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Screenwriting Essentials: Improving the Read

Recorded

July 29, 2026

Duration

2 Hours

Cost

$35

Subject

Screenwriting

Topic

Craft

Professional screenwriter Tom Vaughan (Winchester, starring Academy Award-winner Helen Mirren) shares critical advice to elevate your writing to a more pro level.

It’s called “A good read.”

It’s when a reader’s eyes glide down the page of a screenplay in an easy, emotional flow.

It’s when a reader sits down to read a screenplay and doesn’t get up until they’re finished.

It’s when the screenplay focuses on the emotional experience rather than the technical one.

And it’s the difference between a good story being easier to identify and one that gets buried in an avalanche of text.

Every screenwriter makes two choices. First, what actually happens in the story. And next, how to transfer those sounds and images to the reader through text.

"Improving The Read" focuses on that second one.

This presentation will cover:

  • The actual goal of today’s spec screenplay.
  • How to evoke shots without ever mentioning the camera.
  • What writing “vertically” means and how to do it.
  • What bad habits are strangling your reader’s experience.
  • A rewrite of a scene in real-time.
  • Q&A

What attendees have said ...

"It's given me a new way of thinking about how to write my action lines now I can see what I'm doing wrong and how I can improve. I'm energized!"

"This is such great screenwriting teaching! I just graduated from an MFA Creative Writing/Screenwriting program. What Tom is teaches is so much more than what I received in some of my classes."

"This was an amazing webinar. I learned so much. I need to really work on this to get rid of some of the bad habits that I've picked up over the years. Very sound advice. Thank you!"

"Excellent discussion and great examples.  It became so clear and obvious after Tom explained and gave examples."

"Chock full of actionable advice. Presentation well organized."

"I really enjoyed and got a lot out of this. One of the better sessions I’ve attended."

Host

Tom Vaughan
With nearly three decades of professional screenwriting experience, Tom Vaughan has written for major buyers including Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures, Disney, ABC, NBC, TBS, CBS, Miramax, and Castle Rock Entertainment. His most recent film, Haunting of the Queen Mary (2023), followed Winchester (2018), starring Academy Award winner Helen Mirren and Sarah Snook. He has developed projects for Matthew McConaughey, […]

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