Week two for our intrepid scriptwriters was spent on sharpening dialogue and tightening up our stories. First, we distinguished the difference between conversation and dialogue (conversation is sharing of information; dialogue is for trying to get something you want) and then we went back into our scripts to make sure that our characters’ motivations were clear, and began to rewrite our scenes with our characters actively trying to get what they want. We were also fortunate enough to talk with Merritt Tierce, a novelist and screenwriter, about her work on Orange Is the New Black, a popular Netflix show. She showed us a shooting script from one of her episodes and chatted with us about being on set and collaborating with directors and actors. She also gifted us a bunch of screenplays from the last awards cycle! Finally, we wrapped up our time together reading each other’s work, giving notes, and practicing for our table read at the Final Presentation.

— The Scriptwriting team