01 / The craft / Writing
Build a scene around an intention
Before writing dialogue, ask what each person wants from the encounter and what makes that difficult. An objective gives the scene movement; resistance gives it pressure. A character may say one thing while pursuing another. The resulting tension can create meaning through pauses, interruptions, objects and actions, allowing the audience to participate instead of receiving an explanation of everything.
02 / The craft / Writing
Make the page playable
Clear action lines help collaborators understand what can be seen and heard. A useful exercise is to write a short encounter with very little dialogue, then identify which actions carry its essential information. Another is to rewrite a conversation after changing who has control of the space. These exercises reveal how dramatic meaning can emerge through physical circumstances rather than additional speeches.
03 / The craft / Writing
Revise for experience
Read the scene aloud and notice where language becomes difficult to perform or where the same information appears more than once. Ask whether the scene changes something: a relationship, a decision or the audience’s understanding. L2H’s planned writing activities would connect practical exercises with guided review. Their specific scope will be announced separately, while the broader aim remains a stronger relationship between the writer’s intention and the experience created on screen.
For an independent practice session, write an arrival and a departure that change the relationship between two people. Keep the setting simple, then examine whether the change is legible through action without an explanatory final line.
