In Seminar Funk: Part One, I covered some of the pros and cons of "short-form" screenwriting seminars, i.e., one and two day seminars.  And one of my conclusions is that Only You Can Make Yourself a Better Writer.  Now that I'm freshly returned from the one-week Screenwriter's Conference in Santa Fe, NM -- which included a Pitchfest -- I now ask, "Are long seminars worth it?".  Let me pass on what I've learned.

The Screenwriter’s Conference in Santa Fe that is held in May of every year. It is a week long intensive collection of mentor taught classes, short seminars and culminates with pitch sessions to producers who have access to the independent production companies and large studios.  

I am happy to report that I did not vomit on any producer during any of my pitches.  I may have passed on a sweaty handshake, but the producers in attendance at this conference created a positive educational atmosphere for the writer which is not only unusual at other pitch fests, it put everyone at ease.  Which leads me to my first piece of advice.

Before paying a dime and registering, acknowledge your weaknesses before choosing any mentors or seminars. You won’t get anything out of any conference if you blindly attend. My weaknesses are pitching and outlining so I chose seminars and mentors accordingly.  Research each person fully and don’t rely on the conference’s website to do that research for you. Google is your friend; buy it coffee and it will return great results.

To give an example of why research is so important:

This conference had two mentors teaching the art of outlining. One mentor taught lecture style, showing a movie and discussing it along the way. The other mentor made you put pen to paper and walked you through the outline process. I chose the latter because I can watch a movie any old time of the day. 

Some people work extremely well with a lecture style environment. I do not. Having a person walk me through how to outline effectively using my own story as the example was worth the entire price of this seminar. I came away with a functional story outline and actually learned something.

Smugly I tell you, I didn’t think I would learn anything and I kowtow to you all because I did. It’s hard for anyone to acknowledge personal weakness, but if you do this you can only get better because why:

Only you can make yourself a better writer.

So now that you know to do research on the people who are speaking to you or teaching at these seminars, let’s look into how you should act at one of these shin digs. 

Ask yourself these questions before continuing onward.

• Who is my audience at this seminar? 
• Am I there to network and learn or to have fun?
• What should I have on my person when attending?

Read the conclusion of my Santa Fe experience.