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Dottie
- Rate R414
- Response 1h
R414/h
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1st lesson free
Award-winning author teaches screenwriting, creative writing, and playwriting—thirty years of experience teaching writing: teens-graduate students.
Lesson location
- online
About Dottie
In my thirty years as a creative writing teacher in public and private settings, I have learned that each writer has a unique approach to writing. So, my first task is to get to know and understand the writer's goals, learning style, life experiences, and writing history.
Together, the writer and I create a writing plan that includes the writing goal, a variety of strategies, and a timeline for completing a first draft, followed by a revision schedule to bring the story to life.
To learn more about my publication history as an award-winning novelist, optioned screenwriter, and produced playwright, visit my website: (concealed information)
As for my own process, a story often comes to me in a flash. The book, Seeing with the Mind's Eye by Nancy and Michael Samuels, elucidates this type of thinking: Mozart spoke of musical scores popping into his head, fully formed. Picasso told of paintings coming to him in an instant. When this happens, it is a matter of translating the idea, the concept, the story into the continuum of time and space so it can be communicated.
My process includes asking specific questions: What would Sally or Mike do should this take place? What does my character want? What does my character fear? And then, going into the meditative state where images appear on the screen of my mind. I lie down, close my eyes, ask the question--then watch, and I listen. I open my eyes, sit at my desk, and record what I have experienced.
As a writer, I force myself to look inside and to be brave enough to be honest. Am I congruent? What do I need to change in order to achieve the self-transformation I seek? I realize many of my faults live in my own shadow and that those faults may only reveal themselves gradually. But, only when I try to unmask the truth of who I am and who I might be, can I ask the same of my characters.
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About the lesson
- All levels
- English
Languages in which the lesson is available :
English
My goal is to empower you to find and use your voice to create creative, compelling stories for stage, screen, or print.
As a writer, I believe stories have the power to deepen understanding about oneself and others and to create pathways to personal and societal transformation.
Want to know more? Check out my website: (concealed information)
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Rates
Rate
- R414
Package rates
- 5h: R2070
- 10h: R4140
free lesson
The free first lesson with Dottie allows you to get to know the tutor and discuss your needs and expectations.
- 1h
online
- R414/h
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