To ensure everyone's good health, students in NYC classes must provide proof of full Covid vaccinations (the initial series of Covid vaccines plus at least one booster). We will accept your Covid vaccine card (or a digital scan), a NY State Excelsior digital card, or another form of government-approved proof. We will contact you before class begins about showing us proof. Also, we will require masks in the classrooms and Gotham premises.
More Covid details
Plot 1: Mechanics
Plot 1: Mechanics is an Intensive, meaning it happens in a short time span (1 day in NYC, or 2 days on Zoom, or 3 weeks Online). The course includes a mixture of lectures and exercises. It’s open to writers of any level. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
If you feel you’re solid with the basics of plot, you may go straight to Plot 2. If you’re in doubt about this, start with Plot 1; it will be valuable even if some of it is review.
Plot is the art of drawing them in, then delivering a sequence of events that grows progressively more interesting and culminates with a killer ending. A good plot is what most readers and audiences crave…and what most writers fear.
Whether you’re working on something true or completely made-up, short or long, we’ll show you how to craft a plot that keeps them rapt from beginning to middle to end.
Plot 1 teaches the basic mechanics of plotting, the things you can’t get far without, such as: desire driving the story, the beginning/middle/end structure, cause and effect, how characters determine which way the plot goes.
Plot 2 teaches the crafty machinations required for expert plotting: the techniques for twisting and turning, intriguing and dazzling, and, most of all, keeping people hooked until the breathtaking finish.
Breaking down the mechanics of "Plot" into easy-to-understand exercises that were effective in creating exciting and dramatic plots. I also liked how the instructor gave expert advice and constructive criticism to help make me a better writer.
Shannon Biddle
small business owner
Notes
This is a cross-genre course, applicable to any kind of writing that contains storytelling, including nonfiction.
Upcoming Classes
NYC COVID Info
Price
Registration fee $25, paid once per term
3-Week
-
Online
Anytime, week-long sessions
Tuition: $165
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One-on-One
Tuition: $495
Syllabus
This course gives an overview of the central mechanics of plotting, in any genre. Course components:
Brief lectures
Writing exercises
Week 1
The Search for Treasure: Plot introduced. Types of Plot—simple, complex, character-driven, plot-driven. Premise. Desire—goal, deeper desire, external obstacles, internal obstacles.
Week 2
Structure and Steps: Structure for simple and complex plots. Dividing a story into sections. Positive and negative swings. Cause and effect.
Week 3
Adding Depth: Character choice and change. Theme. Subplots. Plot strands. Point of view.
Each week students are provided with case studies of great stories, as well as notes on the working out of a from-scratch plot.
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
Teachers
Pamela Harris
Pamela Harris created Married by the Hour, a half-hour comedy (Howard Stern Productions) and served as a staff writer for Life on the Line, a one-hour drama (Oxygen Network). She wrote the feature screenplay Joyville, which was selected for the Writers Lab, a program sponsored by Meryl Streep and Oprah Winfrey. She has also written and optioned feature screenplays. She co-wrote and directed the short film “En Route,” a selection of the New York Short Film Festival, the Big Apple Film Festival, and the Blackbird Film Festival. She is an award-winning visual artist whose work can be viewed in private, corporate, and embassy collections across the world. She holds a BFA from the Hartford Art School.
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Tommy Jenkins
Tommy Jenkins wrote the short film "Come Back to the Five and Dime Buster Keaton, Buster Keaton," which won Best Comedy at the Polo Ralph Lauren/New Line Columbia Film Festival, and his short film "Obit" has been screened at several film festivals. He authored a chapter on Plot in Gotham's book Writing Movies (Bloomsbury USA), and he is the author of Movie Trivia Quiz Book and The TV Trivia Book (Barnes & Noble). He is also the author of the graphic novel Drawing the Vote (Abrams ComicArts). He has taught at Columbia University and Louisburg College. He holds a BA from UNC at Chapel Hill and an MFA in Film from Columbia University.
Read morePamela Harris
Pamela Harris
created Married by the Hour, a half-hour comedy (Howard Stern Productions) and served as a staff writer for Life on the Line, a one-hour drama (Oxygen Network). She wrote the feature screenplay Joyville, which was selected for the Writers Lab, a program sponsored by Meryl Streep and Oprah Winfrey. She has also written and optioned feature screenplays. She co-wrote and directed the short film “En Route,” a selection of the New York Short Film Festival, the Big Apple Film Festival, and the Blackbird Film Festival. She is an award-winning visual artist whose work can be viewed in private, corporate, and embassy collections across the world. She holds a BFA from the Hartford Art School.
Tommy Jenkins
Tommy Jenkins
wrote the short film "Come Back to the Five and Dime Buster Keaton, Buster Keaton," which won Best Comedy at the Polo Ralph Lauren/New Line Columbia Film Festival, and his short film "Obit" has been screened at several film festivals. He authored a chapter on Plot in Gotham's book Writing Movies (Bloomsbury USA), and he is the author of Movie Trivia Quiz Book and The TV Trivia Book (Barnes & Noble). He is also the author of the graphic novel Drawing the Vote (Abrams ComicArts). He has taught at Columbia University and Louisburg College. He holds a BA from UNC at Chapel Hill and an MFA in Film from Columbia University.
