We can learn all the technical stuff about screenwriting, but when it comes down to it, we’re all telling stories about people.  The more we know about human nature, the better.  Studying acting with a reputable instructor who examines all aspects of a character’s life and why they do what they do, teaches us a great deal about human nature.

The best thing writers can do is study theatre.  Plays are typically much richer than most television or film.  At first glance, some plays may seem superficial, yet once you delve into the characters and figure out why they say what they do, you discover a whole new layer.  Every word says something about character.

This doesn’t mean that all actors make great writers.  Many actors don’t have the patience required to sit at a computer day in and day out for months or years on end.  I don’t know about you, but knowing how hard it is to write something worth showing, I get annoyed when I hear someone tell an actor, “why don’t you just write your own stuff, how hard can it be?”

Having said that, for some it isn’t that hard.  Or at least it seems that way.  Ben Affleck and Matt Damon wrote an Academy Award winning script their first time out, but it did take them years to get it right.  Edward Burns wrote and directed several films, which gave him his start as an actor as well.  Tina Fey has written some incredibly funny stuff and got her start on Saturday Night Live, but only because she wrote already.

Some actors never go beyond the surface.  They read the text, get a feel for the character and just say the words.  Great actors go beyond the text.  They know as much about the character as they can, and what they don’t know, they make up.  They shouldn’t have to make it up; that’s our job.

Life experience makes us better writers because we have to know what we’re writing about.  It’s impossible to live the lives of every character we create so we have to learn vicariously.  What better way to get inside the heads of other people than to study acting and actually become someone else for a while?  Knowing the lives of our characters is imperative, but how much is too much?