Monarda in Bloom

I’m not sure why my monarda (bee balm) decided to bloom in late September, but it’s gorgeous, so I’m not complaining.

Maureen

I Survived John Truby’s Class

I just spent three very long days sitting in a large theatre, listening, absorbing, struggling to understand, typing frantically on a laptop on the desk in front of me until my forearm was bruised by the edge of the computer, and then spending two days with it in my lap, typing nonstop until both hands hurt.

It was an intense three days on story structure in scriptwriting. No, I don’t write movie scripts, and I don’t intend to, but movies and novels are both about storytelling.

John Truby teaches how to put together a story structure (or to analyze an existing story), and this is what I came for. Structure structure structure.

I like the discovery that comes from letting a story go where it will, but I hate the structural mess I have to sort out later, so I shift back and forth between creative and analytical work. This will add to my analytical toolbox.

All I have to do is figure out how to apply this to novels, how to apply it to writing for kids, and how to rebalance my dance between the analytical and the creative.

Maureen

John Truby Master Class

Friday to Sunday I’ll be at the John Truby’s Anatomy of Story Master Class. Here’s how it’s advertised:

“John Truby is Hollywood’s premier screenwriting instructor and story consultant. Over the last 25 years, more than 30,000 writers have attended his sold-out seminars around the world. From Los Angeles to New York to Paris, London, Vancouver, Sydney, Mexico City, Tel Aviv and other film capitals around the world, Truby regularly gives his seminars to packed houses around the world.

“Pixar, Disney, Sony Pictures, Fox, HBO, the BBC, Universal and MTV are only some of the companies that regularly send their top writers and producers to Truby’s class. Called “the best script doctor in the movie industry,” Truby serves as a story consultant for major studios and production companies worldwide, and has been a script doctor on more than 1,800 movies, sitcoms and television dramas. The American Film Institute declared that Truby’s course “allows a writer to succeed in the fiercely competitive climate of Hollywood.”

“Truby’s principles and methods are the most modern, exciting approach to screenwriting and storytelling to be developed in a generation, which is why his classes regularly attract everyone from Oscar winners to first-time writers.”

As a writer for kids, I’m all about story, and I’ve found books on screenwriting really useful, perhaps because I’m visual as a writer. Truby’s classes tend to be in major cities (LA, New York and London are his other locations this fall), so I jumped at the chance to take the course in Calgary. Still, that’s a lot of hype…  I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Maureen