This is one of the most important, useful tools in screenwriting - whether you’re writing drama or comedy, episodic or features. And it all boils down to four questions. (Yes, I tell what they are!).

dramatic action you're tearing me apart is not what you think okay this is truly essential a script is made out of scenes and a scene is built around a dramatic action  writing thesis writing help so a dramatic action is really important but what exactly is it well dramatic action sounds like it must be very big emotions with a lot of fights and stunts and explosions but dramatic action is not necessarily physical action and dramatic does not mean big feelings the basic concept of drama the very origin of the word itself is simply somebody does something now clearly there's more to it because we don't sit down to watch people on screens buying their groceries or putting on their socks.

So what's the difference between dramatic action and people just doing random objective and change objective is what the character is trying to get or make happen this can also be called a goal a need an intention or my favorite what they want now here's the thing about objectives they have two layers suppose my objective in a certain scene is get the key but i want the key to open a box and inside the box is the important evidence of a crime or proof of my identity or a gem that will win someone's love by the way what kind of love is that so get the key is my objective in the moment it's my scene objective but i only care about it because it's getting me to a larger objective that will resolve the story you could call this larger objective the main objective or the central objective or super objective or story objective call it whatever you want but stick with one.

The main objective needs to stay consistent in a story in life we all have a jumble of shifting and conflicting objectives but in a story you focus on one that's a defining feature of stories it's why we like stories they make more sense than life so what does all this have to do with dramatic action at any moment every character has an objective and dramatic action is what they do to get it and when a character takes a dramatic action when they do something to get their objective they're trying to make something change even the most elaborate stunts or visuals the most emotional outbursts will be meaningless and ultimately boring if after it's done everything is still the same now change can be a new direction but it can also be a step along a line of progress or getting a bit of information or even frankly often failure any of those will change the story.

So let's just put this all together a dramatic action is something a character does to get something or to make something happen the objective and it results in a change look at every scene you want to write who's doing something what are they doing what's their objective and what changes when you answer those questions your script will be more alive more powerful and easier to write now that you've got that i can show you an incredibly valuable screenwriting tool it's an acting exercise that every writer should know every character you write will be played by an actor who has to ask themselves about every single scene and line what am i doing when i come into this scene or say this line what do i want what am i trying to accomplish in other words what is the dramatic action so for every moment of every scene for every character actors are trained to do this exercise where they choose one verb okay i know verbs school grammar i agree don't run away.

A verb is just the name of an action and when you choose just one you find the essential thing these people are doing you name the dramatic action when you choose a verb for a scene or a character you give them a power and focus and energy you give everyone something to play and that brings each moment to life so for example murray drops a hint in a conversation with brenda to see if she knows about the upcoming party the action there is to test but the same action can have different essential verbs that's why verbs are so valuable they're about deciding and naming what's really going on for example lois comes into the office and finds jill and joe she asks jo to get her a cup of coffee when joe does lois tells jill something privately now the action there could be to exclude but what if the thing that lois had to say was something that might upset joe then the verb is actually to protect the verb tells you the essential purpose and feeling of a moment the verb is the dramatic action in its purest state one thing when you choose a verb beware the passive verbs.

There's only a few of them be are is was don't use those they don't name an action they describe a state of being so your character does not want to just be the queen they want to rule they don't want to just be rich they want to make the sale or find the treasure they definitely don't want to just be happy find another word what action do they need to take to be happy okay one last thing you might have noticed about all of these actions and verbs a lot of them are really just talking there is a theory that since screens are visual talking is bad this is a stupid theory dialogue is action so much of the human experience so much of how we accomplish things how we get things or make things happen is done by talking if your dialogue is not action that's not because dialogue itself is somehow undramatic it's because you haven't made it into an action and you should so one more time because this is truly essential every script is made of scenes and every scene is built on a dramatic action a dramatic action is something a character does to get something or to make something happen the objective and it results in a change as you work scene by scene and especially when you get stuck or lost or you're just not feeling it ask yourself what is the action alright that's enough for now go write something if you like this video click the like button and subscribe to this channel for more quality screenwriting education talk to me in the comments ask me questions tell me what you want to know i will answer and if you'd like me to work with you on one of your projects one-on-one go to writingforscreens.com and that's it until next time.