The Writing Studio    Trainer Daniel Dercksen     Services      Success Stories   
Workshops and Courses                 Home

"It gave me a better understanding of how visuals are used to tell a story. I remember us talking a lot about subtext and the effect it had on the audience. I was only 15 years old back then, so I remember it also made my teachers cringe when I wrote richer, yet more controversial stories in my Afrikaans literature class. Some gave me a 1 out of 10, others seem to think I am going to be a Professor at an University. No one dreamed or thought I am going to be making films"

If you're an aspiring screenwriter with a vivid imagination whose ideas are larger than life, The Write Journey is guaranteed to turn words into big screen action!

The Write Journey looks at mastering the art of plotting your story, defining and developing your premise, concept, theme and characters and taking ownership of the writing process.

The motivational and inspirational workshop explores the art of visual narrative and the fundamentals of successful storytelling.

Within 4 afternoons budding screenwriters will understand the principles of writing for a visual medium and what it takes to be screenwriter in South Africa.

The workshop is ideal for ANYONE with an idea for a story. If there is something or someone you want to write about this is your opportunity to turn thoughts into words.  Ideas are transformed into concepts that will be reworked into visual narrative filled with action, description and vibrant characters.  

This outcome-based workshop examines the principles of writing for film or television and explores the writing process, developing characters and mastering the art of structure.

It is a basic workshop that explores the art of storytelling and the craft of writing a universal story that reflects the uniqueness, history and culture of South Africa and Africa.

It's about writers connecting with the process of writing productively in their comfort zones and producing South African stories the world wants to experience.

The duality of the interactive workshop nurtures creativity: it allows the writer to write instinctively and take an introspective journey into story; it also stimulates writers to write stories connected to their unique cultures, communities, history and experience that reflect the universal human condition.

The workshop is ideal for novelists, journalist and writers who would like to master the art of adapting stories into a visual medium.

Following the workshop, the writers will be guided through the process of developing their screenplays through The Write Agency, and get their drafts shaped for the international film, television and publishing markets.

The trainer is local writer, playwright, movie journalist and Education, Training and Development Practitioner Daniel Dercksen. As a freelance journalist for more than 30 years, and published playwright, Dercksen is a qualified ETD Practitioner (Education, Training and Development) - accredited by SAQA (The South African Qualifications Authority) - working in accordance with the principles of the Department of Education and focusing on outcomes-based education, training and development.

Graduates of previous workshops include award-winning playwrights Neil Coppen (winner of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Theatre, 2011, as well as the Naledi Award for Best South African Play, Abnormal Loads, 2013), filmmakers John Barker (Bunny Chow and How To Steal a Million) and Henk Pretorius (Bakgat, Fanie Fourie Se Lobola), novelists Lauren Beukes (Zoo City), Gary Hirson (The Magic That is Ours and Calm in Storm), and Consuelo Roland (Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Fiction Award and received an Honorary mention for the Olive Schreiner Prize for her novel The Good Cemetery Guide).

" The thought of "screenwriting" always seems so complex and complicated, the workshop unpacked it and classified everything into separate manageable boxes. Daniel Dercksen knows what he is talking about, so he is able to zoom in certain things, break complex issues into smaller understandable chunks. The workshop was inspiring and it confirmed to me that I'm on the "write" track -- I'm on the path of what I want to do."
Refilwe Thobega, Assistant Editor: South Africa Yearbook (Government Communications)

"The workshop exceeded my expectations. I did not expect so much useful information to be made available to us. It was one of the best value for money workshops that I have attended - and fun too. I left with lots of useful information, a fist full of notes and a newfound interest in the movies as an art form." Sally Sinclair

"Daniel Dercksen's workshop offers an insightful and inspiring introduction into the craft and art of storytelling. Great motivation to help one begin that rather daunting and solitary task of transferring ones story from the imagination to the page.
Writer/director Neil Coppen, creator of Tin Bucket Drum, Tree Boy, and Abnormal Loads and winner of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Theatre, 2011, as well as the Naledi Award for Best South African Play (Abnormal Loads), 2013

"If I had attended it some five or ten years ago, so many things would have changed in my career, as well as life in general." Elelwani Ramaite-Mafadza, a  lecturer at the University of Venda, as well as a researcher in the Indigenous Music and Oral History Project (IMOHP) and involved in the CUPP project which is a project involved in rural development

"Thank you for an illuminating workshop. For the insight that I now have in the birth of a script; especially the development of a front page, log line and tag line. I am still the producer at heart but with the couple of movies that I am nudging forward with development I know what I am looking for in the scripts." Producer Alan Lawson, Birdfilm (South Africa)

"The Write Journey workshop has given me a clearer understanding of how stories are told for the big screen or television. Structured lessons also gave me a better idea on how to make a financially viable blockbuster. Daniel Dercksen has a practical approach when teaching the art of writing for film and this makes it easy to learn and follow through when I write my own stories.  For me it was 3yrs of film school jam packed into 2 days of insightful lessons. "
Warren Gray- Production designer and Art Director (Assistant Art Director on History of the world  - BBC & Film Afrika)