Best Screenwriting Quotes

"You can tell there's like a board of male writers being like, 'Oh [__], better have all the female superheroes gang up for this bit.'"

"The most crucial step in writing real female characters is allowing actual women to write, direct, film, and review them."

"I'm working on these whole idea, I'm writing screenplays for this technology."

"I originally wrote the screenplay but I made the mistake of letting Hollywood have a free hand, and I shall never do that again."

"It is excellently written with passion found in every aspect of its production."

"I love it when I look up and I'm like who are these writers where'd they [__] come from."

"It's the most man thing. There's so much character in that dialogue."

"Even if it's just a character moment, it's the little character moments that really make a difference."

"Michael Arndt can write characters, he can write captivating dialogue, and he has a unique style of writing that is only his."

"The kids are really really smart and i think kevin put that into his scripts and i think we got to put that onto the screen and we never talked down to the people that were watching it."

"I think they could keep him. I think they can easily write in like 'oh yeah when you know remember that yeah I was I was overseas in Europe studying Zadar they'll figure something.'"

"This movie is on a higher level... because of the clever writing."

"Beef is really funny and that's thanks to the impeccable writing yes but also thanks to the amazing performances from the cast."

"It's dark comedy horror, great writing, and stupendous performances all around."

"It's a bye for me also and I think that the actual real woman is gonna be writing it."

"Happy Valley is brilliantly written and acted, set in West Yorkshire."

"It was cute and it was pretty smartly written."

"The benefit of placing oneself in the thick of a screenplay is at the heart of writing is to take yourself to unknown places."

"Comic scripts are the hardest things in the world... it is all of the problems of dramaturgy plus arithmetic."

"Dan Harmon invented a widely used story structure tool called story circle."

"It's really really beautifully animated it's nicely written it's extremely violent."

"The writing this season has been the best in the series."

"Neat and tidy, one day, one location, one plot, stemming from one central conflict."

"Changing a theme like when a theme is altered to fit whatever happens on the screen is called thematic transformation."

"Thanks to Kelly Fremon Craig's witty screenplay and Hailee Steinfeld's lovable performance, The Edge of Seventeen gives us an angsty teen who we can all sympathize with."

"Money truly can't buy happiness or scripts with forward momentum."

"He can direct a movie, he can write women characters."

"Love triangle: a common pattern Lucas doesn't need to waste much screen time on."

"I'm just tired of that. So I wrote a script and I'm gonna make it."

"Okay, here's the scene but what more could there be?"

"Do you think in the near future we'll get whole movie scripts made with AI?"

"I wrote a screenplay in 48 hours...I'm gonna show you my initial ideas, my outlines, the problems I faced, and even the full script."

"It feels like David and Dan simply just didn't know how to write this scene."

"The best dialogue comes out of drama and simultaneously creates drama."

"On paper and on screens we're always excited to see what manner of humorous cruelty he'll come up with next."

"Infinity War did something so hard... framing your protagonist as your villain is so hard to write."

"This show never ceases to amaze; the writing is just top tier and the acting is phenomenal."

"It weirdly felt very natural, certainly for me... Phoebe is the most extraordinary writer I've ever worked with."

"Jo does not write a weak woman. He can't do it. It doesn't matter if she's Asian or white or African-American, he writes a strong woman for us to see on camera. I think that's really important."

"Knives Out is amazing... Rian clearly had no interest in writing this time, he's able to craft an intriguing murder mystery from the ground up."

"Jordan Peele is an incredibly successful sketch comedy writer and he won the Oscar for Get Out for Best Original Screenplay."

"Collaborating with both of them on their dialogue was incredible fun."

"If they don't write a good script, it won't matter."

"All that matters is do they write the character well."

"Greatest written films of all time: Casablanca, Network, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."

"The first Back to the Future is like a perfect example of how to like take a joke and then repeat it and then do a third beat like it's just formula like formula wise it's like a really textbook kind of screenplay."

"I think it's absolutely genius. I'm super excited about it. I hope it's well written."

"What makes a great screenwriter? Somebody with something to say."

"I would love to see Aaron Sorkin write a Superman script."

"What if Aaron Sorkin wrote it and Matthew Vaughn directed it?"

