It was late January when I ran across an ad for a one-day workshop for screenwriters on craigslist. I attended.

The class was taught by Terrel Seltzer and sponsored by the Writing Salon. I was unfamiliar with the organization at the time, but it only cost something like $90 so I thought it was worth checking out.

Maybe I could fall in with the right group of people, you never know.

The class was capped in size, something like a maximum of 20 people; we all sat in a circle. It was inspiring.

The class had a sort of advanced title or topic something having to do with character development, but as I suspect with most of these types of classes most of the people were beginners and we ended up covering mostly basics (three act structure, etc.).

Which is fine, I would totally recommend a class by Terrel Seltzer if you are looking for inspiration. She knows her stuff, and there’s something about a group of people with day jobs learning the basics and thinking that maybe they ARE screenwriters after all, that is uplifting and contagious. 

Screenwriting is simple and straightforward after all, right.

I did learn a few new concepts in the class, and she recommend some books which I have since read. I might review them in a future blog post, so stay tuned for that.

It was fun to read a few scenes aloud with other people, something I seldom get to do. Overall, a good time, and like I said the positive energy is totally worth the cost of the ride.

Terrel Seltzer worked on the screenplays for Chan is Missing and Dim Sum with long time collaborator and San Francisco filmmaker Wayne Wang. In the big time she wrote How I Got into College and One Fine Day.

She apparently has two scripts currently in development with Dreamworks and Warner Brother Classics. Her next one-day workshop at the Writing Salon is in early August.