In September 2021, while I was completing my final assignment for Scriptwriting, the entire Creative Writing course changed. So, I will review the unit that I finished.  

Scriptwriting with the Open College of the Arts 

When I had to choose two elective units, there were several options I could choose. The choices were Creative Arts Today, Poetry, Starting Your Novel, and Scriptwriting. I thought that both Starting Your Novel and Scriptwriting would be the most useful for me long term. 

As I want to write novels in the future, Starting Your Novel was the best option out of all those present. While I did write poetry in the past, I did not want to revisit it anytime soon. Creative Arts Today also sounded interesting, but it seemed to be more of an overlook for all the available creative courses, which I wasn’t interested in looking into.  

So, that left Scriptwriting. While I did not want to write scripts, I thought it could be a valuable aspect of writing to look at. At the time I started the unit, I struggled with writing conflict. I wanted things to work out well for my characters, which kept happening in my work and my fanfictions. When I completed the scriptwriting unit, I hoped to learn more about conflict and how best to implement it.  

How I prepared myself for Scriptwriting 

There is a lot of scriptwriting software out there, but the one I was attracted to was Scrivener. It seemed like the most useful out there, and it was also something I could use for the rest of my course, not just for scriptwriting. I started with a free trial before I brought the software.

As I worked, I could keep everything together and see it in the binder on the left-hand side of the screen. Instead of using a word document or a physical folder where everything is separate, I could keep all my work and notes together and flip between them quickly. I would have a different scrivener file for each project and split the projects into parts. That made it a lot easier for me to find everything I needed.  

Within Scrivener, you have a choice of making folders and texts. I use folders to create the various parts and texts for the critical information, the exercises, and the research points. At the end of each project, I would also have a folder for the assignment, and I would use texts for everything else. I found that Scrivener kept everything together and neat, which meant I did not have pieces of paper everywhere.  

What also helps with Scrivener is there is a script mode under the format button. It automatically changes the text you are working on to a screenplay format. You can easily select the various parts of the screenplay you need in the right-hand corner. When you finish, you can also transfer all or parts of the file into a word document. If you want to export an entire folder, you need to be on that specific folder. It is the same with texts. I only transferred the scripts I needed and made any necessary changes in a word document. 

I also started using Scrivener for my own projects, including planning for fanfiction and found it extremely useful. However, I write a lot of my chapters in a word document. Still, keeping the planning in a Scrivener file is more beneficial than having everything in multiple notebooks or folders.  

The scriptwriting course 

After completing the ‘Starting Your Novel’ course, I started Scriptwriting, and it was completely different. While I could handle the formatting of a script in Scrivener, I had to read scripts, learn how to craft them, and watch various films and TV shows. Our focus was on TV and film for this course, and I found that I had to watch and read a lot more than I was expecting.  

We had to write a synopsis for a screenplay for the first assignment. For this, I decided to write about the Suffragettes but focus on a fictional family during this time. When submitting assignment one, I learnt very little about conflict, much less about crafting it. As a result, my synopsis felt relatively flat. The synopsis should hook the reader, and mine failed to do that. I could not establish who the main character is, which worsened the synopsis. But as the first assignment was to show the tutor what we would work on, students would not submit it for assessment. 

Assignment two was looking at characters and how to present them in a script. As well as around three pages of script, I also had to include brief character profiles. For the script, I chose to focus on an argument between Helen and Joseph. However, I wasn’t sure what I was meant to write about. So, a lot of my action was characters looking at each other rather than interacting.  

Thankfully, I had more success with assignment three. This assignment looked at writing three linked scenes. I had the characters interacting for the exterior scenes, which created action, something I failed to do in my previous assignment. Instead of focusing on Helen, I followed her daughter, Alice, after leaving a Suffragette meeting. I also learnt to try and make the script visually engaging, so it is interesting for the reader.  

Once again, assignment four looked at linked scenes but set towards the screenplay’s end. This time, I focused on Joseph, the husband. I set the first scene in the present day, the second in the past, and the third back in the present. The third scene focuses on how the characters act towards the flashback. I wanted to show why Joseph was overprotective of Alice, but I hadn’t shown his motives.  

Assignment five, the final assignment, is writing the first fifteen minutes of a longer screenplay or writing a fifteen-minute short film. As I planned to write for a longer film, I wrote the first fifteen minutes. But as I started planning, I realised I developed Alice and Joseph more than my protagonist, Helen. As I changed their relationship, I had to change my entire premise for the script.  

Choosing assignments for assessment 

Now I completed the scriptwriting course, I have applied for assessment. At this point, I need to choose the best three assignments out of the ones I completed and edit them so they are the best I can make them. One of the assignments students must submit is assignment five, the final assignment. Other than that, students are free to choose whichever assignments they want to submit except for assignment one.  

When it comes to assessments, I always find that the final three assignments are the strongest, so they are the ones I submit for assessment. I always read over them to ensure there is nothing more I can add, but I also keep it within the word or page count. With Scriptwriting, unlike with the other two units I completed, there is a page count rather than a word count. This is because one page of script usually amounts to one minute of screen time, so I make sure to keep it within the limits.  

When I am revising an assignment, the main things I focus on are characters, plot, and whether it works visually. In scripts, there needs to be visual content and dialogue, which I tried to include in all my assignments that focused on Scriptwriting. Like with all other mediums, characters and plot must come across clearly.

As I read over my assignments before the assessment, I will look out for these. I need to submit the three assignments and the final reflective commentary by the end of January, so I decided to look through some of them before Christmas.  

I have already created other blog posts about my units with The Open College of the Arts, which you can find here.