A Premise Line/Log Line is the encapsulation of your plot in 30 words or less. It contains the Main Character, the Desire/Want of that character, an Inciting Incident, the Opponent(s). The genre(s) should be self-evident.

No. You need humans to be opponents.

Not necessarily. For a novel such as The Great Gatsby, the writer employed Drama, but the novel was marketed as Literary Fiction. Most of the Grisham novels are in the crime genre, but the writer incorporated Drama/Crime and Comedy techniques to craft the story.

Yes. Without Opponents, there would be no conflict and the story would be boring.  

No. Dialog does not carry a story. Dialog is frequently the last thing a writer worries about. The film, A Few Good Men contained courtroom drama and a ton of dialog. When asked at what point in crafting the story did he write Dialog, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin answered, “Last!”

Yes! Even though a stage play is two acts with a 15-minute intermission, for the writer, it’s really three acts and twelve sequences and includes a ton of screenplay techniques.

No. There is a wealth of material out there, on the internet, in books, on video, etc. After learning the different methods, you decide which methodology works best for you.

No. Unless you’re a guru from outer space and have psychic abilities.

Yes and no. Unless you lay the groundwork, after about a month of steady writing, you’ll feel lost because without structure, it’s very easy to lose focus. A building must have a foundation. It is best to work with structure and employ the story techniques before even ONE WORD is written!

Yes. Absolutely! Although a novel might be a 110,000-word-manuscript that will be 450 pages in print, the STORY in the novel can be crafted with the 3-Act Structure and the 12 Sequences and so much more. Obviously, there are many differences in formatting, etc., but all screenplay techniques can be applied to novel writing.