10 Screenwriters on Screenwriting: Vol. 5

Professional screenwriters reflect on the craft.

“Character is destiny. Change, growing from within and forced from without, is the mainspring of character development.”

— Rita Mae Brown

“The first draft is the one thing they can’t take away from you, so revel in it.”

— Daniel Waters

“Character exists in emotions and sensations. Without it, they no more represent a living person than a fleshless skeleton.”

— Francis Marion

“A bad script written is still better than an amazing one that isn’t.”

— Jon Boyer

“Write what you want to see. If you don’t, you won’t have any true passion in it, and it won’t be done with any true artistry.”

— John Milius

“That’s our job, to spark curiosity and emotion from an audience, for them to discover what’s going on in their own heads.”

— Seth Lochhead

“Screenwriting is all about what happens next, what happens next. It’s speed chess, not chess.”

— Richard Price

“One day, you will sell your screenplay, and then your problems will begin.”

— Audrey Wells

“I realized screenwriting was a real art form. I had to prostrate myself before it and study it if I wanted to be good.”

— Stephen Gaghan

“Writing is the best gig in the whole business, as far as I’m concerned. You just sit down and make shit up.”

— Robert Mark Kamen

10 Screenwriters on Screenwriting: Vol. 1
10 Screenwriters on Screenwriting: Vol. 2
10 Screenwriters on Screenwriting: Vol. 3
10 Screenwriters on Screenwriting: Vol. 4

To read 50 Things About Screenwriting, go here.