Use the storytelling tricks of your favorite movies
to write page-turning books that sell!
Do you want to have a published book by the end of 2023? Why not commit to getting that book written, with some expert help and encouragement?
The Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workbooks & workshops have helped writers all over the world
- Write their first - or best! - books
- Get agents and book deals
-
And launch full-time careers.
I’ve taught writers of all levels. My workshop students have gotten agents and first book deals, launched six-figure indie careers, and sustained bestselling sales as traditionally published authors.
They do it by using a method of dramatic storytelling that is the basis for pretty much every movie you've ever seen in your life.
Which means this is all going to make sense to you so quickly you’ll be amazed you’ve never noticed it before.
The thing is, you’ve already done years, a whole lifetime of research into storytelling. Because you’ve seen—how many hundreds of movies?
Yeah. That many.
So you actually know everything you need to know about telling a story.
Seriously.
You just need to have someone put names to all the structure and scenes and characters and tricks and tropes and especially that initial story idea—so that you’re thinking about all of that consciously—and USING all these storytelling tricks, instead of just absorbing them passively, as we usually do when we’re watching movies.
This self-paced workshop uses video lessons and written chapters & assignments to teach you the
Three-Act Eight-Sequence Structure
of Hollywood filmmaking, 15 minutes at a time, and help you apply it to your book or script—using your favorite movies. You won't just write a book that YOU love—but that everyone who reads it will respond to.
Whether you’re writing a book or a script, if you stick with this course, you’re going to:
- Shape your story idea into a PREMISE you love and that other people will love, too.
- Plot your story using the THREE-ACT, EIGHT-SEQUENCE STRUCTURE to deliver maximum emotional impact for whatever genre you’re writing in.
- Create SETPIECES: scenes that are so memorable that any agent, editor or producer is going to get interested in your story.
- Develop a VISUAL AND THEMATIC IMAGE SYSTEM that will deepen the meaning of your story and show buyers it's sellable.
- Learn a PROCESS FOR REWRITING once you have a first draft (because everything after that first draft is magically fun.)
And much, much more, including learning a trick for solving virtually every story problem that ever comes up for you.
We'll go Act by Act, scene by scene, Key Story Element by Key Story Element, until your whole book is written.
You can do it - and have the most fun writing you’ve ever had - because you’ll be learning from your own favorite movies, and with lots of help along the way.
Make this the year that you write your first book—
or your best book ever.
Example Curriculum
- Introduction (3:22)
- The Master List: 10 movies to help your write your book (3:38)
- Analyzing Your Master List: Genre and Subgenre (6:10)
- Brainstorm Your Story with Index Cards (3:44)
- But I don't know what to write!
- The Three-Act, Eight-Sequence Structure (11:16)
- Basic Story Elements (5:06)
- What's Your PREMISE?
- Basic Story Elements: JAWS (11:45)
- Basic Story Elements: OKLAHOMA! (9:32)
- Act I Story Elements: THE HUNGER GAMES (8:04)
- Act I Story Elements, Part 2 (8:16)
- Sequences, Climaxes & SETPIECE Scenes (8:35)
- Building Your Main Character
- Act I Elements in depth: SELMA (30:14)
- About that Villain...
- The Master List Method (6:05)
- World Building: Your Collage Book (2:30)
- Act I Story Elements Checklist (7:51)
- Moving Forward
Screenwriting Tricks for Authors is designed in four parts:
Part 1: Write a Book This Year! (Setting Up Your Book/Writing Act I)
Part 2: Act II, Part I: Journey to the Midpoint
Part 3: Act II, Part 2: The Downward Spiral
Part 4: Act III to Finish: The Final Battle
You only pay for what you use!
Sign up for Part 3 now and get Part 4 with it, free.
The Writers' Room
Want more than a self-paced class?
