Through a series of carefully designed writing workshops, this book guides the screenwriter through the messy creativity of screenwriting.

Drawing on over 20 years’ experience facilitating screenwriting workshops, author J. Mira Kopell provides readers with a path to screenwriting that makes space for reflection, critique, and exploration. Structured around five specific writing assignments, each assignment supports the writer forward incrementally by focusing on a specific set of craft elements needed to then move them on to the next. A key value of the assignments is that they are not exercises but steps in the development of the writer's own screenplay.

By using this book, readers can both receive meaningful feedback on their own project and learn to give insightful, focused critiques of their fellow writer’s work. Rather than offering craft as a “to-do” list that promises successful scripts, this book reimagines craft as “tools not rules,” empowering a writer to let their unique story dictate choices in order to support their work and honor their own voice.

This book is ideal for students and lecturers of screenwriting, groups of writers looking to form their own workshops, and aspiring professionals wanting to develop their craft.