---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I write for film or, in this case…"
description: "\"I write for film or, in this case, television when I haven't got a play cooking.\" — Tom Stoppard"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88b/tom-stoppard-437_case_i-write-for-film-or-in-this-case-televis_567899.png"
---

#  I write for film or, in this case, television when I…

![“I write for film or, in this case, television when I haven't got a play cooking.” quote by Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88b/tom-stoppard-437_case_i-write-for-film-or-in-this-case-televis_567899.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88b/tom-stoppard-437_case_i-write-for-film-or-in-this-case-televis_567899.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88b/tom-stoppard-437_case_i-write-for-film-or-in-this-case-televis_567899.png)

> “I write for film or, in this case, television when I haven't got a play cooking.”

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

When lacking a new play, he turns to film or TV writing as an alternative creative outlet.

**In simple terms:** He writes for TV when no play is ready.

Key Takeaway

Embrace other mediums when primary projects stall.

Themes

creativity adaptability career

Mood

pragmatic determined

Type

practical motivational

When to use this quote

- film production
- TV scriptwriting
- theatre rehearsals

Key Concepts

Medium shift creative blocks writing process

Questions to Reflect On

- What other mediums could you explore?
- How do you maintain your voice across formats?

A Different Perspective

Switching mediums may dilute artistic focus.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) [Cooking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cooking/) [Film](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/film/) [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Television](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/television/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/)

## Related quotes

> [I'm trying to write a film with my friend. I'd love to get the thrill of speaking actors making my work even funnier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-howard/i-m-trying-to-write-a-film-with-my-friend-i-d-love-to-get-the-thrill/)

[Russell Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-howard/)

> [There's a film you write, there's a film you shoot, and there's a film that you cut - and they're all different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-greengrass/there-s-a-film-you-write-there-s-a-film-you-shoot-and-there-s-a-film/)

[Paul Greengrass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-greengrass/)

> [Who's ever going to write a film in which I get the girl? Me!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleese/who-s-ever-going-to-write-a-film-in-which-i-get-the-girl-me/)

[John Cleese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleese/)

> [I wanted to write in film or something like that. I thought acting was an embarrassing thing to say you wanted to do, especially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-minghella/i-wanted-to-write-in-film-or-something-like-that-i-thought-acting-was/)

[Max Minghella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-minghella/)

> [I always said when I was younger, I wanted to write film music, and I think that's what my ultimate dream is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mvula/i-always-said-when-i-was-younger-i-wanted-to-write-film-music-and-i/)

[Laura Mvula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mvula/)

> [It is much easier to do a film about something that the audience readily knows about - say, cricket. It is much more difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vetrimaaran/it-is-much-easier-to-do-a-film-about-something-that-the-audience/)

[Vetrimaaran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vetrimaaran/)

> [I don't have the privilege of choice to say, 'I want to work with you,' and the person will say, 'Yes, come on, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aditi-rao-hydari/i-don-t-have-the-privilege-of-choice-to-say-i-want-to-work-with-you/)

[Aditi Rao Hydari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aditi-rao-hydari/)

> [I write and film history; I don't make it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-luc-godard/i-write-and-film-history-i-don-t-make-it/)

[Jean-Luc Godard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-luc-godard/)

> [I grew up with Forrest J. Ackerman's 'Famous Monsters of Filmland' along with a plethora of movie tomes and wanted to write about film…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-knowles/i-grew-up-with-forrest-j-ackerman-s-famous-monsters-of-filmland-along/)

[Harry Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-knowles/)

> [I'm keeping my day job, because Poptropica is something that really energizes me. I'd love to create a TV series or write a film…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-kinney/i-m-keeping-my-day-job-because-poptropica-is-something-that-really/)

[Jeff Kinney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-kinney/)

> [I want to write a film. I need to think of the right idea and focus on that; I love writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-whitehall/i-want-to-write-a-film-i-need-to-think-of-the-right-idea-and-focus-on/)

[Jack Whitehall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-whitehall/)

> [I actually write film music because I'm classically trained on the piano so as well as songwriting I also write actual film music that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-brown/i-actually-write-film-music-because-i-m-classically-trained-on-the/)

[Vanessa Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanessa-brown/)

> [When I write a film, all I think about is where the thing ends and how to get the audience there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-reitman/when-i-write-a-film-all-i-think-about-is-where-the-thing-ends-and-how/)

[Jason Reitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-reitman/)

> [I want people to know about all the kinds of music that I write. Some believe I just write film scores, which is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ennio-morricone/i-want-people-to-know-about-all-the-kinds-of-music-that-i-write-some/)

[Ennio Morricone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ennio-morricone/)

> [I like to write film music that stands on its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryuichi-sakamoto/i-like-to-write-film-music-that-stands-on-its-own/)

[Ryuichi Sakamoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryuichi-sakamoto/)

