AFS Summer Education Series: Writing

Summer Education Series

Hone your craft with a week of Continuing Education classes on writing. The series includes practical courses exploring storytelling, screenwriting, and writing for television. You’ll learn all about screenwriting basics, story development, and what a writer’s room is like through creative exercises taught by industry professionals.

This series is offered as a single class pass, which includes all workshops associated with the Writing Series (see list below). All workshops are held at Austin Studios. Purchasing the class pass today guarantees your spot for the series. More details about the workshops will be sent to registrants closer to the event.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

Storytelling Workshop: Before Page One
July 14, 5–9 PM

Breathe, Flow, Write: Accessing Your Creative Truth Through Breathwork
July 15, 5–9 PM

Principles of Screenwriting
July 16 & 17, 5–9 PM

Demystifying the Writer’s Room
July 18, 3–8 PM

CLASS DESCRIPTIONS

Storytelling Workshop: Before Page One (July 14)
Instructor: Katya Lidsky

“Storytelling Workshop: Before Page One” is a 4-hour class that will focus on what truly makes a “good story” a good story. You will learn how to begin from a new starting line, how to ask the questions that will bring your story to life, and, as a result, how to write more efficiently and clearly. But also, how to write more joyfully, which matters too! 

Breathe, Flow, Write: Accessing Your Creative Truth Through Breathwork (July 15)
Instructor: Katya Lidsky

Discover transformative magic when your breath meets your creativity in this workshop. Ease into a gentle breathwork journey designed to quiet your inner critic and open the channels to your deeper insights — no previous experience needed! As your body relaxes and your mind clears, you’ll find yourself writing from a place of authentic wisdom and unfiltered imagination, capturing thoughts and feelings that often remain beyond reach when we stay stuck in the mind. Come breathe, write, and witness the unexpected sounds that emerge when you simply allow yourself to just be. 

Principles of Screenwriting (July 16 & 17)
Instructor: Stephen Ohl

In this two-part course, we will review the basic elements of screenwriting, including formatting, structure, and basic character development. Participants will have an opportunity to engage with a short scene and workshop it with the group. 

Demystifying the Writers’ Room (July 18)
Instructor: Alejandra Gracia

“Demystifying the TV Writers’ Room” is a five-hour class focusing on collaborative elements in a television writers’ room with a specific focus on one-hour dramas and half-hour dramedies. You will learn the basic elements of structuring a TV pilot, a season, and a series in the first two hours of each class and then break off into groups where you’ll put these elements into practice. Prior to the first class, you will submit your series ideas to the instructor, and a student(s) will be selected to lead each respective group in shaping those ideas. You should be able to take elements from this course and use them to structure your own series ideas outside of the classroom.