Don't Worry About What Your

I've Quit Writing Screenplay [adaptations]. It's Too Much Work. I Don't Look At Writing A Novel As Work, Because I Only Have To Please Myself. I Have A Good Time Sitting Here By Myself, Thinking Up Situations And Characters, Getting Them To Talk - It's So Satisfying. But Screenwriting's Different. You Might Think You're Writing For Yourself, But There Are Too Many Other People To Please.

If You Take A Few Days To Write An Outline, You're Just Making Up Scenes That You Think Will Work, That You Think Will Be Interesting. But As You Write It, Other Ideas Occur - Better Ideas That Have To Do With What You're Writing.

The Line Of Dialogue Belongs To The Character; The Verb Is The Writer Sticking His Nose In.

Never Use An Adverb To Modify The Verb 'said' . . . He Admonished Gravely. To Use An Adverb This Way (or Almost Any Way) Is A Mortal Sin. The Writer Is Now Exposing Himself In Earnest, Using A Word That Distracts And Can Interrupt The Rhythm Of The Exchange.

A Friend Of Mine Who Is In The Publishing Business Knew I Was Writing A Book, And He Said, 'have You Said Anything Yet About The Good Guy? Because I Know You Spend So Much Time With The Bad Guys.' Because They're Fun. So Then You Have To Make The Good Guy Fun, In Order To Compete. That's The Challenge.