Screenwriters Quotes

I was just starting out, trying to become a screenwriter, and I became the Austin slam champion three times. For a nerdy, kind of a socially awkward guy, that did wonders for my self esteem. ~ Ernest Cline

A great trick that I learned having worked as a screenwriter for many years, the way screenwriters work, is they break the project down into three-act structure: Act 1, Act 2, Act 3. I think that is a great way to break down any project, whether it's a new business or anything at all. ~ Steven Pressfield

I wouldn't say I see things visually first, but what I do think is important, for a lot of screenwriters, is to not just think about the words on the page, but also the world as a whole and the vibe of the movie, rather than a sequence of scenes written on the page. ~ Evan Daugherty

A lot of screenwriters have a drawer of unsold scripts that they cut their teeth on. I don't have one. Everything I've written, after my first spec, I wrote on assignment. Everything I've written was work. ~ Jon Spaihts

I grew up in the Midwest; you don't know any screenwriters. It didn't seem like a realistic career possibility. ~ Diablo Cody

It's really hard as a screenwriter, you feel like you have a vision and then you turn it over to a director and you have to let it go. ~ Lorene Scafaria

How often do we use other people as screens upon which to project our obsessions? Our discontents, dreams, desires, and fears? Well, I always thought, often enough that its a wonder the whole waking world isn't simply viewed as an endless improvised film. One with as many screenwriters, producers, and directors as there are actors ~ Bradford Morrow

It's funny because when I was growing up, I was really into science fiction and fantasy as a kid. And, when I first became a screenwriter, I ended up really just doing historical drama and non-fiction based stuff, like Band of Brothers and stuff that didn't get made, but was also non-fiction. ~ John Orloff

But here's the thing: what you do as a screenwriter is you sell your copyright. As a novelist, as a poet, as a playwright, you maintain your copyright. ~ Beth Henley

Hollywood screenwriters tend to have the longevity of NFL running backs. So the truth is no one can put more pressure on us than we put on ourselves. ~ David Benioff

You heard me cry long before I knew my voice. ~ A.D. Posey

Try everything; listen to everyone. Follow no one. You are your own story guru! ~ Jeff Lyons

Though Moneyball had the talents of screenwriters Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin going for it, they weren't baseball insiders. ~ Brad Pitt

My parents were screenwriters, and they had four daughters and we all write. So that's amazing. Talk about powerful parents. My mother always said to us, "Everything is copy." ~ Nora Ephron

Drizzle happiness wherever you go. ~ A.D. Posey

Since signing with Universal, I have been working closely with Gary Ross, the director, producer and screenwriter. We have spent many hours on the phone, and I've been sending him information and items that have been useful to the writing process. ~ Laura Hillenbrand

I probably could be a world-class screenwriter by now if I had spent the kind of work I devote on Comedy Death-Ray to that. But I do okay, in that regard. I mean, my stuff gets bought, so it's all right. ~ Scott Aukerman

Screenwriting is like poker; in the end, you have to go all in. ~ A.D. Posey

People kept passing our [ with Robert Ben Garant] script around, and suddenly we had this reputation as screenwriters, which we're not - we're sketch comedy guys. ~ Thomas Lennon

I hear you in the morning sun. ~ A.D. Posey

There's a lot for screenwriters to steal from songwriters, in terms of getting to the point. ~ Paul Thomas Anderson

Happiness is individualized. Don't box it in. Let it fly. ~ A.D. Posey

There's no big splashy renaissance in Italian films. We have good young actors and directors. What we lack are screenwriters. It's hard to write about Italy. ~ Valeria Golino

Pace begins in the screenplay. Cliche or not, we must control rhythm and tempo. It needn't be a symmetrical swelling of activity and shaving of scene lengths, but progressions must be shaped. For if we don't, the film editor will. And if to trim our sloppy work he cuts some of our favorite moments, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We're screenwriters, not refugees from the novel. Cinema is a unique art form. The screenwriter must master the aesthetics of motion pictures and create a screenplay that prepares the way for the artists who follow. ~ Robert McKee

