Adam Sternbergh of The New York Times recently put together profiles of fourteen up and coming screenwriters. Each writer shares their top screenwriting tips. Take a look:
It’s notable that many of these writers — most, in fact — also directed their own scripts (Bell, Bujalski, Chandor, Holofcener, Jonze, Linklater, Polley), and several also star in the films they wrote (Bell, Delpy, Gerwig, Hawke, Seth Rogen). Here, though, we simply want to focus on their work as writers and highlight the written word — that part of the process that makes the rest of the process possible…
GRETA GERWIG
Notable writing credits: “Frances Ha” (2013)
What screenplay inspired you to become a screenwriter? I think “Another Year,” by Mike Leigh, is a great screenplay.
What are your three best screenwriting tips?Whenever you have an “idea,” as in a concept that you could explain to someone, like a hook or at worst a gimmick, that is a bad thing. It feels good, but it’s not good. The best ideas reveal themselves, you don’t “have” them. For me, anyway.
Let your characters talk to each other and do things. Spend time with them — they’ll tell you who they are and what they’re up to.
I have gotten into baseball recently, and whenever I have trouble writing, I think about the pace of baseball. It’s slow. You strike out a lot, even if you’re great.
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