What Else Should I Study?

Q. Are there classes other than screenwriting that will help my screenwriting career?

I discuss this in my books, but the two most useful classes I ever took were:

• An editing class with editing great Richard Marks; and
• Acting training with the brilliant acting teacher Joanne Baron.

Editing teaches you what you really need in a scene. Acting teaches you to live the characters as you write them.

Generally, shooting your own short films is a good idea. You get a real sense of how your action and dialog translate from the page to the screen. You learn how a character sometimes needs to say in dialog; and conversely, you learn where you really need to make sure the audience is clear on what's going on.