OVER The Next Few Months the Soho Screenwriters will be covering the most essential elements of the craft of script writing as well as providing invaluable practical information on the film industry.

Members who attend on a weekly basis will in 19 weeks have an advanced knowledge of screen writing and all the tools they need to start writing a winning script. Each week will be lead by either an industry professional or one of our own in-house team.

Below is a list of the topics we will be exploring.

Week 1: An INTRODUCTION to screenwriting. Why you should become a writer and what level of commitment is needed to succeed.

Week 2: FINDING YOUR VOICE. Who are you? What fascinates you? We help release your personal voice.and the unique story that is already bubbling inside you.

Week 3: A HISTORY OF DRAMATURGY. We discuss the essence of story and its function in society, from Aristotle to the modern 90-minute movie we know today.

Week 4: The AUDIENCE. They decide the success of your movie; we will help you identify the audience you want to write for and ensure you communicate to them as clearly as possible.

Week 5: Inventing the HIGH CONCEPT. We make sure your movie has a hook, or catchy premise, that will be written on the billboard to draw audiences into the cinema.

Week 6: Identifying THEME. This is what your film is really about, the message that the audience takes away, and why they urge their friends to go and see it.

Week 7: Understanding GENRE. An essential framework which positions your film in the market, we analyse all the major genres and reveal which are most successful for first time writers.

Week 8: Learning PLOT STRUCTURE. The essential tool for communicating story, we explain the major events driving a story forward and propelling the audience to the climax.

Week 9: Focus on CHARACTERS. Learn to clearly identify your hero and your villain, and discover the other interesting characters that enrich screen stories.

Week 10: SEGMENTS. See how eight short films make a feature, each with a beginning, middle and end, and a hook to pull the audience through to the next stage.

Week 11: SCENES - the events that make up the meat of your film. We show you how to make scenes dramatic so that the events have a causal relationship and build in tension.

Week 12: How to write OUTLINE'S & TREATMENT'S. To sell your movie, you'll need some form of summation of your story - essential for submission to producers and funding bodies, also the best way to clarify your ideas before committing precious time and energy to a full script.

Week 13: PITCHING. It is crucial to be able to present your story in a concise and dramatic way. This prepares you for professional meetings and enables you to practice your idea quickly and effectively.

Week 14: STORY FORM & FORMATING how to recreate the movie experience on the page and the correct presentation of your script. This is essential for attracting interest from a film company who will want to read your script before getting involved any further. Film companies will not even look at your script if it is formatted incorrectly - don't let all your hard work go to waste.

Week 15: DIALOGUE. If characters spoke in films as we speak in real life, we would be asleep in minutes. We will teach you handy techniques for writing dialogue that leaps off the page.

Week 16: HOW TO WRITE A SCRIPT IN 3 WEEKS - scheduling the writing process and going through what should be on each page of your script -a chance to recap.

Week 17: SELLING YOUR PRODUCT - now you have a finished script you are ready to go out and sell it. Discover how to get funding, go to festivals, build relationships with producers, and copyright your script in the UK and the US.