17   The Life of a Screenwriter

 

WRITING A SCREENPLAY is very hard. Writing a good screenplay involves a certain amount of good fortune and a strong belief in the first biblical reference. But, like everything else, I believe that there can be a plan. And with a good plan you stand a better chance of succeeding. The key to being a successful screenwriter is really very simple: think up great ideas, write them down in a distinct personal style, circulate each finished script in the film community and, as soon as one script is finished, start the next.

If it is so simple, why isn't everyone doing it? Because writing a screenplay is difficult. Writing a truly great screenplay is very, very difficult.

My first suggestion is not to try to write the ...

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