I've been reading a lot of amateur screenplays lately.

One thing that strikes me as interesting, is that the dialogue from script to script sounds almost identical.

Subtextless, expository dialogue sounds the same regardless of who writes it. The same goes for passive voice in the narrative.

When a fresh new voice steps in, it gets a very positive response from me.

James, amen! Nothing less entertaining and more sigh-inducing than on-the-nose dialogue filled with exposition.

Let's face it: Some writers are born with an 'ear' for dialogue, but most are not. There are proven ways to develop that ear for dialogue.

The first thing is to entirely rethink the way one looks at dialogue. In a screenplay, it is fundamentally different than dialogue in a novel for a variety of reasons.

The essential principle we teach in Core V is this: Dialogue = Purpose.

And the basic way we go about teaching writers to improve the way the write dialogue is by immersing them in their characters. Dialogue does note exist in vacuum, rather it is grounded in and an expression of a unique character with a distinctive backstory, persona, and world view. In other words, dialogue work for a screenwriter is character work.

I can vouch for the Core classes, having taken two of them. Very helpful!

I still want to get in on some of the Core classes. And am still broke :).

I definitely think good writing can be learned. It just takes practice and a commitment to improve.

In any field, I always think there's more you could know.

Scott,

What's the difference between "Core III: Character" and "Prep: Character Development"?

@DWS: I'll take that up in an update to the OP.