If you want to be a screenwriter, take an acting class to get a sense of what you're asking actors to do. Learning other skills will help you communicate with people and respect what they do. ~ Tina Fey

A screenwriter is much like being a fire hydrant with a bunch of dogs lined up around it. ~ Frank Miller

I've been playing with this idea in my mind that the hero's journey that we're all taught as screenwriters may resonate more specifically for male protagonists and maybe even male viewers. ~ Jill Soloway

Guy Ritchie is the worst screenwriter in the world, but, to be fair, he is not the worst director. He is only the worst director of the people who actually get to make movies. As we speak, there are human beings walking the Earth
perhaps as many as a half dozen of them
with less directorial talent, but they've been safely diverted into other activities. ~ Mick LaSalle

I have a lot of screenwriter friends and many of them have had an experience where they aren't even welcome on set during production. ~ Diablo Cody

The great thing, as a screenwriter, is that you are always proud of what ends up on the screen, you are able to create something in isolation and you have a lot of freedom. ~ Jamie Linden

The Alexander Technique works ... I recommend it enthusiastically to anyone who has neck pains or back pain. ~ Roald Dahl

If a Writer births the baby, then a Producer raises the child and sends it off to school."
― Rona Edwards, I Liked It, Didn't Love It: Screenplay Development from the Inside Out ~ Rona Edwards

There is magic in the old and magic in the new; the trick is to successfully combine the two. ~ A.D. Posey

Being a screenwriter is not enough for a full creative life. ~ William Goldman

If you don't think screenwriting is a work of art, good luck in your life without a soul. ~ A.D. Posey

Our peace is our purpose. ~ A.D. Posey

I've had a real lucky time working in Hollywood. I've talked to other screenwriters, and they're all kind of beaten down and their spirits are crushed, because they work on these screenplays and these projects, and then directors either take them and change everything, rewrite them and make them worse, or they film them and they're nothing like how they imagined it to be. ~ Daniel Clowes

Screenwriters get paid a hell of a lot more money but their level of frustration seems to be so high that I don't want that. ~ Chuck Palahniuk

If screenwriters have to kill off a female character, they love to give her cancer. We've seen so many great actresses go down to the Big C: Ali MacGraw, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Debra Winger, Susan Sarandon. ~ Geraldine Brooks

Too few journalists become screenwriters. I say to all the would-be screenwriters: Become journalists. And I'll say to working journalists: Do not stay journalists. Become screenwriters. ~ Nora Ephron

Comic books themselves are getting more literate. And there are people who are screenwriters and television writers and novelists who are writing for the comics, for some reason, they love doing it and some of the art work in the comics, I mean it rivals anything you'll see hanging on the walls of museums, they're illustrations more than drawings and all the people are discovering this and they're turning on to it. ~ Stan Lee

Hollywood is a special place; a place filled with creative geniuses - actors, screenwriters, directors, sound engineers, computer graphics specialists, lighting experts and so on. Working together, great art happens. But in the end, all artists depend on diverse audiences who can enjoy, be inspired by and support their work. ~ Ryan Kavanaugh

Life is beauty simply breathing. ~ A.D. Posey

In real life, people fumble their words. They repeat themselves and stare blankly off into space and don't listen properly to what other people are saying. I find that kind of speech fascinating but screenwriters never write dialogue like that because it doesn't look good on the page. ~ Christopher Guest

What did you expect? Welcome, sonny? Make yourself at home? Marry my daughter? You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know ... morons ~ Gene Wilder

As screenwriters, we struggle with our own success. We have wallpapered our world and now we can't get anyone to notice the picture we just hung. ~ Paul Schrader

Believe in people, they fly for a day. Teach them to believe in themselves, they soar for a lifetime. ~ A.D. Posey

Sand lines my soul which is filled with the breath of the ocean. ~ A.D. Posey

Fiction and screenwriting blend for me. I feel like being a TV writer/screenwriter has definitely made my fiction writing better, although I have less time to do it. ~ Nick Antosca

