The Nutshell Technique® is designed to be simple, practical, and powerful.
But the best way to truly learn the method is to study it with me directly.
Online Courses
After developing the Nutshell Technique®, I founded The Screenplay Workshop with Jill Chamberlain in 2006 to teach this approach to writers more broadly. Since then, I’ve taught everyone from complete beginners to Emmy-winning screenwriters. My students join me on Zoom from all over the world.
In my courses, I teach writers how to build stories that are structurally sound, emotionally satisfying, and dramatically compelling. Whether you’re writing a feature, a television pilot, or a novel, my goal is the same: to help you understand what your story is really saying and give you a repeatable process for shaping it.
My courses are immersive, hands-on, and solution-driven. Full Participants can receive feedback on their nutshells, beat sheets, and completed screenplays, while Auditors can attend live or watch the recordings on their own schedule.
Courses
Screenwriting Master Class
My flagship 10-week intensive in feature screenplay writing. You’ll begin by developing a strong Nutshell for your story. Once that’s working, you move on to a beat sheet and then to submitting a complete screenplay. Alongside the Nutshell Technique®, you’ll also work toward mastery of craft elements such as formatting, dialogue, action writing, character development, scene work, and the other essential areas.
TV Writing
In this class, I teach writers how to apply the Nutshell Technique® to television and craft a compelling original pilot. Participants begin by getting their Nutshell working, then move on to submitting a beat sheet and, ultimately, a complete pilot script. Along the way, they also build stronger skills in dialogue, scene writing, action, and the other essentials of television writing.
Nutshell Technique for Novelists
In this course, I show how to apply my story structure method to novel writing. Writers learn how the Nutshell Technique® can clarify structure, deepen character arcs, and strengthen the emotional impact of a book, while giving them a practical framework they can return to throughout the writing and revision process.
TV Writers Room
In this course, students pitch original series ideas, the group selects one, and together they write the entire first season. They brainstorm, break story, and write the scripts collaboratively, giving participants an inside look at how a television writers’ room works. This course is also available for companies, networks, and other professional groups.