Screenwriting 101: David Seltzer

“I think if people try a few screenplays and they just fall apart in the middle, or people say, ‘It was great until this happened or that happened,’ then maybe they can read one of those [screenwriting] books, but there are not three acts in a screenplay. There may be seven, there may be two… I think it’s a huge mistake. If you go in with formula, you come out with formula. The whole thrill of being a writer is to do a prototype every time out. And you can do it, something that nobody ever wrote before. If you confine yourself to three acts, you’ll find yourself writing something you’ve seen already.”

 — David Seltzer (The Omen, Punchline)

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