Screenwriting Tribe: Workshop Handbook

I wrote this book to share what I've learned from years of running screenwriting workshops. I believe it will help writers avoid headaches, frustration, and the wasted time that a person can experience writing scripts, getting representation, and submitting their scripts to decision makers.

I aimed to write the book that I wish I would have read years ago.

I run Screenwriting Tribe workshop, which consists of several hundred writers and actors who help writers polish their scripts.

Screenwriting Tribe workshop is held every Sunday evening. 15 members can RSVP to participate. Others are welcome to observe. Four bring 12 pages of their scripts, which are read aloud. The writers are given both verbal and written feedback. It takes about 4-to-8 weeks to workshop a TV script, and about 2-to-4 months to workshop a film script. 

I've seen how writers and their scripts benefit from doing the workshop process. I think that it could help unclog Hollywood of the piles and piles of unready scripts if managers, agents, producers, and directors would ask writers to workshop their scripts before submitting them.

Broadway plays are workshopped. Why shouldn't screenplays also be expected to be workshopped? 

Workshopping is one way to polish scripts to the professional level. But, it doesn't teach everything a writer needs to know about screenwriting. They need to be proactive in learning and in improving their skills in the craft. Additional homework is necessary, including studying a variety of screenwriting books, reading loads of articles about screenwriting, watching videos about screenwriting on YouTube, Hulu, and other media, and reading award-winning screenplays and watching the films. Being a member of the International Screenwriters' Association and utilizing the resources and taking advantage of the opportunities they provide can also be key to establishing a career as a screenwriter.