Have you ever watched a film and thought, "I could write a story like that"?

Perhaps you've had an idea for a film sitting in your head for years, but you've never known how to turn it into a screenplay.

Write Your First Screenplay is a friendly, practical six-week course for anyone who wants to discover how screenwriting works and have a go at writing their own.

Over six relaxed and supportive sessions at The Chantry Centre in Billericay, you'll learn how professional screenplays are structured, develop your own story and characters, learn screenplay format and begin writing the opening pages of your script.

You don't need any previous screenwriting experience. You don't need to have studied creative writing. And you don't need to arrive with a perfect film idea.

We'll start with the basics and build from there.

Over six weeks you'll learn how to:

• Turn an idea into a story

• Create characters an audience will care about

• Understand the basic structure of a screenplay

• Write effective scenes and dialogue

• Format a screenplay professionally

• Develop a plot from beginning to end

• Give and receive constructive feedback

• Rewrite and improve your work

• Develop the opening pages of your own screenplay

By the end of the course

You'll have developed your own film idea, created your main characters, planned your story and written the opening pages of your screenplay.

Most importantly, you'll understand what to do next.

Who is the course for?

This course is aimed at beginners and anyone who has always wanted to try screenwriting.

It's suitable if:

• You've never written a screenplay before

• You have an idea for a film but don't know where to start

• You're a creative writer wanting to try something different

• You enjoy films and want to understand how they're constructed

• You simply want to try something creative and meet other people who love stories

No previous experience is required.

The six-week journey

Week 1 — The Story
Where do screenplays come from? We'll explore ideas, premises, story structure and what makes a story worth telling.

Week 2 — The Characters
Who is your story about? We'll develop protagonists, supporting characters, goals, conflict and stakes.

Week 3 — The Screenplay
How does a screenplay actually look? We'll learn professional formatting, scene construction and dialogue before writing our first scenes.

Week 4 — The Plot
We'll turn your idea into a complete story outline, exploring turning points, conflict, escalation and endings.

Week 5 — The Rewrite
Writing is rewriting. We'll look at constructive feedback, improving scenes, strengthening dialogue and making your story work harder.

Week 6 — The Finish Line
We'll bring everything together, share our work and look at practical next steps for developing your screenplay beyond the course.

Each workshop will have a maximum of ten participants and each week will follow the same rhythm - there will be teaching on the week’s topic as well as film examples and discussion.

We will also have writing exercises and the option to share our work and ideas with homework and weekly feedback between classes. Everyone will be provided with a workbook to keep that will include:

Key screenwriting terms, character worksheets, Beat sheet templates, scene planning pages, dialogue exercises, space for notes, homework prompts and recommended reading and viewing lists.

The course fee is £200.