Plot Points and Hero's Journey Revisited

Today I found this excellent diagram showing the plot points - I like this because Daniel has plotted the internal journey along the Hero's journey. This would be useful for any screen writer.

See bigger image.

Collaborative writing!

I have been thinking of ways to involve friends and other interested script writers to collaboratively write a story/screen play. Though there are some subtle challenges like who all to have involved in this process etc the advantage would be in crossing geographic, time and any such boundaries. You can definitely get the work done lot faster.
See this blog article http://madebyloren.com/github-for-writers where the author points out that a group of mathematicians collaborated to write a book using GitHub! (see http://math.andrej.com/2013/06/20/the-hott-book/)
Looks like the author of that blog created a collaborative writing tool: Penflip - GitHub for Writers

Now while that above can be too radical there seems to be something closer to us: https://story.adobe.com/en-us/index.html
I am yet to start exploring Adobe's Story but some coworkers said that this is really useful.

There is a web based solution too: https://writerduet.com

While you are at it you might also want to think about putting together some sort of an ownership split agreement as in http://www.wga.org/uploadedFiles/writers_resources/contracts/collaboration.pdf

Have you collaboratively written stories/scripts? Did it work? Did you use any software? Does this really add value in your writing? Share your experience with us.

If you were to write a story on a social issue...

Seems like all film festivals are interested in a plot that explores social issues of our times. If you were asked/forced to write a story on a social issue what would you write on? This is exactly what I was faced with. So I decided to put together a list of topics to spin my plot around.

Here is the definition: A social issue is any controversial issue/problem/topic that affects the members of a society.

• Poverty
• Unemployment
• Crime Rates
• Low Mortality Rates
• Drug and Alcohol Abuse
• Underage Drinking
• Social Discrimination
• Xenophobia, racism, extremism
• Teen Pregnancy
• Sexism
• Pollution
• Gay marriage
• Censorship
• Gun control
• Financial/ Economic Policies (Banking, Housing loans, Stocks)
• Living standards and social security
• Health care
• Corruption, party cronyism and nepotism in public life
• Politics, quality of democracy
• Ethnic problems
• Education
• Housing
• Judiciary, rule of law
• Transportation and basic infrastructure
• Environment
• Regional and local problems
• Public administration, bureaucracy
• Foreign policy
• Immigration, Smuggling people/border crossing
• Culture
• Issues of the elderly population
• Issues of the disabled population
• Issues of the diseased population

Wikipedia has a whole lot more.

What do you think? Is this of any use?

Writer's Digest Books

I found a wonderful book with very nice tips - Writer's Digest Handbook of Short Story Writing. After reading that I learnt that there are actiually two volumes! Volume 1 & 2 with ISBNs 0898790492 and 0898794633. (So looks like I have read only volume 1 and that itself is good. Since writing this I got hold of the second volume and it has a few good articles too.)
Anyways, there is an article about the various types of endings. Here are a few that I can remember:

• Summation endings


• Ideological endings


• Antennae endings


• Anti-climax or bonus endings


• Reversal endings


• Gimmick endings


• Hoax endings (false villain or figure of good)


• Deception endings


• Unconventional use endings


• Irony endings

Tips on comedy from Stephen Duncan

Stephen in his book GenreScreenwriting says that people laugh because they are setup to be familiar with the situation and expect a familiar solution or answer but instead they are hit with an unexpected answer. So incorporate familiarity and the unexpected to get the laughs.

The major collision in all successful comedy is the clash of childishness vs social responsibility. Usually the protagonist impersonates someone he is not, so the more he wants to come clean it becomes more hard.

