Professional Script Writing
Would you like to write scripts for TV, radio, film, education, podcasts or more? Study script writing by distance learning.
Learn to write scripts for broadcast or live presentations; short or long, fiction or non-fiction, for use anywhere that a script might be needed.
This course can help you to write scripts that could be used for Youtube, radio shows, TV and all the way to screenplays for movies. It could also involve writing scripts for advertising or for instructional/training videos.
Lesson Structure
There are 11 lessons in this course:
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Scope and Nature of Script writing
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Introduction - what are scripts?
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Where are scripts used?
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Writing Scripts - what is the story you want to tell?
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One page, one minute rule.
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Visual, behaviour and aural storytelling.
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Show and don't tell.
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Handling time.
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Formatting script.
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Abbreviations.
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Plotting the Screen Play
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Types of stories.
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What are the specifications?
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Duration of the performance.
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Developing the story-line.
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The Story Pyramid.
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Creating a story board.
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Techniques for plotting a story.
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Fiction and creative non-fiction.
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Non-fiction - Education, Corporate, Presentation Writing.
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Screen play formatting guide.
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Outline and Writing the Script
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Writing the outline.
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Cliff hangers in a script.
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Formatting outlines.
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How to write the script.
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Characterisation
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Writing good characters.
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Building characters.
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Character planning.
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Use of Dialogue and Sound Effects
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Dialogue in script writing.
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Writing dialogue.
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Dialogue tags.
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Tips on writing dialogue.
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Examples of dialogue.
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Writing for Internet, TV and Film
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Time frame.
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Fiction or non-fiction.
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Pace.
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Sound effects.
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Visuals.
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Writing for TV.
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Writing for film/screenwriting.
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Writing for websites.
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Writing for Radio
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Introduction.
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Components.
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Voice.
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Music.
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Sound Effects.
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Other points to consider when writing for radio.
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Writing for Training/Instructional Videos
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One person script.
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Two person script.
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Multiple persons script.
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Visuals in training presentations.
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Writing for Children
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Introduction.
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Fiction and non-fiction hybrids.
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Children's cognitive development.
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Implications for the writer.
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Socialisation.
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Gender, roles and stereotyping.
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Writing for Advertising
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Writing for advertising.
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What is the purpose of advertising?
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Writing and analysing adverts.
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Summary skills.
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Tips for summarising.
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Writing for infomercials.
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The Business of Script Writing
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Commercial Opportunities.
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Start your own production business.
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Ethical and legal considerations.
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The law.
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
Aims
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Explain what script writing is and its many applications.
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Describe and compare techniques for plotting the story.
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Explain how to write the outline of a script and then write the script itself.
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Explain how to write good characters in your script.
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Explain the use of dialogue and sound effects in script writing
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Explain how to write for the internet, TV and film.
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Explain how to write for radio.
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Develop scripts for use in educational programs
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Develop scripts for an audience of children
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Develop scripts for an audience of children
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Develop an understanding of the business of script writing.
Script writing is a business
You may be writing scripts for yourself. For example, you may want to advertise your own products or services, make your own films, write your own educational videos. You want people to watch what you produce for a reason. Or you may be writing scripts for someone else. You may want to be paid for your scripts. Whatever your reasons for writing scripts, there is an end product – producing a film, producing an advert, producing an educational video, selling a product and so on.
Script writers can find work in many places; from mainstream media to marketing services and the fringe media. Increasingly, script writers are self-employed or sub-contractors, working from project to project. This can make scriptwriting very interesting, diverse and if you get work, very lucrative. If you are new to writing scripts, it is important to get known, get people to look at your work, so at first, you may be writing scripts for anyone and anything to get noticed. Over time and if you are lucky to gain a good reputation, you may find yourself working in a niche area, such as educational videos, scripts for films and so on. The sky is the limit with script writing, it just requires hard work and skills to succeed.
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