http://screenwriting.beingmedia.com creative screenwriting exercises Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:22:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This exercise was submitted by Marilyn Horowitz, screenwriting instructor for NYU's Graduate Film program. Visit her online at: http://www.marilynhorowitz.blogspot.com THE CHINESE RESTAURANT As a fun exercise this month, with a group, visit a Chinese Restaurant (or get take-out) and record everyone's fortune cookie message. Then, a week later, contact the people from ... http://screenwriting.beingmedia.com/scenes/the-chinese-restaurant/ A scene list is an outline of one-sentence descriptions for each scene in your movie-to-be. It's a great way of seeing every scene and working out the outline of your story. Writing teachers such as Syd Field teach scene lists as a pre-cursor to writing the entire screenplay. Your Task: ... http://screenwriting.beingmedia.com/outlinestructure/the-scene-list-challenge/ When developing an idea, two good questions to ask are: Has this been done before? If so, how is my project unique? Your Task: Research your idea. Check out the IMdB search function and do a word search in the "plots" category. This will search the plot summaries of the ... http://screenwriting.beingmedia.com/research/has-it-been-done/ One of the best ways to learn is to practice! Your Task: Read Screenwriter John August's blog entry, "How To Write A Scene." Following the instructions (minus step 11), grab an article from today's news and write it into a movie scene. http://screenwriting.beingmedia.com/scenes/how-to-write-a-scene/ Google has become so popular as a search tool that it often becomes the only instrument used when doing internet research. Expanding our horizons gives us more information from a variety of sources. Your Task: Read "Conducting Research on the Internet." Now, using 3 methods from this article, research a ... http://screenwriting.beingmedia.com/research/beyond-google/ Are you a visual person? If so, how do you structure your writing? Timelines are visual tools that help create chronological outlines of your characters lives. Your Task: Create a timeline for the internal and external events in your character's life from the beginning to the end of your story. ... http://screenwriting.beingmedia.com/outlinestructure/timelines/ With the Internet around, it's easy to forget other avenues of research. These other sources, however, can oftentimes provide more thorough information. Your Task: Re-acquaint yourself with research methods. One quick way to do so is to read this tutorial from the Houston Community College Library. http://screenwriting.beingmedia.com/research/beyond-the-internet/ Go! Your Task: Write a chase scene using one of these methods of travel: horse, helicoptor, boat, foot, car or combo of methods. Now, re-write that same scene 3 other times. Switch the method of travel each time you write it. http://screenwriting.beingmedia.com/action/theyre-after-me/ Getting out of writer's block can occasionally be done by pushing oneself out of the ordinary of our everyday lives. Your Task: Go to this week's headline from "News of the Weird". Imagine the actions that are taking place in the story (or, the actions that took place to make ... http://screenwriting.beingmedia.com/action/random-acts-of-weirdness/ Let's use a transformational moment in our lives to explore screenwriting structure. Your Task: List 3 transformational moments in your life. Pick one incident and answer these questions: What was your life like before the transformation? What took place during the transformation? What were the obstacles to transforming (both inside ... http://screenwriting.beingmedia.com/outlinestructure/from-my-life/