Short stories are emerging as essential IP for an intro to the studio system, and some of our most iconic films began with only a handful of pages. Using short fiction references from Stephen King and more, this course explores how writers can recognize the cinematic engine (and core dilemma) inside a short story and to brainstorm or refine an idea of their own. 

We’ll examine how great stories create momentum, and what you might need to take out a pitch after generating interest in your story. Attendees will learn to identify the story’s central source of tension, discover what its characters truly want, and use escalation, and cause and effect to create a story that moves through emotion instead relying solely on plot, and how short stories remain a powerful way to get to the core of your movie. 

Additionally we will tackle developing a strong thematic question, POV/ and choosing the type of story that best suits your premise, tackle how to work in a compressed page environment (considering all the elements of a feature that actually need to be left out), how the reversal can also be viewed as a midpoint or act break when brainstorming the moment of reversal for your own piece, and how high concept/ big hook may actually take you further than literary voice when it comes to writing for adaptable film IP.

You will leave with a workable logline and key moments of your story identified along with a glance at a pitch book for pitching out a short story and knowing what you will need if you plan to expand the story into a feature or TV idea. 

Lindsay's most recent short story BRING A FRIEND can be found in The Sweater's latest short story compilation. Available here.