INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Avoid opening or looking at your script for at least a week after you write it. Work on another creative project or focus on other activities during this time so you aren't thinking about your script. When you revisit your script after a week, you'll be able to look at it with fresh eyes. Try starting another script while you wait if you want. Open your script and read it out loud straight through. Look for any areas in your script that don't fit with the rest of your story or that sound confusing. Write your notes by hand so you can remember them more clearly. Print out your script if you can so you can write on it directly if you want. Find a colleague or friend that will give you feedback on your script. Tell them to write down any areas where they get confused or lines of dialogue that didn't work for them. Let them read the script once or twice and ask them questions about whether the scenes make sense. Look for other writers so you can swap scripts and give each other feedback. Once you have feedback for your script, sit down and revise any areas that were problematic. Start working on larger problems first, like cutting and rearranging scenes, and work toward smaller errors, like spelling and grammar. Keep working on the script until you feel like it's finished. Start writing your second draft in a new document so you can get a fresh start. This way, you can copy and paste sections from the first draft and reorder them if you need to.

SUMMARY: Take a week break from your script after you finish it. Read your script out loud to find any errors or confusing parts. Share your script with someone you trust to look over it. Rewrite any confusing parts until you're happy with the script.

In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: You don’t want to start too far back or jump too far forward in the story. Remember that you’re introducing the reader to a new world (even in realistic fiction) so make sure you give them a chance to learn the basics - the main character’s name, their personality, their driving force - in the first scene or chapter. If you’re not sure how to start, play around with different starting points. You might have to try a few before you find one that clicks, but that’s what writing is all about!  Try starting with a character in action or your character’s physical appearance to immediately show the reader who’s important. Start with a bird’s eye view of the setting. Describe sensory detail before zooming into your character’s life or home. Tell your readers a character’s “secret” to immediately hook them. Set up the central conflict at the very start to make the reader desperate to know what’s going to happen next. Begin with a memorable, dramatic, or important flashback. Be careful, as flashbacks can confuse the reader if they don’t know it’s a flashback. Think about what kind of opening line you want to write. Will it be absurd and amusing? Bleak and foreboding? Inviting? Unexpected? Will it present an expansive truth? The type of opening line you choose sets the reader’s expectations for the story to come and convinces the reader to read the next line. If you’re feeling stuck, look up examples of famous opening lines for inspiration:  Absurd and amusing: “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” From Nineteen Eighty-four by George Orwell. Foreboding: “It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.” From The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Inviting: “Call me Ishmael.” From Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. Unexpected: “All children, except one, grow up.” From Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. Expansive truth: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." From Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. If the story’s context involved the main character, you can include this information in the main narrative. But, if the necessary context happened in a different setting, or if didn’t involve your protagonist in a concrete way, your book might benefit from a prologue. Make sure your prologue is necessary and impacts the story’s plot significantly -- if it doesn’t, your story might be better of without one. You don’t have to tell your readers everything about the story in the first scene or chapter. Information dumping can bog the story down and deter your readers, just as surely as a lack of information can make them confused. Work on striking the right balance, and ask outside observers for advice if necessary.
Summary: Find your starting point. Try different beginnings. Craft an intriguing opening line. Write a prologue if your story has a lot of historical or narrative context. Avoid information dumping.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Be available to listen when this person needs a friend. Even if the person does not want help now, they may want some support in the future. Let them know that while you don't approve of their alcoholism that you are available to talk and listen if they need it. Communicate that you are willing to be a friend when they need friendship. Share your thoughts and feelings honestly with the addicted person, letting them know how you feel. Put the focus on you and not on them, as this can cause guilt or shame. For example, instead of saying, “You're destroying yourself and making bad decisions” say, “I don't get to see you anymore, which makes me sad. I miss having you as a part of my life.” Let the person know you are worried and are impacted by their drinking. Express your willingness to be supportive as well. Say, “I really don't like how alcohol has impacted our relationship. While this is painful for me, I want to support you because I care about you.” If the person expresses interest in seeking treatment, offer to help them however you can. Help them look up treatment facilities, detoxification programs, support groups, or whatever else they are interested in exploring. Offer to drive them to appointments or support them in certain life changes.  If the person isn't quite ready for help, make one offer, then wait for them to ask you. If you constantly offer help, the person may become off-put by you and your good intentions. Get informed on local resources for alcohol addiction. For example, look up community groups for alcoholism, treatment specialists, and treatment programs. That way, you can be ready to share information with the person.

SUMMARY:
Be available to listen. Express honesty. Offer to help.