Three storytelling approaches:
1. Teenage coming of age (American Pie)
2. Body switching (ex: Big, 13 going on 30 etc)
3. Role Switching (Wedding Crashers, What Women Want etc)

Spice up your screenplay

I have been told not to use voice overs and flashbacks when writing a script. None the less I personally find the effective use of flashbacks appealing.I thought that it was just me feeling so until I found http://www.lindaaronson.com/ when reading the book "Genre Screenwriting" by Stephen V. Duncan. (Stephen's book is ok) Linda is great check out her blog and book - I find them interesting. I would like to explore more starting at http://www.lindaaronson.com/main/page_the_six_sorts_of_parallel_narrative_.html

A quick reference and a detailed article on formatting your screenplays

I think this would serve as a quick reference on formating: http://www.writersstore.com/how-to-write-a-screenplay-a-guide-to-scriptwriting
Especially I like the image below that they have put together...

(Here is another rather detailed article on formating: http://www.screenwriting.info/)

Nice articles on story, plot and script

I liked the example they have used here and how they have explained the 3 acts. This is a must read: http://bestscreenwritingbooks.com/plot-structure-screenwriting

Here is something I liked from http://homeworktips.about.com/od/homeworktopics/a/play.htm

It seems that E. M. Forester once clarified a plot and its relationship to causality by
explaining:
“'The king died and then the queen died" is a story.

"The king died and then the queen died of grief" is a plot. The time-sequence is
preserved, but their sense of causality overshadows it.

Why write?

If you are a writer and want to write stories first before converting them into screen plays you might like http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter.html. Check it out!
Of course http://celtx.com/ is absolutely the best tool for screen plays.

Edited: 28 mar 2015
Of course I thought Celtx was cool until I discovered Trelby
I now like Trelby; I think it is the best free tool for screen plays - check it out.

(I am not affiliated with Trebly or Celtx)

How can you make each scene interesting?

Here are some tips to keep in mind when crafting your scenes to make thme more interesting. Ofcourse these are totally based on tips from filmscriptwriting.com.

1. Each and every scene should have a motivated conflict.

No matter how big or small it is conflict which makes a story interesting; conflict drives a story forward. Even small, less exciting, scenes should contain some level of conflict. Even the best of friends have small disagreements and you’ll find that even when two people have the same goal in mind they both have different ways to go about achieving it. In contrast the conflict between two enemies will be much greater, with both characters willing to do anything to defeat the other.

2. Every scene should have a purpose and move the story forward. Every scene should move the story forward in terms of both the plot and character's growth.

3. Make your scenes visual; dont make characters talk to reveal.

4. Consider each scene to be a mini story. Each scene should have a beginning, middle and end.

5. Pace your scenes. Fluctuate the pace depending on the reaction you want from the audiance.

6. Keep throwing obstacle after obstacle at your main character.

7. Finish the scene dramatically.

When you reach the end of the scene you should always aim to leave the main character with some sort of decision or imminent decision. Make the viewer lust after the knowledge of what is going to happen next. Throw them a cliff-hanger, a reversal or a revelation to raise their interest level. This is how you add the twists and turns in a story that make it captivating.

Yet another site on scriptwriting

Here is a nice site that discusses some of the main ideas around scriptwriting. Checkout the section on character development and story structure.
http://www.filmscriptwriting.com/theideafactory.html
You can find some sample scrips too.
Check out the resources page too.

My proff always used to say the following:

1. Define an emotion or mood of the film right from the very begining.


2. Starting scens of a movie should capticate the audience and the following scens should keep them engaged. While it’s perfectly acceptable and even advisable to start a story with a big event to grip the reader/viewer you want to save the biggest and best till the end.

Hers are a few things I liked from that site:

[There] are several types of opening that you can use to start your film. None of these are mutually exclusive, you can choose to mix and match certain elements from each type.

The Blatant Opening Within a few moments you know exactly who the hero is and what the movie will be about. The James Bond series are a great example of this type of opening. In this first ten pages of your script you will introduce the hero, the villain and exactly why they oppose each other. The blatant opening works particular well for action films, a fast, intense opening will hook the reader and keep them flicking through the script.

A Regular Day In this opening you will put over the pace of life in a regular day for your main character. Then an event will happen which breaks the normality of your character’s life, one which they will need to rectify for their life to return to the way it was.

True Beginning The script starts right along with the start of the story for the main character. They might have just been given a million dollars, or landed in a new country.

