Join creative writer and filmmaker, R. Lyon Bergh, as he moderates an in-depth group discussion on various literary subjects, including appearances with Special Guests and Industry Professionals!
This discussion-based class will be conducted as 1 hour weekly sessions over Zoom, for 6 weeks, and will be recorded so that sessions may be made available for later On-demand Viewing or used in future promotional postings. The topics to be discussed will be announced before the start of each term. Topics for future terms will be chosen, in part, from group suggestions.
The next group of discussions will begin Tuesday May 17th, 2022. Topics Covered:
WEEK 1
UNDER THE SCOPE
How much story is too much story? Fitting the size of the story to the length of the medium.
WEEK 2
ON RESEARCH
What needs to be researched and what doesn’t. How to do research for fiction, and when accuracy matters versus when precise details are unwanted.
WEEK 3
DROPPING EXPOSITION
Tips and tricks for teaching the audience what it needs to know without making their eyes role.
WEEK 4
BASICALLY, IT’S ABOUT….
How to talk about your story concisely in a way that gets people excited about it.
WEEK 5
THE VALUE OF LIKABILITY
Do your characters have to be “likable”, and what the heck does that actually even mean?
WEEK 6
ASTROLOGY AND CHARACTER
Using the basic elements of astrology to build true to life characters.
The cost for the 6 week series will be only $75 (or $60 for ALUMNI or current writing students), on Tuesdays from 8:15- 9:15 pm. Sign up below to receive your Zoom invitation, and indicate the Date(s) or Topics of choice.
Previous Recorded Topics (available for purchase to view):
- Writing “Good” Dialog: What makes good dialog “good”? Tips and techniques for writing what people say.
- Psychopaths and Narcissistic Personalities: Looking beyond the clichés to create true-to-life narcissistic villains and protagonist responses.
- Suspended Disbelief: How far can we bend reality? A discussion of the laws of magic and serendipity; how far can you go to make your story work.
- Save the Cat: Examining Blake Snyder’s story “genres” and how they compare to the Hero’s Journey. Is it helpful or just more noise? When it works, when it doesn’t.
- Symbols, Motifs, and Clichés: Using universal or invented devices to speak without speaking. Which ones are effective, which ones are overused, and how to keep it fresh.
