Writing Dramatic Scenes with Vinicius Jatobá

Open for writers of any level and interests – theater makers, screen and comic book writers, and fiction and nonfiction scribblers – the main objective of this intensive one-day writing class is to help you to build and create dramatic scenes by planting an enriching seed of discord.

In this multimedia era flooded with TV shows, podcasts, social media, movies and chats, we can all agree that talk is: exciting, unnerving, distressing, passionate. It’s the currency we all know how to use in our daily lives! When we communicate, we all strive to create a common ground, to build togetherness.

But how can we use this naturally acquired knowledge and transfer it to the page: to write scripts for film and stage or to create compelling scenes and dialogue in our stories and novels? Often in the transfer, there is a feeling of platitude – something is missing. There can be a disconnect when attempting dramatic writing: the more clearly characters speak their mind, the less they communicate. In dramatic writing “I love you” is never about love and “I hate you” is never about hate.

In this workshop, we’ll learn how to bring our fluent knowledge of the art of talking to the page in a way that expresses our characters’ longing for communication and becomes a sharp tool for heightening drama. We’ll explore how every good dramatic scene, regardless of being humorous or sad, builds up by tearing down or revealing the inner truths.

Together, we’ll read a poem, watch a movie scene, listen to a theater sketch, and dissect a small comic strip, and then we’ll write our scenes and workshop them together.

Vinicius Jatobá is a Latin American writer born in Brazil. He holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. He was chosen as one of the Best of Young Brazilian Writers by Granta Magazine. His short stories were published in World Without Borders, Párrafo, Wagenbach, and Ragpicker Press. His short plays and sketches were read and performed by Seattle Rep, Nordlabor Stuttgart, Caveat NYC, Theatre Freiburg, Ufer Studios Berlin, and Lyric Hyperion Theatre, among other venues. He took part in three editions of the Climate Change Theatre Action and he was a writer-in-residence at Theatre Freiburg for the 2020-21 season.