Premise: The Writer's Power Tool & The Emotional Beat Sheet
Two-part screenwriting intensive with Clark Kohanek
Saturday, December 6th
at the Cynthia S. Whitcomb Writer's House in West Linn
Session I - 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Premise: The Writer's Power Tool
A premise is a declaration of belief. It says, or at least implies, that one specific thing leads to or causes another specific thing:
- With love, anything is possible
- Faith can work miracles
- Trust in yourself and you're sure to succeed.
In story, this belief is expressed through a THEME - love, innocence, revenge, pride, war, etc. However, for premise to work as a writing tool, a DRAMATIC ISSUE must juxtapose the theme creating CONFLICT, and thus a story question is born.
To get at the premise, all you need is to ask yourself about the specific message attached to the theme (gratitude, independence, love) in each case. What kind of gratitude are we talking about? What kind of love? What value judgment do people make about theme? What do your characters do about the theme in your story?
Session II - 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
The Emotional Beat Sheet
The Emotional Beat Sheet is based on the premise of the story, juxtaposed with the character's journey, and guided by the comment the writer is trying to make about the human experience.
The Emotional Beat Sheet is a wonderful investigative and story-driving tool for writing screenplays or novels. The Emotional Beat Sheet helps accomplish this through a series of emotional transitions, reflections and turning points that tease out hidden conditions and constructs altering awareness of issues in the process that compels the character forward.
The Emotional Beat sheet tracks and manages the story by clearly defining emotional set-ups and pay-offs, reversals, betrayals, achievements.
$55/session; $95 for both. Lunch is on your own.
You can register for the Clark Kohanek class by mailing a check to Willamette Writers' Cynthia Whitcomb House, calling 503-305-6729 and registering over the phone, or by paying with a credit card.