DRAMATIC WRITING

Dramatic Writing Course - Learn how to write Drama

This distance learning course will help you develop you flair for the dramatic, your tension for tear-jerker's, and your emotional writing of tragedy.

If you would like to be a dramatic writer, enrol today and get started on your new journey as a dramatic writer.

Dramatic writing can take many different forms, such as - short stories, poems, novels, and screen plays.

This course takes the students through the art of writing -

  • Understand where to start, how to plan.
  • Learn how to be an effective writer.
  • Learn about character development, themes, developing plots and sub plots, how to tell a story, and more!

Learn to Write Drama - learn about what to write, how to write it, and how to develop your ideas.

Are you an aspiring writer? Or looking to improve your skills in dramatic writing?

  • There are many different types of writing – short stories, poems, novels, screen plays etc. Dramatic writing can fall into all of these.
  • This comprehensive course will take you through all the factors involved in great dramatic writing.

Course Content and Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

  1. Introduction

    • Motivation

    • Typing Time

    • Types of Writing : Reflection, Exposition, Description, Explanation, Argument

    • Making Decisions about what to Write

    • Know your stuff

    • The concept

    • Synopsis

    • Keeping a Notebook

    • Process of Story Development

    • Planning a Story

    • Developing your Voice

    • Useful terms

  2. Characters

    • Developing the characters

    • Building Characters

    • Main Characters

    • Minor Characters

  3. Theme & Genre

    • Developing a Theme

    • Universal Themes

    • Sub Themes

    • Creating Conflict

    • Names

  4. Plot Development

    • First Decisions

    • Ambience

    • The End of a Story

    • Types of Dramatic Story: Memoirs, Biographies, Reflective Stories, Historical etc

  5. Weaving a Story

    • Techniques: Action, Emotion, Mirror; Parallel lives, Palm Cards

    • Writers Block

    • Developing a Story Line

    • Things to Avoid

    • Different Approaches: Dialectic, Transition

    • How a Character Affects a Plot

    • How Plot Affects Genre

    • Goals

    • Consequences

    • Motive

    • Flashbacks and Flashforwards

  6. Writing a Dramatic Short Story

    • Main Character and Antagonist

    • Creating a Sense of Place

    • Counting Out Your Story

    • Short Stories

  7. Developing Sub Plots

    • Method

    • Plants

    • Activity

  8. Writing a Chapters for a Dramatic Work (Novel or Play)

    • Getting Published

    • Writing Resources

    • Writing as a Business

    • Vanity Publishing

    • Dealing with Publishers

    • Creating a Chapter or Segment of a larger work

 

Making Decisions about What to Write

Decide on your Genre

You may enjoy reading certain types of books, you may have a story you are bursting to write. The genre is important. If you don’t decide your genre at the beginning, you may end up going off on a tangent and writing a romantic comedy instead of the action thriller you were planning.

Genre is a word often used to describe categories or types of written text. Some of the more familiar genres of creative writing are:

  • poetry of all kinds

  • short stories

  • novels, including westerns, romances, science fiction, detective stories, mysteries, fantasy, etc.

  • stage play scripts

  • film and television screenplays

  • lyrics

Other genres that we may not think of as creative writing are:

  • magazine articles

  • newspaper feature stories

  • essays

  • biographies

  • advertisements

  • card greetings

  • books or articles on science, history etc.

Know your stuff

Before writing your story, consider – do you know about the subject area that you wish to write about? Think about your motivation for writing. If you think – “I’d really like to write about Wizards because J. K. Rowling made a fortune”, but you know absolutely nothing about wizards or magic or mythology. It might not be the right area for you.

Your first thought needs to be – what am I interested in? What do I know about?

If you don’t know much about wizards, but really want to write about them and think you have a good story, then your next step is research.

This is an essential step for anyone who wishes to write. You may know a lot about what you want to write about. But there may also be some facts or essentials for the story that requires you to carry out research.

The Concept

All novels start with the concept. A concept is there to keep the story in focus. It stops you as a writer from wasting time going off on a tangent or writing about characters that you finally realise you don’t need.

A concept is an idea of what the story is about. A concept is usually based around the idea of ‘what if….’? So, what if something were to happen to a certain character or at a certain time.

What if the President of the United States was kidnapped by aliens?

What would happen to society if no more children were born?

What would happen in the world if there were suddenly no sound?

But it does not need to be dramatic, it can be a simple idea about a person's life.

The book, ‘Carry Me Down’ by M.J. Hyland is a very dramatic book that uses the concept ‘a child struggles with adolescence, with tragic consequences’.

The concept should be around three lines long. It is important to have an effective concept – that is a concept that keeps your story focused and is useful for telling others exactly what you are writing about. It should be a clear statement to help you sell your story.

Think of some concepts –

a. Martians come from outer space. They take over the world. They are killed by the common cold. Recognise that? War of the Worlds.

b. Pretty, feisty young woman attracts man in higher class. They fight, but eventually he cannot resist her. Pride and Prejudice.

Do you get the idea? So a concept that is fully developed tells us about the story, the main characters, their motivation, the plot, the climax and the resolution. Therefore a concept must be fresh. It does not have to be original, just a new and original take on an old idea. Or it may be that you come up with a totally new and inspirational idea of your story. Whatever you come up with, your concept must be something that inspires you to write.

So you need a concept that you feel strongly about, in a genre that you can write about. If you don't have a concept the moment you feel a story, find one. We will look at concepts more in the assignments.

You're probably sitting there now thinking, ‘how do I get a concept’?

Try to catch those moments in your life when you question things. You might be reading an article about a crime and questioning the facts. You may have your own theories on what happened. You can fictionalise these things and write your own version of the events (just don’t try to pass it off as the truth).

The best way to come up with these ideas and concepts is to allow yourself to daydream. Give yourself the freedom to imagine the world through someone else’s eyes. And ask yourself the very same question, ‘What if…’?

Do You Have Flair for Story Telling?

Do you think you have a flair for drama and story telling? Then, take the next step.

What is that step going to be?

  1. Go away today and carry on dreaming about being a dramatic writer? or
  2. Take the next step and enrol on this course and get started to become a dramatic writer.

Your can enrol today - just go to the top of this page - or, if you have any questions or want to know more, you can contact us now by:

Phone: (UK) 01384 442752, (International) +44 (0) 1384 442752, or

Email us at [email protected], or

Connect with our specialist tutors using our FREE COURSE COUNSELLING SERVICE.