The Writers' Room is a small group (no more than 12) of committed writers who are working through their books Act by Act using a private forum, with plenty of guidance and individualized feedback from Alex. It's like a virtual TV writers' room for authors, with everyone invested in and brainstorming on everyone else's stories. If you want more, here's where you get it!
Get the Workbooks!
Not ready for a class yet?
The Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workbooks have all the course material and more. You'll work through your book or script Act by Act, Story Element by Story Element, with hundreds of examples from your favorite movies. Includes ten full movie breakdowns from different genres. Available in ebook and large workbook format, $4.99 and $15.99.
Writing Love has all the material of the workshops, with story examples and elements specific to romance and love stories.
The Workshop
Alex has taught her acclaimed
Screenwriting Tricks for Authors
workshop
for conferences and organizations such as Left Coast Crime, Thrillerfest, Romance Writers of America, Romance Writers of Australia, Sisters in Crime, Bloody Scotland, the Scottish Association of Writers, Otago Writers New Zealand, Dublin International Festival, PASIC, YARWA, the Society of Children's Book Authors & Illustrators, and small conferences and weekend retreats throughout the US and UK, as well as teaching film story structure at Otis College in Los Angeles.
Film structure is easily adaptable to novel writing and Alex's emphasis on taking inspiration from favorite movies to unlock the secrets of story structure resonates with writers of all levels of experience.
What authors are saying:
“Stealing Hollywood has transformed the way I write my books. Whenever another author is struggling with their plot, I tell them to buy a copy. I can’t recommend it enough.”
—Cally Taylor, bestselling author of Sleep, The Island, The Missing, The Lie
“Sokoloff is a generous mentor with the gifted ability to address a storyteller’s practical concerns while encouraging artistic integrity and every author’s unique voice. Only three of my half dozen novels have been written with her guidance, but I can guarantee that with this book at my fingertips, all my future work—and my reading audience—will benefit from her advice. Recommended without reservation.”
—Vicki Pettersson, bestselling author of the Sign of the Zodiac series
“If there’s one person that can help you wade through the chaos of your pages and find the most compelling way to tell your story, it’s Alex. No matter who you are (novice writer, veteran) or where you are (first draft, final revisions, nothing-but-a-vague-idea) her workshop will send you racing back to your manuscript with clarity, inspiration and the ‘aha!’ of the big picture.”
—Harley Jane Kozak, actress and Macavity, Anthony and Agatha Award-winning novelist
“I loved this book! Alexandra Sokoloff breaks down the screenwriting process in easy-to-understand steps with examples from current movies and the BEST practical examples. Her unique and always lots of fun lessons are empowering for first-time writers as well as those with finished screenplays looking to take their project to the next level. Indispensable.”
—George LaVoo, co-writer Real Women Have Curves, writer/director A Dog Year
“Sokoloff’s advice is spot-on, and her teaching style is direct and effective. A must-have book for authors and screenwriters.”
—JA Konrath, bestselling author of A Newbie’s Guide To Publishing
“Believe it or not, story-telling is an art as well as a craft, and Alex Sokoloff’s Stealing Hollywood is the owner’s manual that belongs in every writer’s toolkit. Alex dissects the elements of story-telling with clarity, wit and wisdom. Don’t thank me—buy the damn book!”
—Mary Kay Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of Ladies’ Night and Summer Rental
“I’d already written fifteen novels by the time I met Alex and discovered her unique approach to structuring fiction. She changed my entire writing process for the better. I couldn’t live without my three-act storyboard! Alex is a gifted and generous teacher and author, and Stealing Hollywood is a must-have book for new and seasoned writers alike.”
—International bestselling author Diane Chamberlain
“Whether you’re an old pro or an apprehensive beginner, Alex Sokoloff offers a sensible nuts-and-bolts approach that puts you in control of your material.”
—Margaret Maron, Edgar®, Agatha, Anthony & Macavity Award-winning author of the Deborah Knott mysteries
Not ready for a class?
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