the Log Line Worksheet, write out a final version of your log line. Upload these to the system for my review by midnight PST, Thursday February 13 th. Part 3: Complete the Visible Structure Workbook. Upload this to the system for my review by midnight PST, Thursday February 13 th. Chat/ZOOM Session: Page 5 of 6

6 Friday February 14 th, 6pm PST, 7pm MST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST. Length Page 6 of 6