Endorsements & Testimonials
Feedback from industry leaders, students, and mentees.
Ealing Studios London
Industry Leaders
'At last you will understand Pulp Fiction! All the vague confusing things that teachers and studio executives say about flashback, turning points and multiple protagonists are whipped into coherent shape, in a comprehensive, precise and extremely practical theory.'
Christopher Vogler
Author of The Writers' Journey
A brilliant book. Linda Aronson is one of the great and important voices on screenwriting.’
Dr Linda Seger
Dr Linda Seger Leading Script Structure expert. Author of Making a Good Script Great
'Tired of the Syd Field and Robert McKee dyad? Screenwriter Linda Aronson has a new nuts-and-bolts book that could leave the other gurus searching for day jobS. Five stars
Erick Opeka
Cineverse
Anyone who has heard Linda Aronson speak about screenwriting knows that the insight that she can offer YOU, about YOUR screenplay, is extraordinary. Even at the best of times your brain should be prepared to explode when listening to her. I have personally heard all of the so-called ‘script gurus’ speak, and I can tell you, if you want advanced professional script insight, Linda is the person for you. This is especially true if your story is struggling to fit into the traditional three act structure, or if you have multiple protagonists.
Chris Jones
Writer, director, organizer London Screenwriters' Festival
"A very clear and intelligent analysis of what's going on in film structure and the advances of the last ten years. Terrific handling of Pulp Fiction and flashback. A genuine advance in the theoretical knowledge of film structure and a very clear coverage of the basics. A big advance on the standard texts. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but I learnt a thing or two "
David Williamson
playwright, film writer
'A VERY WONDERFUL book. I love the strategies for plumbing the unconscious story mind. There's no other book that gives such an in-depth analysis of the "bone structure" for all these various kinds of narratives.'
Robin Swicord
Screenwriters Producer Little Women 2019, Writer The Jane Austen Book Club, Memoirs of a Geisha etc
"As a screenwriting teacher at New York University I recommend a broad spectrum of textbooks to my students. I tend to the view that most of these books offer something of value and each of them is essentially as good as the person who reads them. In the case of Linda Aronson’s work I make an exception. The 21st-Century Screenplay addresses areas not covered by others. The book provides the services of a personal script editor, dramaturg or even co-writer. It functions as a manual as well as a road map"
Paul Thompson
New York University
'It's a huge achievement, an incredibly comprehensive analysis of what the screenwriter does, of what can go right and what can go wrong and how to fix it when it does. I highly recommend it.'
Andrew Bovell
Lantana, Blessed, Edge of Darkness
Linda Aronson is one of my heroes. My inspiration. Screenwriting Updated blew me away … Linda Aronson was the first person, maybe still the only person to really talk about the fact that structure doesn’t always have to be about one form.’
Pilar Alessandra
Los Angeles Scriptwriting Expert
‘F- ing brilliant’
Duncan Thompson
Leading Australian script editor/writer/screenwriting teacher
Online Courses
After 20 years working in TV and cinema it was terrific to find, discover and apply new tools that are going to remain in my day-to-day work. Also, it was very helpful to understand much better how to build up long stories, to detect some mistakes I made in the past and to learn how to prevent them in the future.
Martín Román
Scriptwriter and Script Content and Development Advisor
I feel like I've learned so much in such a short space of time. I enjoyed working my way through the exercises and I'm already employing what I've learned in a couple of projects I'm co-writing with novice writers who want to tell very personal stories. Having a solid workflow in terms of character design, beats and story strands has really helped me structure the way we work together in a measured and strategic manner, whilst also allowing us to see/track tangible progress without feeling the need to leap straight into writing a first draft.
A big thank you to Linda for setting up and running the course
Nicola Lees
Scriptwriter and Script Consultant
This course was terrific. If the opportunity comes to do one of Linda's courses, don’t pass it up.
What I gained is experience with contemporary multi story serial / series writing, done under pressure and within budgetary and set constraints. And done to order. I uncovered habits in my own writing that needed attention. Linda’s ‘story muscle’ technique for brainstorming new ideas has now become part of my toolkit. Linda’s relentless demonstration and exercises in how to build the stories, how to meld them into a whole, and to end up with something that’s more than the sum of its parts was a revelation. And when Linda is talking, she’s a joy to listen to. Anecdotes and examples spill out. Her analytical approach is an education, and her enthusiasm is inescapable. I’m already a better writer because of her influence, but just as importantly, I can see how to keep improving.
Patrick Carr
Playwright
Mentorships
Linda Aronson is a masterful screenwriting teacher. I did her mentorship on both feature film and tv-series, and – as an experienced writer herself as well as an inspiring analyst – she taught me how to develop ambitious ideas and stories and to work playfully with structure and genre. She provided me with the toolbox of a professional writer that has since prevented me from ever suffering from writer’s block. Thanks to Linda I learned how to identify problems in my stories and how to fix them. Besides being busy with screenwriting jobs, I am about to publish my first novel, a political thriller, with a prestigious publishing house, and I would never have had the courage to embark on such a challenging project, had it not been for Linda’s mentorship.”
Iben Albinus Sabroe
TV awardwinning scriptwriter and novelist
I truly enjoy working with Linda. As a mentor, not only is she incredibly wise, caring and brilliantly creative, she wrote the book on the art of crafting and creating a story, and she has this fine-tuned emotional intelligence to match her magical cognitive powers. Her methods work. They are clear and simple yet powerful tools. She understands people and scriptwriting and the industry, and she communicates all these ideas with ease. She has reduced my mean and disturbingly stressful inner critic to an old friend who only stops by when needed. She is a wonderful teacher and I thank her for mentoring me and also for her patience and fabulous sense of humour. She has transformed my writing. I hope my mentorship never ends.
Diana Juhr De Benedetti
Writer/Producer
In the vast field of screenwriting gurus Linda Aronson is a rare species, as she is both technically on a super high level AND wonderfully clear in her way of teaching her techniques to others. When I first came to her I was very insecure as a writer and had some what of a crazy mindset. She helped me structure my mind and my ideas – and was the first one really to tell my that I had a unique talent and just needed the right taming.
I left her with great sadness and much confidence – and have been working in the industry non stop ever since. I recently sold the film idea I developed on Linda's tutoring programme to an international acclaimed production company.
Being taught by Linda was the first act turning point of my professional career. I often hear her voice in the back of my mind, when my mind strays and I fall back into old patterns. It’s quite comforting that she is right there.
Ida Mule Scott
Award-winning TV writer
Linda Aronson is extremely rigorous. You can already tell by her books, but in person you will see that she demands specificity, long-term thinking, and wild imagination at the same time. Get ready to raise your game! Linda’s method of TV plotting has improved my feature and fiction writing by leaps and bounds. Her sharp eye and generosity of insight has given me new benchmarks to evaluate myself and get out of jams quickly and with sensitivity. I would recommend her classes to anyone who wants to cut through the noise and learn sensible, practical and powerful ways to think about their work.
Jane Meikle
TV/Film writer
If you manage to get a job in telly, Linda’s techniques will help you keep it. This is not just more theory. She really goes into the nitty gritty - how to write and develop a multi strand story, how to write a zinger of a scene by scene, how to write to production constraints - and how to get it all done in double quick time. It’s genuinely invaluable.
Rachel Paterson
BBC TV Writer
