This is a review of Seth Worley’s Writing 101 course on MZed.
- Ready to start writing that short film?
- Want a fun introduction to writing that is practical?
- Enjoy the writing of the Red Giant shorts by Seth Worley?
There are tons of books and resources out there to get you started on your first or next screenplay. The problem is that many of them feel like information overload while not providing you with practical steps to actually make progress on your screenplay.
Enter Writing 101 by Seth Worley.
If you are wanting to learn the fundamentals of writing, learn the tried-and-true story structures, examine new ways to structure your work, and overall get inspired to write, this is the course for you.
Seth Worley’s Writing 101: Verdict
Writing 101 is the best primer on screenwriting and storytelling available online. In just 34 minutes, you will get a solid understanding of the major tools you have in your arsenal as a writer and learn how to use them as well. After watching this course, you will feel more confident writing with the story in mind and feel motivated to get out and write.
Pros of Writing 101
Cons of Writing 101
Let’s take a deeper look at Writing 101 by Seth Worley and see if it’s worth it for you.
Who is Seth Worley?
Seth Worley is probably best-known as a short film creator for the software and product company Red Giant. He has produced many shorts for them that promote their products. Some of my favorites include Form 17, Plot Device, and Spy Vs Guy.
Here are the benefits you can expect by taking Seth Worley’s Writing 101 course:
Topics Covered in Seth Worley’s Writing 101
Seth Worley’s Writing 101 course goes over the essentials to make your script work, including a very cool segment about the story clock, which was a new concept to me.
- Introduction
- The Ideafest
- Structure
- Archetypes
- Theme
- The Clock
- Your Clock
- The Writing
- Formatting
- Limitations
- The Resources
Seth Worley’s Writing 101 Course Content Style
Writing 101 is taught by Seth Worley entirely and is a fun adventure and primer for screenwriting.
He cuts between talking directly to the camera, sprinkling in cool on-screen graphics, and including BROLL from popular movies & also short films that he produces.
Seth is definitely having a ton of fun making this course, as he regularly tosses in jokes to keep things lively. He’s a very funny guy who is easy to listen to and has a gift for taking usually difficult-to-understand concepts and breaking them down into easy-to-understand bites.
In a runtime of just 34 minutes, this course is short & sweet packed full of good content.
Seth Provides You With Useful Homework
Similar to what he did in his course Short Films 101, Seth provides a section in each of his videos where he invites you to apply what you have learned in that lesson.
You may learn about the array of typical archetypes in a video, for example, and then be asked to see which archetypes your characters fall into and if there are archetypes missing from your script.
One particular aspect I really enjoyed was how this course also ended up being a primer on how to better watch movies.
As you watch Seth’s course, he explains the major plot points, the different archetypes, themes, structures, and so on. He provides tons of real-world examples of movies that do this and also encourages you to be more observant when watching movies in the future.
After going through this course, you’ll not only be able to better write but you’ll also be able to better watch short films and movies. You’ll be training your narrative mind to better deconstruct films in a way that will serve your writing and creativity.
Resources for Writing
Seth teaches throughout the course through his own experience of making shorts and also his mindful deconstruction of popular movies, including Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Trek, Toy Story, and more.
He also teaches the cool idea of the story clock and how it can be used to brainstorm ideas for your film.
In the final module, he walks through the different bonus resources available to students of his course, which includes templates for coming up with ideas, a story clock template, and a number of story clocks from popular movies, like the ones listed above.
These resources provide a nice way to digest and grapple with the ideas Seth teaches throughout the course. As a writer, you’ll find great value in being able to go through these story clocks, templates, and scripts that he provides in the resources section of the course.
The Verdict for Writing 101
If you are looking for the best introduction to screenwriting, this is it.
In roughly 30 minutes, Seth distills an incredible amount of practical information that will make you a better writer while also teaching you how to watch movies in a more mindful way. This is the perfect launching pad for new screenwriters or writers looking to tackle their next script with a bit of Seth Worley flair.
If you already have an MZed Pro subscription, I highly recommend taking the time to check this out. If you don’t have a subscription yet, this is a great addition to the line-up and, when matched with the other amazing courses MZed has to offer, makes MZed overall an easy recommendation.
Writing 101 can be purchased individually or accessed as part of an MZed Pro subscription. I watched it through my MZed Pro subscription, which gives you access to a ton of other content for one low cost. With their money-back guarantee, there’s little risk to seeing if MZed Pro is a good fit for you.
Are you ready to elevate your narrative writing?
Happy learning and I hope this review was helpful for you!
