# ScripTao blog: screenwriting exercises

> 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.

- [Screenwriting exercises for students: what film schools assign](https://scriptao.com/blog/screenwriting-exercises-film-schools-assign) (2026-09-24): 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 exercise: tell a story with no dialogue](https://scriptao.com/blog/silent-scene-exercise) (2026-09-24): 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.
- [The subtext exercise: argue about something else](https://scriptao.com/blog/subtext-exercise) (2026-09-24): 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.
- [The logline exercise: ten loglines for one idea](https://scriptao.com/blog/logline-exercise) (2026-09-24): 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.
- [Want, need, wound: the character exercise screenwriters use](https://scriptao.com/blog/character-want-need-wound) (2026-09-24): 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.
- [How to write a scene: goal, conflict, turn (and fix flat ones)](https://scriptao.com/blog/scene-goal-conflict-turn) (2026-09-24): 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.
- [Step outline and reverse outline: two screenwriting exercises](https://scriptao.com/blog/outline-exercises-step-outline-reverse-outline) (2026-09-24): 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.
- [Screenplay rewriting exercises: a notes memo and 3 pages to 1](https://scriptao.com/blog/rewriting-exercises) (2026-09-24): 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.
- [TV writing exercises: A, B and C stories, setups and payoffs](https://scriptao.com/blog/tv-writing-exercises) (2026-09-24): 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.
- [Adapt a short story into a screenplay: the film school exercise](https://scriptao.com/blog/adaptation-exercise-public-domain) (2026-09-24): 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.