THE PROGRAM

Paul's rewrite course will closely follow the method Paul uses when he rewrites his own scripts and when he supervises student and professional rewrites. His book, Rewrite, which was published by Michael Wiese Productions, will be the basis of the course, but class will focus on the needs of the students. Students will be limited to one script for the session.

Each seminar will be three hours long, five days per week (days off will depend on student and instructor deliberations), though there will be at least an hour a day of formal office hours in which to discuss individual issues. The first Sunday evening, there will be a short orientation and a longer discussion of the stories to jump start the process. Expect to be writing Sunday evening and reading Monday morning.

Tentative class hours are 4-7pm, with dinner to follow. Class hours may change according to student preferences, but will be discussed as a group. Mornings will be for writing. Afternoons are for more writing or reading others' pages, or trips to local villages, or just lazing by the pool or floating on the lake. Although we can give you an occasional ride to town, we suggest that if you want to do any sightseeing, you rent a car.

The villa offers limited Internet service—a single dongle that permits WiFi access (we'll use a sign-up sheet to guarantee everyone a daily time slot). Wireless service is good, so students can take also advantage of data plans for tablets and smart phones. Also, there are Internet cafes in the nearby towns of Cortona and Umbertide. Trust on this, though: less Internet access will be good for your writing.

The rewrite course will cover:

• Clarifying Story and Structure for Impact
• The Powerful Protagonist
• The Worthy Antagonist
• Ensuring Dynamic Scenes
• Making Descriptions Leap off the Page
• Life Support For Your Protagonist
• Dialogue essentials – Giving your characters the right voice at the right time.
• Paring it down
• Where Am I?
• The Right Look
• Finishing

With any luck and a demonic intensity, you should be able to finish a complete rewrite in the time allotted. If not, you will definitely have a blueprint for your new draft and probably be many pages into it.

Visit MICHELANGELO SCREENWRITING for a full description of the program, the venue, registration information, lots of photos, and things to do nearby. For more information about the retreat, write to: write.michelangelo@yahoo.com.

For other questions, contact the Rewrite Mentor: Paul.chitlik@gmail.com