Crafting Your Screenplay

(Brilliance With Just a Little Extra Effort)

 

________________________________________________

 

The best advice on writing I ever got was from novelist Muriel Spark, who said, "Write as if you were writing to a friend. Do not to try to impress an imaginary audience who isn't like you." My experience is that it's always better to write about what you know. I would also say, "Rewrite as much as possible." I believe in showing it to a number of close friends who will be honest with you. Listen to what they say, and rewrite accordingly. I would also warn young writers that everything you do will always take three times longer than you think it it will.

 

—Helen Fielding (writer of Bridget Jones's Diary)

Interviewed by Alan Waldman for WGA.org.

http:/www.wga.org/pr/awards/2002/helen-fielding.html

________________________________________________