Dramatic Irony This is the only beginning that won’t contain your main character. Instead you give the audience some information that your main character won’t know and will soon affect his/her life greatly. Dramatic irony allows the audience to be in a superior position and sets up both tension and anticipation.

Foreshadowing This opening takes place before your main story begins and anticipates what is going to happen later in the story. Like the dramatic irony opening the audience is placed in a position to predict what is going to happen. This is often used for doomsday and horror movies.

Narrator The narrator can be the hero, a secondary character or just a stand alone narrator. The narrator tells the story of the events which happened to the main character at a important time in their life. [hmmm... I dont think I would like this style]

Flash forward The flash forward has two stories running side by side simultaneously. The B story has a narrator who tells the main story, which has already happened. At certain points in the story there’s a flash forward to the narrator who continues with his tale. The A story is the main story, the B story is of the narrator looking back.

Montage This is a great type of opening if you have a lot of information to get across before the main story begins. Also known as a shotgun, a collection of short clips accelerate through the information until the story proper begins. Then the speed of the story can slow down to a regular pace. In a matter of minutes you can explain years of your main characters life. [hmmm... montages are powerful but I would probably not use it at the very begining of a movie...]

Script Repository

Hmmm... I thought that I had posted a few of these earlier, but then....!
Here are a few WebSites whee you can find screenplays for a few popular movies. Read'em and learn :)

• MediaFire


• Script-o-rama


• Simply Scripts


• Movie Scripts and Screenplays
  

I found a bunch of links at Open Directory:

• Awesome Scripts and Screenplays - Collection of various scripts and screenplays, listed in alphabetical order.


• Cinefania - Scripts from horror, sci-fi, fantasy and thriller movies, ready to download.


• Colin's Movie Monologues - Hundreds of monologues from popular films, arranged alphabetically.


• Daily Script - Collection of screenplays for a number of mainstream films, in alphabetical order.


• Drew's Script-O-Rama - Index of downloadable movie and television scripts.


• HorrorLair - Collection of horror, suspense, and science fiction movie scripts in plain text format.


• Inflow's Script Depository - Self-contained HTML scripts that you can read online - no downloading of files


• Internet Movie Script Database - Movie scripts online free for reading and downloading. Hundreds of popular movie scripts available.


• JoBlo's Movie Scripts - Scripts and script drafts of movies.


• Mooviees.com: Movie Scripts - Featuring links to movie scripts and transcripts.


• Movie Script Archive - Alphabetical listing of screenplays and transcripts of films from various genres.


• Movie Scripts - Alphabetical listing of screenplays for various action, science fiction, and horror films.


• My PDF Scripts - Film and television screenplays in PDF format, along with reviews and a small collection of miscellaneous film-related publications.


• Satan's Script-o-Rama - Alphabetical listing of science fiction, action, and horror films, in ZIP archive format.


• Screenplays Online - Features a variety of online scripts available to read in an unzipped format.


• Screenplays for You - Features downloadable scripts from various movies organized alphabetically.


• Script-Fix - Provides an alphabetical listing of online movie scripts.


• ScriptCrawler - Features searchable database of free movie, tv, radio, and anime scripts.


• SimplyScripts - Searchable directory of downloadable scripts. Includes television, radio, anime and unproduced scripts and screenplays.


• Television and Movie Scripts - Some scripts of television shows and popular movies.


• The Sci-Fi Movie Page - Downloadable sci-fi, fantasy and horror movie scripts.

Developing Your Screenplay

Here is some info on Field's formula and analysis of the same on Thelma and Louise: http://wondering-mind.blogspot.com/2007/03/screenwriting-101-syd-field.html

Here is an article from http://www.scriptfly.com/articles/developscreenplay.shtml

Below is the formula from Field's book:

Beginning			Middle		End
|			|				|
|	Pinch I		|	Pinch II			|
|		|	|		|		|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|		|	mid-point		|		|
|	Theme of action		60	Theme of action			|
Plot Point I	45		|	75		Plot point II
The Set-up			confrontation				resolution

Here is a snippet from http://www.scriptfly.com/articles/buildingscreewritertoolbox.shtml
Character and story are always intertwined, but listed in parenthesis is the stronger focus of the book.

