One of the biggest mistakes beginning writers make is to work as if they had a director and actors standing by to give life to their story. The fact is that the writer of fiction is the whole crew: director, actors, camera operator—everything. This is the joy and challenge of fiction. You the writer are responsible for the smallest gesture, the largest explosion, and the story arc. It’s all yours—and it’s all made of words. But you can also borrow techniques from film to write better. Here’s how.