Screenplay Consultations

I offer in-depth consultation on screenplays and teleplays for writers of every level and experience. I have some guidelines. I will read any draft a writer chooses to submit, but I will not read multiple drafts of the same screenplay with the idea of advising which of the drafts is “better” or which parts of each draft can be combined to create a final draft. I ask that the length of scripts adhere to the professional standard. A one-hour drama teleplay should not be longer than 65 pages, and a feature length screenplay should hold close to 120 pages. A bit shorter in most cases is better. I will not read a 150 page screenplay in order to suggest which thirty-plus pages I think should go, because editing one’s work is a critical, creative process each writer must become expert at.

The Script Consultation normally consists of the following evaluations:

- Overall review of the screenplay’s clarity, originality, and power

- Critique of the screenplay’s theme, plot, and story structure

- Notes on each Act’s (I. II, III) execution and effectiveness

- Notes on Character development, delineation, and uniqueness

- Dialog problems, efficiency, tone, and grace

- General suggestions for “fixes” and edits

The normal turn-around for my work is two weeks. A complete, written consultation review and notes will be sent to the writer.

A follow-up consultation with the writer, based on my notes, can take place by phone, in person, or via Skype. This follow-up is included in the consultation package, but there is a time limit on the length of the call and a requirement that this follow-up take place within two weeks of the writer’s receipt of my written notes.

Fiction and Memoir Consultations

Here I offer in-depth analyses of novels and memoirs, completed or works-in-progress, to help the writer mine the true meaning of the work by creating original and artistic approaches to plot and story.

        It doesn’t matter if we are writing crime novels or nursery rhymes. Narrative works of fiction, non-fiction, and creative non-fiction, all embody the author’s deepest investigations into his or her own psyche. This very personal work takes us to places unknown, and too known. Places and histories we have danced around but not with, for a long time. And yet we know they are precisely the places and the histories from which all of our writing blossoms, and where our truths reside. Finding and facing these truths are the reasons we write, and they are the energy and essence of our story.

        Our best writing comes when our ghosts, our faith and our fears manifest into the movement of plot and story. We are carried along by our writing as it teaches us new things, and old things, in the light of our own inner wisdom.  It is no surprise, then, that a writer can get lost in this forest of emotion and information, and why these in-depth consultations are so helpful in achieving the originality, organization, and completion the work deserves.

For fee schedule, inquire at: peterd@emotionalstructure.com

Personal and professional consultations for Screenplay, Memoir, and Fiction

INTRODUCING

EARLY DEVELOPMENT

CONSULTATION

Early Script Development Consultation

A better value. A smart investment.

If you are only now developing your story concept and outline for your screenplay, don’t wait until you’ve written your first (or second, or third) draft to seek a script consultation. I’ve come to believe that now is actually the best time to consult on your film before you go any further.

At this early stage of development, when you outline your plot and story, structure and concept problems are easier to spot and solve. If they go undetected at this stage and make it into your script, they will be much harder to recognize and more difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile without tearing your whole script apart.

Premise and outline consultation takes the guesswork out of developing your screenplay, and the misery of deconstructing your work later on. Consider this new, more practical, very creative, and inexpensive consultation service for you next project.