• The Art of Dramatic Writing, Lajos Egri - This is not for everyone. The book was written in 1946, specifically for playwriting, but I highly recommend it for screenwriting. Its depth of information converts over well for the screenplay format. (Character Development, Story Structure)
• Aristotle's Poetics - Aristotle IS the master. He was the very first to research and analyze story structure. The fundamentals haven't changed. (Story Structure)
• The Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell - This book is not the easiest read, but explains the hero's journey by using the classic myth structure. (Story Structure, Character Development)
• The Writer's Journey, by Christopher Vogler - This is like the "Cliff Notes" version of The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Its content is taken directly from it, sifting out a lot, and focusing on myth structure for screenwriters. But like "Cliff Notes" it waters down the intricate details. (Story Structure)
• Stealing Fire from the Gods, by James Bonnet - Also based on Campbell's research on mythic structure, but it also examines the structure of fables and fairly tales. It will help you apply these golden forms to you own writing and give you a new insight into story development. (Story Structure, Story Development)
• Screenwriting From the Heart, by James Ryan - A unique approach that will help to write a character-driven screenplay. (Character Development)
• Screenplay, by Syd Field - Known for converting plot points to page numbers. It is a good basis to begin learning screenplay structure, but WARNING -- be careful about plopping your plot points onto pre-established page numbers. This rigid form of writing makes formulaic and wooden screenplays. (Screenplay Structure)

See this too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth
See this article on character development also: http://actioncutprint.com/filmmaking-articles/filmmakingarticle-04/

Another Formula for your Script

I stumbled upon the following at http://www.scriptfly.com/articles/screenplay-structure.shtml

It introduces what is called narratemes. Real neat - enjoy.

The first seven narratemes introduce the initial story situation: who, where, when, how and why.

1. Something’s Missing: Someone, (or something) is missing or is in danger in the lead character’s, (hero’s) world.
2. The Warning: The hero is cautioned: “You are too young, inexperienced or weak." A challenge or warning.
3. Violation: The antagonist disturbs the peace, poses a threat. Can be a real or perceived danger.
4. Reconnaissance: The antagonist often wants to know where the children or a precious object are located.
5. Delivery: The antagonist obtains useful information which he may use against the protagonist.
6. Trickery: The antagonist tries to fool the hero in order to steal something of value or threaten someone important to the protagonist.
7. Complicity: The hero falls for it hook, line and sinker and unwittingly helps the antagonist.

Now, the story really begins! In folktales the hero would leave on his/her quest by the end of this next sequence of narratemes.

8. Villainy and Lack: The antagonist threatens or harms someone important to the hero, or something else which affects others is suddenly missing.
9. The Challenge: The hero discovers, or is informed of the “lack" and is requested, or feels obligated to help.
10. Counteraction: The protagonist, (as any hero would) chooses to accept the challenge or assignment despite the clear danger.
11. Departure: The hero leaves and is, (often accidentally) joined by another character known as the “helper" or “provider."

In the next sequence, the hero sets out on his/her quest. He/she may or not get assistance from the “helper," (which may secretly be working for the antagonist) but the hero’s goal is clear at this point.

12. The Test: The protagonist is soon challenged, either by the “helper," or someone else needing assistance, (but not necessarily the antagonist).
13. Reaction: Our hero responds positively and bravely to the test, but may or may not succeed at this time.
14. Acquisition: In a folktale the hero may obtain a magical object as a result of his actions. In contemporary dramas, he learns a skill or obtains important information. As a result, other characters may offer help.
15. Transport: Usually, the hero must travel to another location to reach his goal where he is unwelcomed or will be in danger.
16. Confrontation: The hero and antagonist fight. This may not be the climatic battle and the hero may lose this round.
17. Injury: The hero is injured, “marked," or set back in his quest, but not mortally wounded.
18. Victory: Our hero beats the bad guy, but his victory may only be temporary and actually strengthen the antagonist.
19. Resolution: The initial “lack" may or may not have been fixed, but someone is rescued or something is returned through the direct efforts of the hero.

