10 Screenwriters on Screenwriting: Vol. 3

Professional screenwriters reflect on the craft.

“Interesting things happening to interesting people is basically the only rule of screenwriting.”

— Brian Duffield

“That’s something I always ask myself: ‘Is this a movie that I would go to see?’”

— Charlie Kaufman

“Each writer starts differently, but the only valid way is start with character. Character IS plot. Character IS story.”

— Eleanor Perry

“A writer can always write. That’s one of the great luxuries we have: Words are cheap.”

— John August

“When you make a movie, always try to discover what the theme of the movie is in one or two words.”

— Francis Ford Coppola

“I start thinking about key scenes. I write those scenes first, out of order. I call it ‘the scent of blood.’”

— Jim Uhls

“If you trust the moment as you write, it will always bring you what you need.”

— Bruce Joel Rubin

“I’m not romantic at all about the creative process. I feel like a plow horse — just one foot in front of the other.”

— Caroline Thompson

“At the top of my computer in big, bold letters, it says, ‘What is the simple emotional journey?’ I look at that all the time.”

— Billy Ray

“Forget every rule Syd Field, Robert McKee or any other screenwriting guru ever taught you. Except one: Never be boring.”

— David Mamet

10 Screenwriters on Screenwriting: Vol. 1
10 Screenwriters on Screenwriting: Vol. 2

To read 50 Things About Screenwriting, go here.