"What I hope to internalize is that scenes must be written not just in the present tense, but fully in the moment. Write as if the events are actually happening and you are there, the invisible observer, whispering the play-by-play. In great scripts, you can feel when the writer has truly inhabited the world they’ve created. There’s the small detail, that telling gesture or unique description that pulls the reader in and makes the scene come alive. We must maximize the potential of every single scene, and avoid the temptation to go through the motions on the small scenes because we’re eager to get to the good stuff." Love this. The more scripts I read, the more I realize just how important it is to have those special details that draw the reader in, details that no one else would think to use. And to write in the present tense and also fully in the moment is a great lesson. I think approaching writing from this angle allows us to let go once we're writing the words. Not worrying about the past or the future, only the words on the page, the words in the present tense, the words coming from that place of being in the moment. I think that's when the best writing happens. Wishing all the Questers the best as they move into Prep. Really enjoying these updates.

Thanks for that observation, Lydia. There are so many important aspects to writing a screenplay, but that ability to go into the story so that it feels present to you is certainly one of the most critical. To find those small details you mention, ones that emerge where you know you can use it to convey something of real significance to the narrative. To experience in some way what the characters are experiencing as the moments unfold. That's a key way to take the vitality of the story universe and translate it onto the page.