In many stories this might be the story’s end as our hero returns and all is well. However, Propp provides an additional story possibility. Many of his suggestions are optional from now on.

20. The Hero Returns: The hero leaves the place he initially went to for his quest and heads back home.
21. Pursuit: The hero is chased by the antagonist who tries again to kill him or take back what the hero has obtained.
22. The Rescue: The hero narrowly escapes, often through the assistance of the “helper," or due to a new skill or moral realization.
23. Back Home: Our hero gets back home but he/she is unrecognized or must hide from danger.
24. The False Claim: Because the hero appears absent, others may spread false rumors or question his heroic character.
25. The Difficult Task: This is a direct challenge to the hero who must do something which seems impossible, (i.e., get the golden fleece, fight a dragon).
26. Task Performed: The protagonist proves again his mettle by accomplishing the impossible task.
27. Recognition: The protagonist is acknowledged by someone who is important to the hero. He has proved himself.
28. False Claim is Exposed: The false hero is usually revealed as a direct result of the hero having performed the impossible task.
29. Acknowledgement: The hero is seen in a new light and his heroism is recognized by everyone else.
30. The Hero Wins: The bad guy is vanquished by the hero in a climatic battle, usually in physical combat. The false hero is often punished as well.
31. The Hero Returns: In folktales the hero usually marries a beautiful princess and ascends the throne. In contemporary screenplays the hero gets the girl and his character has been changed forever.

Hooks

Having deliberately made up my mind to write a story in this holiday season, I struggled (again) to generate a nice hook. Then I landed on this page which gave the following ideas:

"A teenager is mistakenly sent into the past, where he must make sure his mother and father meet and fall in love; he then has to get back to the future."

"A group of ex-psychic investigators start a commercial ghost extermination business in New York City."

"A defense attorney falls in love with her client. As the trial progresses, she doesn't know if she's sleeping with an innocent man, or a murderer."

"A rotten kid captures the monster under the bed. He gets seduced into the dark underworld, to the point where he almost becomes a monster himself."

"A guy writes a letter breaking up with his girlfriend, sends it OVERNIGHT EXPRESS. He changes his mind, chases the letter across country, and falls in love along the way."

Screenwriting: What makes a good script?

Here is another good website that I stumbled upon: http://www.screenwriting.info/01.php Here is a snippet.

Characters: The movies you loved most featured characters that swept you up, who captivated your emotions, got you involved. The audience viewing a movie not only wants to be interested in and care about the people they see on the screen, they want to be passionate about them, whether they like them or not. Great heroes and heroines inspire us; great villains make us want to jump into the screen!

Quest: There is always something at stake in a good movie. Not
just something someone wants, something that must be acquired, no matter what
the risk, as in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Or something
highly desired by as many main characters as possible, like the small black
statue in The Maltese Falcon. Some times it can be an intangible thing, like the
freedom of a people in Lawrence of Arabia or Gandhi. All these things drive the
character's quest, even gives the hero superhuman strength. It can be something
personal (romance) or for the good of all (saving the world from aliens) but it
must be powerful and grow more desperate as the story unfolds.

Conflict: There are always obstacles, which provide that catchword that actors love so much -- conflict. This is the heart of drama. Someone wants something and people and things keep getting in the way of them achieving the goal. At times, the obstacles can be common to
both the hero and villain, and the ultimate goal a laudable one for both
parties, as in Jingle All The Way. In that film, Arnold Schwarzenegger and
Sinbad battle to achieve the same goal--the acquisition of the last popular
action figure for sale that Christmas season. Both of them have promised their
son, and they must not fail. Conflict and obstacles can be physical or
emotional. But they have to be in your story or you don't really have a story.

Wound: In most good stories, the protagonist will also have an inner obstacle, some
mental or even spiritual problem, that will be resolved by the time s/he reaches
the outward, physical goal of the story. Some people call this inner demon a
"ghost," while others call in a "wound."

