Students receive weekly feedback from the instructor on all assignments, and can arrange to "chat" live online throughout the course.

Week 1: Course Introduction. Online lectures: "Course Overview" and "The 'P' Word (Creating an Effective Protagonist)." Assignment: Use Instructor's questions and add your own to create a protagonist using "collage" technique; also, tell me about yourself. Hand-out: A sample collage.

Week 2: Assignment due: your protagonist collage. Online lecture: "Finding Your Character's Voice." Assignment: Write a "voice" monologue for your protagonist or another character. Hand-out: Some Great Voices.

Week 3: Assignment due: Voice monologue. Online lecture: "Creating Conflict." Assignment: Create your protagonist's antagonist (in collage or monologue form). Hand-out: Unconventional Anagonists.

Week 4: Assignment due: Antagonist collage or monologue. Online lecture: "What -Is- a Scene, Anyway?" Assignment: Write a scene between Protagonist and Antagonist. Hand-out: Two kinds of scenes.

Week 5: Assignment due: Protagonist/Antagonist scene. Online lecture: "Dialogue: Thinking Past the First Response." Assignment: Dialogue a scene by e-mail with the instructor. Hand-out: Sub-text revealed!

Week 6: Online lecture: "Writing Visually." Assignment: Write a monologue describing an event that couldn't occur onstage; make us see it anyway. Hand-out: Suggestions for reading and viewing.

Week 7: Assignment due: Visual Monologue. Assignment: write a scene with no dialogue. No Hand-out this week.

Week 8: Assignment due: Scene with no dialogue. Online lecture: "Structure: The 3-part beginning." Assignment: begin your play (at least five pages). Hand-out: Spot the Catalyst.

Week 9: Assignment due: Your play's beginning. Online lecture: "Rhythm". Assignment: Write a "vertical" or "horizontal" scene. Hand-out: Learning Rhythm from film.

Week 10: Assignment due: new scene. Online Lecture: "Overall Dramatic Structure and Through-lines." Assignment: this is the last class. Write more of your play, and send me the results for feedback. Hand-out: Using the Web to keep learning.

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