Online Screenwriting Classes: Worthwhile or Worthless?

Optimistically lost. That’s how I felt, trying to fashion my failed attempt at novel writing into a decent script. This story should be a movie! I decided one rainy Sunday afternoon while gazing in despair from an expanse of gray sky to the scrunched up paper balls littering the floor. Naively, I also figured it would take less talent and effort: all I’d really have to do was jot down in point form what happens in the story, instead of describing the action with lyrical, resonating prose that just wouldn’t come. I hadn’t even finished slogging through scene one when I realized that essentially what I’d done was traded one set of problems for another. I knew I needed help, or else my sparkling new project was fated to become a dull, dusty reject. 

I consider myself the consummate scriptwriting newbie. I’ve bookmarked all the major sites, printed scripts, downloaded Rough Draft freeware, posted quotes from my favorite director (Pedro Almodóvar) on my bulletin board and adopted the habit of taking notes while viewing Blockbuster rentals. Motivation is high, practical knowledge, low. I have the intent and the heart, but lack the fundamental understanding of how screenplays are quilted from patches of dialogue, action sequences and location descriptions into evocative, flowing stories. Desperate to cobble together a bunch of jumbled, stream-of-consciousness scenes into a cinematic masterpiece, I was delighted to come across a reasonably priced, 6-week online scriptwriting class in the spring course catalogue of my local community college. Yes, I thought to myself, this is just what I need: a little guidance from the comfort of my own home.