The ability to create a treatment for a story is a valuable skill. It allows you to build a prototype of your story and diagnose problems early in the writing process.
In the book Writing Treatments that Sell, Kenneth Atchity and Chi-Li Wong show us how to create a treatment.
They describe a treatment as -
A relatively brief, loosely narrative written pitch of a story intended for production as a film for theatrical exhibition or television broadcast. Written in user-friendly, dramatic, but straightforward and highly visual prose, in the present tense, the treatment highlights in broad stokes your story's hook, primary characters, acts and action line, setting, point of view, and most dramatic scenes and turning points.
The authors go on to enlighten us about the 16 qualities included in their definition.
Let's consider present tense. The present tense places the audience immediately in the action. Consider this sentence:
"The black limousine hurtles around the corner and slams to a stop at the front steps of the courthouse."
It's in the present tense and it's dramatic. Dramatic qualities include focus, intensity, dialogue, concrete characterization, and, most of all, action.
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