The exercises film and TV writing courses set, where they come from, and how to do each one. Every post has practice projects you can open in the app: free, no sign-up, and your work stays in this browser.
Screenwriting exercises from published USC, UCLA, Utah and AFI syllabi: page caps, week-by-week order, matching books, and where to read scripts legally.
The silent scene screenwriting exercise as USC, UCCS and Utah syllabi set it: a 1–3 page brief, films to study, worked rewrite and common mistakes.
1 exercise · The silent scene
A subtext exercise for screenwriters: two characters fight about one thing while the real conflict stays unsaid. How to write it, check it and rewrite it.
1 exercise · Argue about something else
Write ten loglines for one idea, then choose one. What a logline needs, how teachers use the drill, worked examples and a practice project to do it in.
1 exercise · Ten loglines for one idea
A character exercise for screenwriters: fill in want, need and wound for your lead and opponent on one page, with syllabus sources and film examples.
1 exercise · Want, need, wound: build a character
How to write a scene with a goal, conflict and turn: McKee's value test, Field, the syllabi that use it, a flat-scene diagnosis table and a 45-minute exercise.
1 exercise · Goal, conflict, turn: fix the flat scenes
Step-outline a film you love, then reverse-outline your own draft: film choices, deliverables and time boxes from Hampshire, Loyola, USC and UCLA syllabi.
2 exercises · Step-outline a film you love · Reverse-outline your own draft
Two screenplay rewriting exercises film schools grade: turn workshop notes into a revision memo, and cut a 3-page scene to one. Worked examples included.
2 exercises · Rewrite from workshop notes · Three pages into one
Three TV writing exercises from writers' room practice: break a pilot into A, B and C stories, map setups to payoffs, and build a scene on dramatic irony.
3 exercises · Break a pilot into A, B and C stories · Map every setup to its payoff · The bomb under the table
How film schools set the adaptation exercise: choosing a public-domain story, checking its US status, the packet, the pages and the memo, with a worked example.
1 exercise · Adapt a public-domain story