There have been screenwriters who I'm sure would gladly kill me, because I've been very fast and loose with their work, because I felt like it wasn't up to my high standards. I would push and pull it on set, and make changes all the time. But then when you're working with an original screenplay, my theater instincts kick in, and I suddenly become very keeper-of-the-words. ~ Sam Mendes

In L.A., we have a saying - 'What do you do?' It's less of a question and more of a self-defense mechanism for wayward screenwriters looking to slip you a first draft, or the occasional actor looking to get in on the latest shoot. But I hate the question because of my own answer - I write about games. ~ Rob Manuel

Even Hollywood millionaires are now clamoring for legal protections for their illegal-alien nannies and gardeners, though such elites would hardly countenance a similar legal laxity that would allow foreign film technicians, screenwriters, and actors to flood southern California to work in their industry for a fourth of their own pay. ~ Victor Davis Hanson

Peace is when we look upon the world together. ~ A.D. Posey

I've never been conscious of having any real career plan, and I do not have a wish-list of actors, directors, screenwriters, or cameramen I'm hoping to work with. Life, I feel, has a way of leading us to the right situations and people, or at least to interesting ones. ~ Viggo Mortensen

Her words dance on the page. ~ A.D. Posey

From the onset of the 'Live-Read' series, we wanted to hit all the major writers and Woody Allen is simply one of the greatest screenwriters of all time. He has ability to match pathos and comedy and drama and then turn it all on a dime. If you're going to make a series based on dialogue, you can't find much better than Woody Allen. ~ Jason Reitman

Writers - all writers, even screenwriters - like to make their mark. I don't think many screenwriters can write. They pass as writers. ~ Elmore Leonard

You sell a screenplay like you sell a car. If someone drives it off a cliff, that's it. ~ Rita Mae Brown

You are the executive director and screenwriter of your life. ~ Eric Thomas

Most directors, I discovered, need to be convinced that the screenplay they're going to direct has something to do with them. And this is a tricky thing if you write screenplays where women have parts that are equal to or greater than the male part. And I thought, 'Why am I out there looking for directors?' - because you look at a list of directors, it's all boys. It certainly was when I started as a screenwriter. So I thought, 'I'm just gonna become a director and that'll make it easier.' ~ Nora Ephron

To have someone like Clint Eastwood come along and shoot your first draft as written is just any screenwriter's dream. And Clint is very straightforward. If it's good enough to get his attention, it's good enough to produce. ~ J. Michael Straczynski

L.A. is full of screenwriters. I don't know why. On many levels, it's such a thankless occupation. ~ Nick Cave

If you want to be a great director, be a great screenwriter. ~ Akira Kurosawa

With the right tools, you can write anything ... ~ Jeff Lyons

When I was growing up in the south Indian city of Madras, there were only two political parties that mattered; one was run by a former matinee idol, and the other was run by his former screenwriter. ~ Aravind Adiga

I've always said to myself that if a little pocket calculator can do it why shouldn't I? ~ Roald Dahl

If you keep thinking about putting on a conference or being a Hollywood screenwriter, and you find the idea terrifies but intrigues you, it's probably a worthy endeavor for you. You grow (and thrive!) by doing what excites you and what scares you everyday, not by trying to find your passion. ~ Derek Sivers

Many of the writers who have inspired me most are outside the genre: Humorists like Robert Benchley and James Thurber, screenwriters like Ben Hecht and William Goldman, and journalists/columnists like H.L. Mencken, Mike Royko and Molly Ivins. ~ John Scalzi

I have seen too many screenwriters of promise become formula addicts and slaves to stop watch structure. Spend that time watching movies, reading screenplays, reading plays, and most importantly - write from your gut. ~ John Fusco

There are so many screenwriters with incredible stories to tell, so I hope there will be some kind of shift in the business where very few types of movies are now made by the studios. There needs to be different budgets for different audiences; not everything having to be a huge opening weekend. ~ Callie Khouri