Hook: You need a hook. That's a songwriting term that describes that thing that catches the public's attention. A popular Hollywood term is a "high concept." A better idea might be a simple "What if?" In Galaxy Quest, for example, the concept is "What if the washed-up actors from the crew of a cancelled but still popular sci-fi TV show are pressed into a real war in space
by aliens who think the TV show broadcasts they received were documentaries?" A
good enough "what if?" will set your script apart from the pack. It is why
people will leave the comfort of their homes and plunk down their hard-earned
bucks at the local cineplex.

This site has lots of information. Check it out: http://www.screenwriting.info/

Scriptwriting formula

Have you ever checked out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scriptwriting ?
Checkout the section on the "theories on writing a screenplay". I liked Syd Field's Paradigm.
Here is a copy/paste of the same:

Syd Field's Paradigm
Screenwriting guru Syd Field wrote the seminal book
Screenplay, and posited a new theory, which he called the Paradigm. Field
noticed that in a 120-page screenplay, Act Two was notoriously boring, and was
also twice the length of Acts One and Three. He also noticed that an important
dramatic event usually occurred at the middle of the picture, which implied to
him that the middle act was actually two acts in one. So the Three Act Structure
is notated 1, 2a, 2b, 3, resulting in Aristotle's Three Acts divided into four
pieces.

Field also introduced the idea of Plot Points into screenwriting
theory. Plot Points are important structural functions that happen in
approximately the same place in most successful movies, like the verses and
choruses in a popular song. In subsequent books, Field has added to his original
list, and students of his like Viki King and Linda Seger have added to the list
of Plot Points. Here is a current list of the major Plot Points that are
congruent with Field's Paradigm:

Opening Image: The first image in the
screenplay should summarize the entire film, especially its tone. Often, writers
go back and redo this as the last thing before submitting the script.

Inciting Incident: Also called the catalyst, this is the point in the
story when the Protagonist encounters the problem that will change their life.
This is when the detective is assigned the case, where Boy meets Girl, and where
the Comic Hero gets fired from his cushy job, forcing him into comic
circumstances.

Plot Point 1: The last scene in Act One, Turning Point
One is a surprising development that radically changes the Protagonist's life,
and forces him to confront the Opponent. In Star Wars, this is when Luke's
family is killed by the Empire. He has no home to go back to, so he joins the
Rebels in opposing Darth Vader.

Pinch 1: A reminder scene at about 3/8
the way through the script (halfway through Act 2a) that brings up the central
conflict of the drama, reminding us of the overall conflict. For example, in
Star Wars, Pinch 1 is the Stormtroopers attacking the Millennium Falcon in Mos
Eisley, reminding us the Empire is after the stolen plans to the Death Star
R2-D2 is carrying and Luke and Ben Kenobi are trying to get to the Rebel
Alliance (the main conflict).

Midpoint: An important scene in the middle
of the script, often a reversal of fortune or revelation that changes the
direction of the story. Field suggests that driving the story towards the
Midpoint keeps the second act from sagging.

Pinch 2: Another reminder
scene about 5/8 through the script (halfway through Act 2b) that is somehow
linked to Pinch 1 in reminding the audience about the central conflict. In Star
Wars, Pinch 2 is the Stormtroopers attacking them as they rescue the Princess in
the Death Star. Both scenes remind us of the Empire's opposition, and using the
Stormtrooper attack motif unifies both Pinches.

Plot Point 2: A dramatic
reversal that ends Act 2 and begins Act 3, which is about confrontation and
resolution. Sometimes Turning Point Two is the moment when the Hero has had
enough and is finally going to face the Opponent. Sometimes, like in Toy Story,
it's the low-point for the Hero, and he must bounce back to overcome the odds in
Act 3.

Showdown: About midway through Act 3, the Protagonist will
confront the Main Problem of the story and either overcome it, or come to a
tragic end.

Resolution: The issues of the story are resolved.

