Have an idea burning a hole through the back of your brain, but not sure what it is? We’ll talk about how to let your idea tell you what it wants to be through a variety of forms*.

Want to write satire, like The Onion, a sketch like Saturday Night Live, a TV show like Fargo, or a movie like Fargo? Want to know how to edit so you don’t repeat yourself?

In this class we will explore how to write for each form, building the techniques that you need to get to your story quickly and skip from a first draft to a third draft saving you time, headache and self loathing.

Students will cover:

• How to use your Point of View to drive your piece
• Knowing what form of media your idea should take
• Letting your characters drive the action, not the plot
• Breaking down an example of article writing, sketch writing, a tv episode and a movie
• Why you should watch terrible tv and movies
• Why the end of the first GI Joe movie makes no sense. (Time Permitting)

The final hour of class will be spent workshopping ideas or current works in progress...so bring a project you've been working on!

*Except the Great American Novel. That already exists and is called “50 Shades of Grey”.

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Erik Sternberger started his career designing toys for DC Comics in New York and then spent a lucky 13 years working for various digital marketing agencies. Locally, MadLab Theatre staged his short play collection titled “, but it’s not about that.” as part of 2016's prestigious Roulette festival. He studied sketch writing and improv at the legendary Second City Chicago and his production company "Apathetic Revolutionary" creates comedy shorts and original scripts that have won awards at film festivals and contests around the country, including the final round of Sundance’s 2018 Writers Lab. Currently, Erik contributes to Funny or Die and writes satire for websites and literary journals, such as McSweeney’s Internet Tendencies.