Scott, last year, I took an awesome screenwriting course at NYU. The teacher, who also happens to be a co-writer on one of last year's Black List scripts, had us read a section of the book "Audition" by Michael Shurtleff. Specifically, we read the section on the 12 Guideposts, which is intended to help actors understand 12 important components to a scene. It's amazing how well these tips map to the essentials in writing a good scene. I have the list posted on my PC and refer to it over and over before tackling a tough scene.

@cfan: Wow, that is an excellent resource! I'll update the post with the 12 Guideposts with a big ol' HT to you! Thanks!

I'm so happy you brought this up.

I have no acting experience. I don't know what an actor do to bring life to something written.

So I've been looking for some help. Something that can help me figure out how to improve my writing.

And I haven't find anything meant for writers. Nada.

Thanks for the great post! I've felt this way for a long time, and recently developed a new class here in NYC approaching acting from a writer's perspective. So if you don't mind some blatant, but hopefully appropriate, self promotion, here's a link for anyone who's interested: http://www.actingforwriters.com/acting_for_writers/