Creative Writing Essentials: Crafting Stand-Out Opening Scenes

Taught By:

Daniel José Older

New York Times Best Selling Author, Organiser, and Former Paramedic

I took this course basically because I was curious to discover if there was some sort of special formula for writing remarkable opening scenes in all forms of creative writing, including stories and scripts. The teaching method was superb, taking apart the whole concept of writing opening scenes and breaking it into bits and pieces.

It is particularly amazing that Daniel used the initial and final script of his very own story to explain and illustrate each key point. The exercises at the end of each chapter made it easy for me to apply each concept immediately. It moved me from simply listening and learning passively to actively practicing.

The mind-blowing part that ended this course beautifully was when Daniel read the initial and final script of the story. In the other chapters, he had used snippets for the purpose of teaching. However, hearing him read the full text of each draft, made the essence of the whole teaching even more profound.

As he read the initial draft, I thought to myself: “But this is also captivating. It’s beautiful enough.” Then, when he read the final draft, it all came full circle. 

It was simply beautiful.