03.01 Putting Pen to Paper

Plan the whole story; write one scene

Open the official assessment document at the end of the course lesson. You will plan an entire play or movie, then write approximately two pages of one scene.

The story arc is worth 40 points. The scripted scene is worth 60. Start with your own idea; the lesson suggests personal experience, history, society, or an object as possible inspiration.

Fill the first four planning sections

Give your story a title and identify whether it is a movie or a play. Choose its genre. Describe the setting’s time, place, and mood.

List your characters with a one-sentence description of each. You need at least two characters in the scene you will write. Choose details that fit your genre and the story you want to tell.

Map the complete story arc

The fifth chart section is the story summary. Fill all six labeled parts: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Establish normal life, introduce the main conflict, develop the attempts to address it, and plan the final major confrontation with that conflict. Then show the aftermath and where the characters end up.

Choose a scene with a job to do

Select one scene from your rising action or climax and identify which it is in the assessment. Rising action develops the struggle; the climax is the last major event that addresses the main conflict, usually near the end.

Decide what the characters want and what happens between them in this moment. Plan dialogue and performable actions. The lesson treats scripts as material for actors and directors to bring to life.

Set up the script formatting

Use size 12 Courier for this assessment. Center scene headings and character names in capitals. Keep dialogue left justified, with a 1.5-inch left indent and a 1-inch right margin. Use one space after periods.

Follow the lesson’s model for action placement: stage action is centered and extends toward the right margin; dialogue-dependent action is indented to the left of the character name. Compare your placement, spacing, capitals, and indentation with the course example.

Write, then read it aloud

Write approximately two pages of your chosen scene, with at least two characters. Use dialogue and action to reveal what is happening between them.

Read your own lines aloud. Check that an actor can tell who speaks and what actions to perform. Compare the scene with the rising action or climax in your plan, and revise any mismatch.

Check both parts before submitting

For the 40-point chart, check all five sections are thoughtful and thorough, including every labeled plot stage. For the 60-point scene, check creative development, rising action or climax, at least two characters, approximate length, and script formatting.

Save and reopen the finished document to check layout. In the Canvas Putting Pen to Paper upload, select the file, verify its filename, then click Submit Assignment. Portal practice does not submit it.

Final checklist

Tick these off as you go. Saved in this browser.

• My chart has title and medium, genre, setting, characters, and the complete story summary.
• Each character has a one-sentence description, and my scene includes at least two characters.
• The summary includes all six plot stages.
• My approximately two-page scene comes from rising action or climax and matches my plan.
• My scene uses size 12 Courier and the lesson’s placement, spacing, capitalization, and indentation.
• I reopened my saved document to check both parts before uploading in Canvas.