Two cutting-edge areas of creative writing—writing for television and writing for tabletop games—gain special focus in two unique workshops offered May 22-31 during the Spring 2020 residency of Spalding University’s School of Creative and Professional Writing.
THE WRITERS’ ROOM: A TV-WRITING WORKSHOP
In the Writers’ Room Workshop, students work together to pitch ideas, break, and write follow-up episodes for an existing TV pilot in an enriching one-of-a-kind instructional experience. This workshop, which replicates the writers’-room model used for TV series today, is led by prolific television writer and producer Bruce Marshall Romans.
Romans’ credits include four seasons of Hell on Wheels on AMC, Steven Spielberg’s Falling Skies on TNT, Marco Polo and Marvel’s The Punisher on Netflix, and Messiah, also for Netflix (to be released 1/1/20). He is currently writing/co-executive producing a new drama, Deputy, for Fox, as well as developing and writing an original television pilot, also for Fox. He is based in Los Angeles.
The Writers’ Room workshop is open to students in Spalding’s low-residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing (MFA) program or Master of Arts in Writing (MAW) program. Applications are open now, with an early placement deadline of February 1. Prospective students should apply in the screenwriting genre.
TABLETOP GAME DESIGN WORKSHOP
The Tabletop Game Design Workshop equips emerging writers with the tools, knowledge, and working experience to create professionally written tabletop games and establish an understanding of online writing, community building, and crowdfunding writing. The workshop is led by Charles Maynard, creator of the breakout Far Away Land Role-Playing Game under the pseudonym Dirk Stanley. Maynard is also author of a debut novel, The Way Things End.
The workshop is part of a 15-credit Graduate Certificate in Writing: Emphasis in Tabletop Games. To earn the certificate, students attend the workshop during a 3-credit residency course, May 22-31, followed by a 12-credit Independent Study course in which they work one-on-one with Maynard, an expert gaming mentor. Applications for the Certificate program are open now, with an early placement deadline of February 1. Email the School of Writing to inquire about special application requirements for the Graduate Certificate in Writing: Emphasis in Tabletop Games.
Certificate students who wish to continue their studies may use their Tabletop Games certificate credits as first-semester credits to earn the MAW (creative writing) or the MFA. Alternately, students may opt to take the Tabletop Game Design Workshop alone as part of a 3-credit residency course without completing the certificate, though financial aid is not available for students who choose this option.
Current School of Writing students may take the gaming workshop or Writers’ Room workshop as a cross-genre experience, if space allows. To request permission to participate in either workshop, email SchoolofWriting@spalding.edu by January 24.
Federal Financial Aid is available for all School of Writing programs.
The School accepts applications year-round with an early placement deadline of February 1 for entry in the Spring 2020 semester, beginning with a 10-day residency on Spalding’s campus, May 22-31, or the Summer 2020 semester, beginning with a 10-day residency in Paris, July 6-16.
For further information, visit our website.
Spalding University School of Creative & Professional Writing 