My Screenwriting Workshop Experience at the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind Day Camp

Throughout my youth, I attended the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind's summer day camp. This camp always lasted for three weeks. One particular year, the camp held a screenwriter's workshop. Children who elected to participate learned about the fundamentals of screenwriting.

One of the fundamentals that we learned was how to properly format a screenplay. We learned how to properly format acts and scenes, as well as how to differentiate who does the speaking. We also learned how to properly specify each character's actions. Along with learning these things, we learned about plots, settings, main characters, and other important jargon that is fundamental to good screen play writing. In order to insure that we fully understood what was being taught, we had to complete a number of exercises.

When our teacher was confident that we fully understood how to write a screen play, all of us had to work together to write one that was to be performed in front of the entire camp on the last day. Our audience included other campers, councilors, teachers, and parents. Our play was about how blind students dealt with conflicts in the public school setting. The main character was a girl who had trouble being accepted by her peers. Throughout the play, she did various things to be noticed; yet, everything she did to impress her peers produced no results. Then she met another girl who was willing to be her friend and accept her for who she was. The blind girl's new friend learned how blind people are normal like anyone else and that they are capable of leading fun and fulfilling lives. The play ended with the blind girl and her new friend going on a vacation together.

This screenwriter's workshop has impacted my life for the future in that it has contributed to my freelance writing career. I can confidently say that writing screenplays is one more qualification that I can add to my list.