What IS Plot? An Online Workshop Offered by Pennwriters (offered in 2019)

Many writers are consumed with the idea of creating the effect of what a plot does without first understanding what a plot is. What a plot does is raise dramatic questions a reader or viewer will follow to get answers. What a plot is is the process of generating questions around the outcome of a story’s promise that gives a story a dramatic shape and outcome fulfilling to an audience. This workshop is designed to guide writers to an understanding of what creates a dramatic plot, and to offer practical advice on how they can create dramatically satisfying plots for their stories.
Writers in this workshop will be guided to understand a simple plot outline for some popular stories with simple plot mechanics. This outline will convey a fundamental truth of storytelling, how the elements of a story transports its audience.

Writers will then be asked to use that knowledge to outline the plot of a popular story they enjoy.
Finally, writers will be guided to apply this understanding of plot mechanics on a project they are working on. This could be outlining a story they have only begun to create an understanding of the underlying mechanics of that story, to creating a plot outline that guides a revision of a complete manuscript.

The completed outline will include creating plot questions for each step of the novel.
The goal of the workshop is for students to be able to create a detailed plot outline for a novel or script and to understand the mechanics of how other popular stories are constructed.

Instructor Bio:

Bill Johnson is a produced playwright, optioned screenwriter, and has read manuscript submissions for a literary agent. He is the author of A Story is a Promise and The Spirit of Storytelling, a workbook that explores how to create dramatic, engaging stories; and web master of Essays on the Craft of Dramatic Writing, a site that explores principles of storytelling through reviews of popular movies, books and plays (www.storyispromise.com); Bill has lead workshops on writing around the United States, including the Southern California Writing Conference, Write on the Sound Conference, and the Expo Screenwriting Conference in Los Angeles.