Dramatic Writing and Screenwriting Craft Training Course (Online / Remote)
1Summary
Every unforgettable TV drama or film begins long before the cameras roll — with a script that has been shaped, tested and rewritten until its structure, characters and dialogue truly work together. Turning raw ideas and research into that finished, producible script is a craft with its own rules, and mastering it is exactly what this Training Course from the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy sets out to do.
Across the sessions, participants move step by step from the early creative groundwork — choosing a subject, shaping scenes and building characters — through to the technical and dramatic processing that any material has to go through before it can be published or filmed, following current international curricula in scriptwriting.
2Objectives and target group
Who Should Attend?
- Owners and directors of drama production companies, along with TV and radio production department heads.
- Directors, producers and writers working within television stations.
- Established screenwriters and dramatic authors looking to refine their craft.
- Everyone working in the television drama field.
- Beginner writers who want to learn professional screenwriting standards.
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Master the stages of work that come before writing a screenplay, from choosing material to identifying its sources.
- Give characters clear roles and shape a coherent storyline for a dramatic film or story.
- Follow practical steps for writing a screenplay from start to finish.
- Build a detailed plan for each scene and dramatize its events within the script.
- Write and structure dialogue scenes convincingly within a scenario.
3Course Content
Module 1: Why Great Drama Starts With a Strong Idea
- Understanding the basics of drama: script, performance and direction.
- How to choose the right subject and the sources dramatic material is drawn from.
- Defining the writing goal and researching the topic before writing a single scene.
- Rules and conditions to follow when working in drama and screenwriting.
Module 2: Dramatic Genres and Schools of Storytelling
- Analyzing types of dramatic stories: comedy, drama and tragedy.
- Different dramatic schools and how their styles differ.
- Creative filming techniques: exploring ideas, developing characters and building fictional worlds.
Module 3: Shaping the Story — Structure, Plot and Character
- Principles and steps of writing a dramatic script.
- Analyzing story structure: introduction, conflict, climax and conclusion.
- Developing the main idea and subplots, and evolving characters throughout the story.
- Drafting a dramatic summary and organizing events and characters within the script.
Module 4: Giving Voice to Characters — Narrative and Dialogue
- Writing engaging description and narration.
- Developing distinctive dialogue for each character.
- Using tension and suspense to hold the audience's attention.
- Sequencing events within a dramatic summary and the wider narrative.
Module 5: From Draft to Final Script — Writing, Editing and Evaluation
- Applying what's been learned to write a short script following standard rules and guidelines.
- Editing the script and the dramatic text.
- Modern methods used in scriptwriting today.
- Critical evaluation and re-editing, and presenting scripts for feedback and guidance.
- Working with audio elements: dialogue, music, sound effects and commentary, and finalizing the script's direction.
Module 6: The Camera's Language — Cinematic and Visual Storytelling
- Understanding the visual elements involved in screenwriting.
- Using angles and lighting to strengthen the story being told.
- The role of scenes and locations in shaping the story's impact.
Module 7: Reading Between the Lines — Text Analysis and Cinema History
- Techniques for analyzing dramatic texts to uncover deeper meaning.
- Examples from classical and contemporary works, and how to extract lessons from them.
- Phases of cinema's development and the impact of culture and technology on the industry.
- Different cinematic movements: realism, experimental and classic.
Module 8: Character Study and Understanding the Audience
- Analyzing character development and the relationships between characters within a text.
- Studying complex characters and how to portray them convincingly.
- Studying audience nature and how to target a specific audience through writing.
- The importance of feedback and audience evaluation in developing a script.
Module 9: Writing for Today and Tomorrow
- Recent innovations in scriptwriting, from podcasts to digital series.
- Adapting to the demands of a contemporary industry, including diversity and inclusion in writing.
- Future trends in dramatic and screenwriting, and the impact of technology and new media.
- Preparing for the future of the film and drama industry.
Module 10: Collaboration, Presentation and Overcoming Writer's Challenges
- The concept of collaborative writing and strategies for working with other writers and directors.
- Turning an idea into a complete script: summarizing, planning, reviewing and editing.
- Techniques for presenting a script to a group or producer, and understanding what they expect from a writer.
- Common challenges writers face, and how to manage pressure and stay motivated.