Once a week, I lead a lecture section called Storytelling.\u00a0 I consider it Screenwriting Zero, almost an introduction to the art of screenwriting.\u00a0Now, the content isn\u2019t anything new to me.\u00a0 I\u2019m not bragging, but I pulled out a B.A. in Creative Writing in Linguistics from a sub-state school, so I\u2019m more than comfortable blowing hot air at students for two hours every Wednesday.\u00a0 It\u2019s not all fun and games. \u00a0Every once in a while, I spring a test on them, just to let them know who\u2019s boss.\u00a0But really, leading four workshops a week is actually a heck of a lot more fun than it sounds.\u00a0 Really.<\/p>\n
Rucker.\u00a0 Rucker is the boss.\u00a0 In case you missed that earlier.<\/p>\n
I get really frustrated whenever somebody stops me and says, \u201cYou know, you\u2019ll learn more from teaching than you ever will sitting in a classroom.\u201d\u00a0 Please.\u00a0 The only reason I took this job is so that I could make sure to teach them all the wrong things to weed out competition in my coming days as a professional screenwriter.\u00a0 However, it seems to be a trend that I\u2019m picking up on lessons that I thought I\u2019d learned myself.\u00a0 I\u2019m reminding them to do the things I forget to do.<\/p>\n
Figure out what your story is.\u00a0 Put your main character on the ropes.\u00a0 What are you trying to say?\u00a0 Take no prisoners.\u00a0 By the way, who is your main character?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n One of the things I really love about Boston University is this chance that I get to teach.\u00a0 I bragged to my mentor before I left that I\u2019d totally be leading a class by my second year.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t really expect to get the chance, but here I am.\u00a0 There\u2019s something really special about standing in front of those kids every week, knowing that I have the chance to share something that I really enjoy.\u00a0 I even wrote \u201cDon\u2019t write crap.\u201d<\/strong> on the board at the beginning of the semester.\u00a0 I enjoy teaching about positive and negative charges and plants and payoffs, but what I really love is writing pseudo-swears on the board.<\/p>\n But really, that\u2019s what teaching and writing is for me.\u00a0 On the first day, I had them write a simple list of ten things that moved them.\u00a0 Every response I gave was catered, but essentially the same: \u201cNow that you\u2019ve know what moves you, you\u2019ll be able to move your audience.\u201d\u00a0 Sure, it was a lot harder than pounding into their heads, \u201cWrite what you love.\u00a0 Write what you love.\u00a0 Write what you love.\u201d\u00a0 (I still did that, but I also did this, so the bad teaching and good teaching evens out.\u00a0 That\u2019s how it works, right?)<\/p>\n But ever since I taught that lesson on the first day, my writing\u2019s gotten better.\u00a0 I\u2019m thinking more about the messages I\u2019m trying to convey, and they\u2019re coming out clearer.\u00a0 I\u2019m remembering to put my main character on the ropes.\u00a0 I\u2019m acid testing my work, figuring out what\u2019s essential in the story, just like I\u2019m trying to remind Max and Navzad and Shari to do.<\/p>\n So, yeah.\u00a0 There it is.\u00a0 Learning through teaching.\u00a0 I\u2019m pretty sure that\u2019s what that Robert Fulghum book was talking about, but I heard it was actually about his time in prison.\u00a0 You didn\u2019t hear it from me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Once a week, I lead a lecture section called Storytelling.\u00a0 I consider it Screenwriting Zero, almost an introduction to the art of screenwriting.\u00a0Now, the content isn\u2019t anything new to me.\u00a0 I\u2019m not bragging, but I pulled out a B.A. in Creative Writing in Linguistics from a sub-state school, so I\u2019m more than comfortable blowing hot … Continue reading All I Really Needed to Know I Learned as your Teaching Assistant<\/span>