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Secrets to Writing a Best Seller
Preconference: Thursday, November 2, 2006
Sea Crest Oceanfront Resort
Falmouth, Cape Cod, MA


Executive Summary

There are fundamental principles and little-known secrets in all best-selling writing. Spend 8 hours with master teacher, Prof. Richard Krevolin and learn the secrets behind writing dynamic dialogue and creating surprising plots and characters that come to life. Like all SEAK training, Secrets to Writing a Best-Seller is lively and interactive. Attendees will have the opportunity to get all their questions answered. There will be video examples and networking opportunities. NOTE: There will not be time for people to share their pages or read excerpts of their work aloud.

SCHEDULE (Thursday, Nov. 2, 2006)

7:30 - 8:30 Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30 - 9:30 The Basic Principles of Storytelling!
The history of storytelling and how, we, as human beings, are hard-wired to remember stories. And then, how, you, as a writer, can tap into this.

9:30 - 11:30 Creative Writing 101: A Master’s Degree Course in Creative Writing in 120 Minutes or less!
Getting Started, The Classic Aristotelian three act story structure, The Seven Essentials Elements of Storytelling, Subplots -- The "A", "B" and "C" story line, inciting incidents and causal relationships in drama, the importance of themes, tone and symbolism, creating original story-lines and scenes, writer’s block - how to overcome it.

11:30 - 12:00 Using Myths to Deepen and Enrich Your Story
How you can tap into mythical elements to help write stories that sell.

12:00 - 1:00 Lunch With Faculty (Provided)

1:00 - 2:00 You Don’t Say or The Essence of Good Dialogue!
The basics of good dialogue will be illustrated with video excerpts from Hollywood films.

2:00 - 3:00 Put on Your 3-D Glasses and Create 3-D Characters!
The basics of character creation, development and arc.

3:00 - 4:00 The Art of Revision
The key to writing that sells is the author’s ability to revise and rewrite. Proven techniques to make your writing come to life.

4:00 - 5:00 The Creative Writer’s Survival Guide!
Questions and answers about agents, publishers, and even book tours. Inspiring stories and tips on how to survive as a writer in a world that does not foster artistic creativity. Guerrilla tactics on how to make a living as a writer, lessons on perseverance, patience and persistence and how to sell what you write.

 

Faculty

Richard Krevolin is an author, playwright, screenwriter, and professor. A graduate of Yale University, Richard went on to earn a masters degree in screenwriting at UCLA’s School of Cinema-Television, and a master’s degree in playwriting and fiction from USC. For 15 years Richard has taught both undergraduate and graduate screenwriting classes at USC Cinema/TV School as well as UCLA Film School, Ithaca and Pepperdine. Under his guidance, his students have sold film scripts and TV shows to Universal, Paramount, Dreamworks SKG and numerous other studios and production companies.

He is the author of the books, Screenwriting From The Soul (St. Martins Press), Pilot Your Life (Prentice-Hall), and How To Adapt Anything Into A Screenplay (Wiley & Sons). Richard has several screenplays under option and in development. Furthermore, his newest script, "How to Shag a Woman Properly" will be shot this year and will be released in 2006. He is also the author of four young adult novels that will be published in the next year.

He was one of the writers of the documentary, Fiddler on the Roof: 30 Years of Tradition. He was a finalist in the $500,000 Kingman Screenwriting Award, the Chesterfield Contest, the Klasky-Csupo Writing for Children Contest, the Nicholl Fellowship Screenwriting Award, the USC One-Act Play Festival, the HBO New Writers Project, and the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights’ Conference. His one-man show, Yahrzeit, was a huge hit at the Santa Monica Playhouse, running for five sold-out months. Under a new name, Boychik, it opened Off-Broadway at Theater Four in New York City and is now touring the country. He received a Valley Theatre League nomination for best director and best play for his one-man musical RebbeSoul-O.

His play, King Levine opened at the Odyssey Theater under the direction of Joseph Bologna and after receiving rave reviews, transferred to The Tiffany. It was also nominated for an Ovation Award as Best Adaptation. In the past few years, Richard had two one-person plays open in L.A., The Lemony Fresh Scent of Diva Monsoon Man (starring Ruth DeSosa) at the Rose Alley and Seltzer Man (starring David Proval of The Sopranos) at the Tiffany. His newest one man play, MEYER LANSKY, has been translated into Hebrew and will be running in Tel Aviv at the Cameri Theater in 2005. His plays have been performed with Ed Asner, Allen Arbus, Jean Smart, Mackenzie Phillips and Richard Kline.

Krevolin has been a panelist and keynote speaker at a variety of popular writers’ conferences, including the Maui Writer’s Conference, The Santa Fe Screenwriters Conference, the Hollywood Film Festival, The Surrey Writer’s Conference, and The Learning Annex.