Sorry to break it to you. Your parents were right all along. We’ll look beyond their moral guidance and see the wisdom within. Your dialogue has to be active. I cut my teeth learning how to write action.

Yes, dramatic action is where it’s at. It remains the central, most crucial tenet of any script. Action, and of course, story. It took me years to understand how they work, so I am fully prepared to get into the trenches with you and find the solutions you need to improve your script.

I’m a big fan of crafting stories in units of action. Mark each moment by the progress of your characters in their action toward a goal or in getting something from each other. Unless we’re in a comedy, we’ll look at heightening and getting characters into as much trouble as possible.