Tag: An epilogue, tying up the loose ends of the story, giving the
audience closure. This is also known as denouement. In general, films in recent
decades have had longer denouements than films made in the 1970s or earlier.

The Real Deal

As I think more and more about creating a realistic character for a screen play, I am more and more drawn to shape the character based on learning from great authors (thanks Dad for suggesting this).
As you might know thoughts lead to actions; repeated actions lead to habits; such habits form one's character; and character leads to destiny. So to change your destiny change your thoughts.
Use the same formula to shape or transform a character.

My simple formula for a movie

I have beenthinking lately for a formula for a movie and cameup with the following:

• Introduce the characters (+s and -s of lead characters)
• Do something interesting and grab teh attention of the audience
• Put the hero in the middle of a problem
• Let the hero find a solution and fail
• Throw in a twist that completely resets all expectations
• New bigger problem and increased stakes
• Hero finds a solution and fails at it again
• Let the hero confront his inner fears and find a solution that is successful

Well, what do you think?

How to make a scene dramatic? How to build the plot?

I liked my earlier post - or rather the one it points to... David Mamet's email. I liked it so much that I pulled it out and changed it a bit so that I can internalize it better; again the material is not mine - thanks David. Here it goes:
Screen-writing is not communicating information — though, at times, it might seem so. The audience will not tune in to watch information. You wouldn’t. I wouldn’t. No one would. The audience will only tune in and stay tuned to watch drama.
Then the question is: what is drama? Drama is the quest of the hero to overcome those things which prevent him from achieving a specific, acute goal.
We, the writers, must ask ourselves of every scene these three questions to make it dramatic:

1. Who wants what?
2. What happens if she won’t get it?
3. Why now?

These questions are the ultimate tests, apply them, and their answer will tell you if the scene is dramatic or not.
If the scene is not dramatically written, it will not be dramatically acted. There is no magic fairy dust which will make a boring, useless, redundant, or merely informative scene after it leaves your typewriter into a dramatic, intriguing, watchable one. You the writers, are in charge of making sure every scene is dramatic. If the scene bores you when you read it, rest assured it will bore the actors, and will, then, bore the audience.
Every scene must be dramatic. That means: the main character must have a simple, straightforward, pressing need which impels him or her to show up in the scene. This need is why they show up in that scene. It is what the scene is about. Their attempt to get this need met will lead, at the end of the scene,to failure - this is how each scene ends. This failure will then, of necessity, propel us into the next scene. All these attempts, taken together, will, over the course of the episode, constitute the plot.
Thus each and every scene should both advance the plot, and be dramatic.
The job of the dramatist is to make the audience wonder what happens next. Not to explain to them what just happened, or to suggest to them what happens next.
Don't write like this example (which is informational and suggestive): “But, Jim, if we don’t assassinate the prime minister in the next scene, all Europe will be engulfed in flame”.
Figure out how to write scenes such that the audience will be interested in watching what happens next.
How does one strike the balance between withholding and vouchsafing information? That is the essential task of the dramatist. and the ability to do that is what separates you from the lesser species. Figure it out.

Here are the danger signals you should avoid:

• Look at your log lines. Any log line reading “Bob and sue discuss…” is not describing a dramatic scene.
• Any time two characters are talking about a third, the scene is a crock of shit.
• Any time any character is saying to another “As you know”, that is, telling another character what you, the writer, need the audience to know, the scene is a crock of shit.

Do not write a crock of shit. Instead write a ripping three, four, seven minute scene which moves the story along.

• Remember you are writing for a visual medium. Don't make it sounds like radio (Radio has no visual dimension). The camera can do the explaining for you; let it.
• If you pretend the characters can't speak, and write a silent movie, you will be writing great drama.
• If you deprive yourself of the crutch of narration, exposition, indeed, of speech. you will be forged to work in a new medium - telling the story in pictures (also known as screen-writing).

This is a new skill. no one does it naturally. You can train yourselves to do it, but you need to start.
So start every time with this inviolable rule: every scene must be dramatic.