Writing for the screen is unlike any other writing discipline. It’s active, not passive writing. It’s happening as the reader reads it. You can’t show thoughts or intentions, only what the audience can see and hear. You have a prescribed maximum page count. An industry standard prescribed format that can’t be deviated from. Dialogue that must be realistic, using subtext. There is no blatant exposition in screenwriting. It’s so unlike narrative writing that it requires a change in thought process to do it correctly. Unlike novels where detail can be king, screenwriting is about telling your story in the most economical way you can.  Thought needs to taken about the budget of the film you’re trying to tell, depending on who you see producing it and where you intend it to show. All these things add up to new form of writing to most of you. a writing discipline that is difficult to master. But it can be done.  Basic format and rules, treatments, outlines, story concepts, screenplay story structure, set ups and pay offs, realistic dialogue, subtext, settings, cinematic transitions…. All these things and more will be covered when we talk about screenwriting.