THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PAST TENSE AND PASSIVE WRITING!!

Often, a writer will be afraid of past-tense - and instead "force" the present tense, which leads to non-conversational scripts. This is because writers have been told to not have passive writing .... but passive writing is DIFFERENT than using past-tense.

For example....

Fact: The mayor called her mom to talk about work.

Forcing the present tense for a script: "The mayor, calling her mom, to talk about work." Would you say that to a friend? No. You would say, "The mayor called her mom to talk about work." Many writers see the PAST TENSE "called" and think that's "bad." It's not bad - it's conversational. Write how you talk! What's worse is that in most cases, the tense switches with the rest of the story: "The mayor, calling her mom, to talk about work. She said she had a tough day." So...the script goes from forcing the present tense "calling" to then using the past tense "said." Ack!

Fact: Firefighters put out the dumpster fire overnight.

Forcing the present tense: "Firefighters, putting out a dumpster fire overnight..." No! You'll hear people doing this - even on network news - but it is not strong writing that connects with the viewer. It comes across as someone pretending to be a news person, like in an SNL skit. "Firefighters PUT the dumpster fire out overnight." Both conversational and active!