## More by Tom Stoppard

> [If I wanted to change the world, the last thing I would do is write a play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-i-wanted-to-change-the-world-the-last-thing-i-would-do-is-write-a/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [If you want to change something by Tuesday, theater is no good. Journalism is what does that. But, if you want to just alter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-you-want-to-change-something-by-tuesday-theater-is-no-good/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just out of eye line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/after-all-these-years-i-definitely-associate-having-a-pen-in-my-hand/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [The universe is deterministic all right, just like Newton said, I mean it's trying to be, but the only thing going wrong is people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/the-universe-is-deterministic-all-right-just-like-newton-said-i-mean/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [For me, human rights simply endorse a view of life and a set of moral values that are perfectly clear to an eight-year-old child.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/for-me-human-rights-simply-endorse-a-view-of-life-and-a-set-of-moral/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [“What is an artist? For every thousand people there's nine hundred doing the work, ninety doing well, nine doing good, and one lucky bastard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/what-is-an-artist-for-every-thousand-people-there-s-nine-hundred/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [Dying is not romantic, and death is not a game which will soon be over... Death is not anything... death is not... It's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/dying-is-not-romantic-and-death-is-not-a-game-which-will-soon-be-over/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [I'm not interested in clothes; I just like them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-m-not-interested-in-clothes-i-just-like-them/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [For 10 years of my life, 3 times a day, I thanked the Lord for what I was about to receive and thanked him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/for-10-years-of-my-life-3-times-a-day-i-thanked-the-lord-for-what-i/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [You should not translate for more than two hours at a time. After that, you lose your edge, the language becomes clumsy, rigid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/you-should-not-translate-for-more-than-two-hours-at-a-time-after-that/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [No matter how imperfect things are, if you've got a free press everything is correctable, and without it everything is concealable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/no-matter-how-imperfect-things-are-if-you-ve-got-a-free-press/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [We must be born with an intuition of mortality. Before we know the word for it. Before we know that there are words. Out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-must-be-born-with-an-intuition-of-mortality-before-we-know-the/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [Eternity's a terrible thought. I mean, where's it all going to end?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/eternity-s-a-terrible-thought-i-mean-where-s-it-all-going-to-end/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [There is truth and falsehood in a comma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/there-is-truth-and-falsehood-in-a-comma/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

[Explore all 559 Tom Stoppard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

## More Case quotes

> [Luckily, the bullet that hit my chest never got to me. It was stopped by a silver case I got for my brother's wedding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-doohan/luckily-the-bullet-that-hit-my-chest-never-got-to-me-it-was-stopped/)

[James Doohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-doohan/)

> [A lot of young guys coming up in this league, they're given the spotlight right away, depending on draft stature or whatever the case…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desean-jackson/a-lot-of-young-guys-coming-up-in-this-league-they-re-given-the/)

[DeSean Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desean-jackson/)

> [Apparently, there are all sorts of reasons why your hair might stop growing, including split ends, breakage and overuse of heated styling tools -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanna-reid/apparently-there-are-all-sorts-of-reasons-why-your-hair-might-stop/)

[Susanna Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanna-reid/)

> [Just in case you forgot, I'm always here for you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-a-bad-bish/just-in-case-you-forgot-i-m-always-here-for-you/)

Im\_a\_bad\_bish

> [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/)

[Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/)

> [If you followed the media you'd think that everybody in Africa was starving to death, and that's not the case; so it's important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/if-you-followed-the-media-you-d-think-that-everybody-in-africa-was/)

[Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/)

> [In many traditions, hawks are sacred: Apollo's messengers for the Greeks, sun symbols for the ancient Egyptians and, in the case of the Lakota…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/in-many-traditions-hawks-are-sacred-apollo-s-messengers-for-the/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> [Most of black America is in housing projects, without jobs, living on welfare. And this is not the case in 'The Cosby Show,' because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/most-of-black-america-is-in-housing-projects-without-jobs-living-on/)

[August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/)

> [Athletes at all ages are bigger and stronger than ever before. And they are being encouraged - sometimes even incentivized, as we recently learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naveen-jain/athletes-at-all-ages-are-bigger-and-stronger-than-ever-before-and/)

[Naveen Jain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naveen-jain/)

> [I was a big Nancy Drew reader. Nancy figures it out. Case closed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-vowell/i-was-a-big-nancy-drew-reader-nancy-figures-it-out-case-closed/)

[Sarah Vowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-vowell/)

> [My illness is one often characterized by dramatic overspending - in my case through frenzied shopping sprees, credit card abuse, excessive hoarding of unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/my-illness-is-one-often-characterized-by-dramatic-overspending-in-my/)

[Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/)

> [The rules and principles of case law have never been treated as final truths but as working hypotheses, continually retested in those great laboratories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-n-cardozo/the-rules-and-principles-of-case-law-have-never-been-treated-as-final/)

[Benjamin N. Cardozo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-n-cardozo/)

> [If I don't think something's worth saying, I don't think it's quite there, I'd rather just not say it, to be honest. In that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hozier/if-i-don-t-think-something-s-worth-saying-i-don-t-think-it-s-quite/)

[Hozier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hozier/)

> [I have to give a lot of credit to David Stern to open up the league, but also in my case, Jerry West and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vlade-divac/i-have-to-give-a-lot-of-credit-to-david-stern-to-open-up-the-league/)

[Vlade Divac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vlade-divac/)

> [My mother tongue is Punjabi, but my first language is Urdu, which was the case with the people in undivided Punjab.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gulzar/my-mother-tongue-is-punjabi-but-my-first-language-is-urdu-which-was/)

[Gulzar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gulzar/)

Browse all 1,378 Case quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "I write for film or, in this case, television when I haven't got a play cooking.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Tom Stoppard"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-write-for-film-or-in-this-case-television-when-i-haven-t-got-a-play/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Case"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-write-for-film-or-in-this-case-television-when-i-haven-t-got-a-play/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88b/tom-stoppard-437_case_i-write-for-film-or-in-this-case-televis_567899.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88b/tom-stoppard-437_case_i-write-for-film-or-in-this-case-televis_567899.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88b/tom-stoppard-437_case_i-write-for-film-or-in-this-case-televis_567899.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I write for film or, in this case, television when I haven't got a play cooking.” — Tom Stoppard",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Tom Stoppard",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "I write for film or, in...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-write-for-film-or-in-this-case-television-when-i-haven-t-got-a-play/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-write-for-film-or-in-this-case-television-when-i-haven-t-got-a-play/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
