Story for Screenwriting: Advanced Structure

Our professional development course with Professional Writing Academy and John Yorke Story is based on the techniques BAFTA-winning storyteller John Yorke developed to train new writing talent on the BBC Writers’ Academy scheme. Alumni of this course have gone on to work on award-winning shows which have won Emmys, Oscars and BAFTAs.

Over four months you’ll sharpen your screenwriting skills, network with like-minded writers, and develop an industry-standard treatment for your original TV, film or stage drama.

There’s a balance of theory – the five-act structure ideas set out in John Yorke’s acclaimed book, Into The Woods – with highly practical exercises based on films and TV drama everyone knows, from Jaws and The Godfather through to classic continuing drama like EastEnders.

You will master the essential building blocks every successful story needs, and uncover the blueprint underlying all archetypal stories.

You’ll work in a small group of dedicated screenwriters with an expert tutor who will answer your questions, feedback on your assignments, and provide detailed notes on your treatment at the end of the course.

All participants who successfully complete the course will receive a certificate of completion evidencing their learning and study hours.

Duration: 16 weeks
Skill level: Expert
Frequency: Fortnightly
Sessions: 7

This professional training allows you to:

• Acquire the key technical skills screenwriters need, from character wants and needs to effective use of scenes and fractal storytelling
• Understand story structure, including five-act structure, turning points including the midpoint, breaking a story, the roadmap of change
• Gain greater understanding of industry expectations around commissioning and audience
• Clearly identify and pursue your potential as a screenwriter
• Master techniques to help diagnose and fix problems in any story
• Get to grips with writing a professional standard treatment
• Develop the professional skills screenwriters require (eg discipline, attention to detail, ability to work to deadlines)
• Increase your professionalism in working with others
• Practise giving effective feedback to other writers and receiving critical notes
• Network with other writers and with the tutor team and industry guests
• Build greater independence, autonomy and critical judgment as you self-direct, self-manage and realise your assignments and final project to the course briefs

Session 1: Introduction to Story (1) – You’ll start by learning the grammar of storytelling and the essential elements of a story, and experiment with summing up a protagonist’s wants and needs.

Session 2: Introduction to Story (2) – We build on the basic building blocks of the archetypal story identified in Session 1, examining structural form in more detail. We’ll look at the inciting incident, the character’s journey and story endings (crisis, climax and resolution).

Session 3: Essential Story Tools – This is about ‘breaking’ a story into its component parts to see whether it’s working as well as it could. You’ll also experiment with three-act structure. By the end of this session you should be able to deconstruct any story and understand how to fix parts that don’t work.

Session 4: Five-Act Structure – Now we break down a story into five acts and look at why this is such an invaluable tool for dramatic storytellers. You’ll learn the art of identifying turning points and the all-important midpoint, and experiment with rewriting a broken story in five parts.

Session 5: Building Stories – We introduce the basic building blocks of stories – scenes – and explain why you need to get inside characters’ heads to make them work. You’ll use the knowledge you’ve gained to plan an original story in five parts.

Session 6: Top Story Tips – By now you should know how to create a story, test its elements to make sure it works, and structure it into beats, scenes and acts. This session offers simple tips that will inspire you to look at stories and scripts with a fresh eye. If you have a problem with a story, this session will provide the solution.

Session 7: Write Your Own Treatment – We look at the difference between a synopsis and a treatment, then learn the rules for writing a successful professional-standard treatment.

Submit your treatment for an original idea and receive a detailed one-to-one feedback report from your tutor.

At the end of the course you’ll have everything you need, including expert feedback, to move onto our Story for Pitch Decks course, and prepare to pitch your idea at agents and commissioners.

During this course, there will also be a Live Q&A session with a featured screenwriter.