Mastering Structure through Character Arcs
Designed for writers of all levels, genres and narrative art forms, BAFTA award-winning screenwriter and author, Anthony Mullins, will show you how to craft an authentic and powerful narrative structure using the most important part of your story - its characters.
Applications open June 2025
Dates: 6pm - 8pm AEST, Thursdays 25 September - 11 December 2025. This is a 12-week program.
See Program Outline below for the dates of all sessions in this program.
Delivery: Online
Fees: $1795 or $1700 for Varuna Alumni. Payment terms are negotiable if you cannot pay the whole fee upfront.
Applications close: 5pm AEST, Tuesday 12 August 2025
Places: 8 participants will be selected
BAFTA and AWGIE award-winning screenwriter, author and playwright, Anthony Mullins shows you how to master story structure using the concept of "character arcs". Drawing on his celebrated book Beyond the Hero's Journey, Anthony will demonstrate how to avoid the cliches and limitations of storytelling formulas like "The Hero's Journey" and the "Three-Act Structure" by focussing on character arcs to build an authentic, emotional and powerful structure for your story.
Taking a deep dive into a wide range of cinematic case studies, from commercial hits to innovative arthouse masterpieces, Anthony will lead participants across a wide storytelling landscape, gathering lessons and insights along the way to help you craft the unique structure your story needs to realise its potential.
But this is not a screenwriting workshop. It's a storytelling workshop. Its lessons are relevant across a wide range of narrative genres and art forms, including literary fiction, playwriting, graphic novels, interactive and, of course, film and television.
Using a mix of film-based case studies, group discussions, class exercises and one-on-one sessions with Anthony, you will learn new techniques that you can immediately test and apply to your own writing in a safe and supportive creative environment.
This is a small group program for 8 participants over 12 weeks.
Each writer will also have a 40-minute one-on-one session with Anthony to discuss their work in progress.
PROGRAM OUTLINE
25 September, Session 1: Overview of character arcs and structure
2 October, Session 2: Change character with an optimistic arc
9 October, Session 3: Constant character with an optimistic arc
16 October, Session 4: Change character with an ambivalent arc
23 October, Session 5: Minimalist arcs
30 October, Session 6: Constant character with an ambivalent arc
6 November, Session 7: Change character with a pessimistic arc
13 November, Session 8: Constant character with a pessimistic arc
20 November, Session 9: Reactive and passive characters
27 November, Session 10: Ensemble arcs
4 December, Session 11: Refining your structure
11 December, Session 12: Wrap up
ABOUT ANTHONY MULLINS
Anthony Mullins is a BAFTA and AWGIE award winning screenwriter, author and playwright. The projects Anthony has written and directed have won numerous international awards including a Primetime Emmy, an International Digital Emmy, two BAFTAs and five Australian Writer’s Guild awards. In 2022, Anthony’s play, The Norman Mailer Anecdote, was a finalist in the Queensland Premier’s Drama Awards and was long-listed for The Griffin Award. His award winning book on screenwriting from New South Publishing has so far been released in Australia, the UK, Canada, the United States, China, and South Korea.
HOW TO APPLY
Applications will open in June 2025
Entry to this course is by application. Writers will be selected based on the creative potential of their work, commitment to craft, openness to collaborating with your peers, and the balance in the group.
Course fees are $1795 or $1700 for Varuna alumni. Payment terms are negotiable if you cannot pay the whole fee upfront.
Applications close at 5pm (AEST) on Tuesday 12 August 2025. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of their submission by 30 August.
Please refer to Varuna’s general submission guidelines for any questions on formatting your work.
Feel free to call 02 4782 5674 or email amy@varuna.com.au to discuss your application.
TESTIMONIALS
“Nobody knows story structure like Anthony Mullins. His workshop challenged and enlivened my understanding of character through teaching that can be applied to the narrative of any type of storytelling, from screen to prose. Every writer should do Anthony’s courses (and read his brilliant book)!”
“Anthony Mullins’ workshop is both fascinating and inspiring. His structural process is incredibly useful and I often use his steps to map out my own story arcs and encourage my workshop students to do the same.”
“I’m an author, not a screenwriter, but I have found Anthony Mullins’s approach to structure inspiring and extremely practical. He helped me work through some plot issues when I was writing Nightingale. Anthony has an inclusive, generous and wise approach; he is very keen to understand an individual’s project and he offers astute observations and targeted suggestions.”
“In his hugely engaging book, Anthony Mullins breaks down an extraordinary array of films, unveiling new analytical tools that are insightful, practical and, best of all, that just might inspire you to write something genuinely original.”
UPCOMING COURSES, FELLOWSHIPS AND EVENTS
