Over the course of nearly 20 years working with screenwriters and developing material, Max Timm of the ISA has found that nearly every screenwriter (himself included) jumps into page writing far too early. We all know the word "outline", and we all immediately cringe when hearing we should write one before we write the pages. Max has created a list of 12 things to develop and brainstorm before even writing your outline, with the intent to make it easier to write such a cringe worthy piece of material. Join us at the end of August for the first ISA educational webinar since the Spring!

Max Timm is the Director of Education with the International Screenwriters’ Association, Co-VP of Development for Creative Screenwriter Productions, and the President of The Story Farm Coaching service. With nearly 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry and in developing written material and writers’ careers, his focus with the ISA is to shepherd writers to industry professionals, offering exposure alongside career-long education. He has coached and consulted on material written by writers ranging from beginner to A-list actors creating their own vehicles. His online class, The Craft Course in Screenwriting, offers writers an in-depth yet easy to understand approach to professional full development. In order to connect with as many aspiring writers as possible, he also helped create and launch multiple webinars, workshops, and the ISA's 30-Day Screenwriting Challenge.

Aside from focusing on education, Max has joined forces with his ISA cohorts to launch a production and development company called Creative Screenwriter Productions where they develop and produce low to mid-range budgeted films and TV series written by ISA’s top members.

Max is also a screenwriter and author. His debut novel, a young adult fantasy adventure titled The WishKeeper, about a teenage fairy with broken wings, won the YA category of the Los Angeles Book Festival, released nationwide and internationally, and is now being shopped as an animated series. Max has also served as a part-time instructor at UCLA, and travels nationally speaking at various industry events such as the Sundance Film Festival, Nashville Writers Conference, and the Napa Valley Film Festival.

Time Stamps:
0:00 - intro
2:05 - Live event about voice
2:50 - What’s the 30-Day Challenge?
4:55 - Free ISA Webinars
8:45 - Online live writing retreat
10:25 - Brainstorming
14:35 - Overview
16:35 - Character Uniqueness
19:12 - Story Uniqueness
21:40 - Theme and message
23:55 - Arena/World
26:12 - Main Character Stage of Life
29:17 - Secondary Character & Effect
34:25 - Opponent Plot & Emotional Intent
38:04 - Ticking Clock
40:36 - Setup Event/Inciting Incident
44:48 - 2nd Act Recurring Moment
47:15 - Low Point
48:33 - 12 Sequence Battle, climax not resolution
49:20 - Anchor sequences, outlining
52:00 - Don’t worry about word choice, 1 page pre-writing
54:10 - Pacing for attention spans
55:35 - Screenplay contests & getting exposure for your work
1:00:58 - Outline
1:02:00 - Pre-writing & character development work
1:03:23 - What is a secondary character?
1:05:15 - Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s pre-writing style
1:06:35 - When an opponent isn’t a character “Castaway”
1:08:40 - Should character wants be tangible
1:10:08 - Using flashbacks as plot and recurring moment
1:13:20 - Condensing the 12-sequences for TV
1:16:37 - Can a Secondary Character be the Opponent
1:18:10 - Flashback vs a dream
1:21:05 - Wrapping up