National Screenwriters Day: Best screenwriting advice
Jan. 5 is National Screenwriters Day. In celebration, we asked some of our screenwriting professors and alumni for the best screenwriting advice they’d ever received.
Assistant Professor
TELEVISION, RADIO AND FILM
“‘All first drafts are trash. The revision process transforms the trash into treasure!’ Another one: ‘If it’s not on the page, it’s not on the stage.'”
Assistant Teaching Professor
TELEVISION, RADIO AND FILM
“‘Write what you are curious about.’ Write the movie that you would want to see. And ‘Discover the note, under the note;’ most execs don’t quite understand enough about story to actually use the right language to communicate what’s wrong. So the writer must decipher.”
Associate Professor
TELEVISION, RADIO AND FILM
“Writers who argue live in small houses. I learned from my mentor how to navigate development hell and not argue about the note. Do the note as you see it and make execs think it was their idea.”
Professor
TELEVISION, RADIO AND FILM
“‘You have to be willing to kill your babies.’ You might love a character, a scene, a bit, or some line of dialogue that’s just so clever, but if it doesn’t fit in the story, it’s gotta go. Kill it, have another baby.
Also, it’s not just ‘Why do this story?’, it’s ‘Why do this story now?’
Also, ‘Screenwriting’s a team sport.’ You can’t be precious with your material; you’re either on the team or unemployed.”
Michael Weber ’00
Academy Award nominated screenwriter
“Here’s the best screenwriting advice I’ve ever received:
‘Outline. Outline. Outline.’ —Television, radio and film professor Evan Smith.”