Screenwriting Quotes

“Do you want it good or Tuesday?”

— Jimmy Sangster

All writing is discipline, but screenwriting is a drill sergeant.

— Robert McKee

It's always the story that interests me.

— Vincente Minnelli

I'm first and foremost interested in the story, the characters.

— David Lean

The road to Hell is paved with unbought stuffed dogs.

— Ernest Hemingway

“Without the author there is nothing.”

— Michael E. Bierman

Screenwriting is not an artform, it is a punishment from God.

— Fran Lebowitz

I want to get off with the screenwriting.

— Obie Trice

Audiences are harder to please if you're just giving them effects, but they're easy to please if it's a good story.

— Steven Spielberg

Writing a whole series was a crash course in screenwriting, which is a very different muscle to standup comedy writing.

— Ronny Chieng

I've always been a writer, I've always been a storyteller, but I never thought about screenwriting.

— Diablo Cody

Screenwriting is like ironing. You move forward a little bit and go back and smooth things out.

— Paul Thomas Anderson

If all that's going on in your scenes is what's going on in your scenes, think about it a long time.

— William Goldman

Whatever you do in terms of telling a story, the most important thing that you can define is who you are.

— John Patrick Shanley

I find that screenwriting is at best kind of a hackwork in some ways.

— John Milius

As much as I really like the screenwriting thing, the novel is where the author has so much control.

— Gillian Flynn

For me, as a writer who comes from quite a naturalistic tradition, British screenwriting is quite delicate, quite small, and rarified in…

— Simon Beaufoy

I often attribute my screenwriting to journalism because they drill in the who, what, when, where and why - but we really…

— Mara Brock Akil

I became a script writer with absolutely no idea of how to write a script whatsoever. I still feel a bit of…

— Nick Cave

“[G]reat stories communicate simple truths that reflect the poetic dimensions of the human soul. Not only do powerful characters help us understand…

— Kate Wright

I tend to jot down moments, lines, interactions that don't really make any sense. I try and explain these scattered notes to…

— Asghar Farhadi

“Plays are nearly always about the consequences of events while films are usually about the events. The what-happens-next factor is essential in…

— Richard Toscan

It's kind of liberating to be able to bring your own ideas to things, but it's also a lot of pressure, it's…

— John C. Reilly

I don't mind doing scripted material. It's actually kind of a relief, because improvising is a little bit like screenwriting on your…

— John C. Reilly

I have always credited the writer of the original material above the title: Mario Puzo's The Godfather, Bram Stoker's Dracula, or John…

— Francis Ford Coppola

I think I have always sort of cultivated a flowery writing style. I've always sort of over - written in every genre…

— Diablo Cody

It's very important for an audience to know where they are and why they are there in a musical. It allows them…

— George C. Wolfe

I enjoy both acting and screenwriting, in completely different ways. You have more creative freedom with writing because you can create everything…

— John Francis Daley

I've often said, not totally jokingly, that screenwriting doesn't really qualify as real writing at all. You don't string sentences into paragraphs.…

— Jonathan Raymond

In fiction, I have a residual guilt when I focus on story over language or mood or whatever - the more "literary"…

— Nick Antosca

Scripts are what matter. If you get the foundations right and then you get the right ingredients on top, you stand a…

— Tim Bevan

Music, I find, gets you out of a trap [when screenwriting], because it speaks to your emotions directly, it's an abstract thing,…

— Tony Grisoni

“Watch movies. Read screenplays. Let them be your guide. […] Yes, McKee has been able to break down how the popular screenplay…

— Brian Koppelman

“When asked if he had a special feeling for books, critic-turned-filmmaker Francois Truffaut answered, "No. I love them and films equally, but…

— Alexis Krasilovsky

I'm a playwright by trade, and in theater, writers have complete control over everything. Nobody can change a word without your permission.…

— David Lindsay-Abaire

“I was always bad at reading scripts. Back then, I’d be offered millions of dollars to do movies and barely crack the…

— Matthew Perry

“Your audience is your adversary. If you don't have one get one - imagine it. Imagine it now. To whom is your…

— Billy Marshall Stoneking

Screenwriting is a terrible way to make a living and I always try to talk anyone out of it. Until you sit…

— Amy Holden Jones

“When he was in college, a famous poet made a useful distinction for him. He had drunk enough in the poet's company…

— John Crowley

There is no point in having sharp images when you've fuzzy ideas.

— Jean-Luc Godard