"Can I write a scene that's funny enough for Albert Brooks?"

"It's so smartly written, basically it gets to a point where the girl still hits the button."

"I think if you can hit on a pair of actors and then another talent like Nora Ephron who can write movies that are in that genre but also solid really good well-written movies then I think you can see a return."

"I think that this could be the funniest [ __ ] stuff ever with the dad as the ghost."

"They took the challenge of who is this guy and what does he want he's got to have dialogue he's going to be a character in the show."

"You can use flashbacks, flash-forwards, dreams, metaphors, bookends, red herrings, or McGuffins."

"Remember, a great opening scene can be more than simply scene one."

"We finally have a new Star Wars film with fantastic characters, excellent filmmaking, and its Sharman witty script."

"Kevin Williamson's script changed the cinematic landscape."

"Tank Girl's screenplay was written by Ted Seriffian who would actually go on to contribute to the scripts for Rush Hour and Terminator 3."

"Some of the most fun I've had with scenes or scenes that you've written."

"Life Force was co-written by the great Dan O'Bannon, who previously wrote 'Alien.'"

"Phenomenal characters elevated by excellent writing."

"Sometimes it's not always about being right, it's about being silly."

"Which Oscar winning screenwriter wrote the techie films, 'The Social Network,' and 'Steve Jobs'?"

"I loved the idea of writing a war movie where the fight was to stop a battle."

"To be blessed with the words that David Shore and the rest of our staff of gifted writers have presented me is a woman of color who happens to be running one of the most prestigious hospitals in the nation." - Tamlyn

"Why would they write that in there? I mean, that's why his analysis was idiotic at every level."

"If you want to be a screenwriter, keep writing. Keep writing, keep writing, keep writing."

"We have the time to develop moments and characters."

"This movie is a screenwriting accomplishment."

"Imperfect tools are better than no tools, so a note on that before I begin: I'm a screenwriter, I'm not here to talk about romantic prose that isn't my game."

"It's the reason why I'm gonna buy it is less Sam Mendes possibly directing it and more Nick Hornby being the guy that writes it."

"It's about fun and playfulness again. It's about the writing as well. You can't make a great film out of a mediocre script."

"The writing is terrible, but the voice acting itself certainly isn't terrible."

"He focused on writing good scripts over having great visuals and successfully made it his brand."

"Major props to both the writing and the acting."

"The script from Men in Black International was penned by writers Matt Holloway and Art Marcum."

"Screenwriters can make money, but often their scripts never get produced."

"Good screenwriting is the math of story structure."

"AI is going to really take over in a big way. People won't even notice when AI starts writing the scripts."

"It's almost like you can't make the script any better."

"Multiverse Madness writer Michael Waldron is going to be writing Secret Wars."

"Masato is a phenomenal character who embodies the best elements of Toshiki Inoue's writing."

"Once in the third act, it just drops. The script is so bland that they had a twist in here that I ain't, I would never saw it coming because I didn't know it was in the first [ __ ] place."

"David Goyer wrote something badass on a baby."

"Major props to whoever wrote the dialogue. Like, I bet they had so much fun doing this."

"Write spec scripts. Write as much as you can."

"With every storyline, there's something for everyone." - Alfonso H. Moreno

"I think that's John Waters' biggest strength, his writing and his eye for casting the right people."

"It's actually pretty damn impressive how close they kept the original story impressive but not surprising because hello book author writing the screenplay always a good sign."

"The inciting event sets the narrative in motion."

"Jonathan Kasdan made news last week when the co-screenwriter of Soy Louis or Warsaw responded to a question by the Huffman, never respond to any questions by HuffPo ever, ever, never do it. That was his first mistake."

"The litmus test for being a screenwriter or creator should be watching Blazing Saddles and loving it."

"The warehouse fight scene is the best Batman fight that we've ever seen."

"The only thing left from my script is this scene."

"Derek Connelly and Colin Trevorrow did an outstanding job."

"That movie was a masterclass in screenwriting."

"The dialogue, I think, is good, the writing's good."

"I love character development; I love watching people's relationships play out on screen."

"I never put an expiration date on my screenwriting dream."

"Lucas's original screenwriter for Empire Strikes Back, Lee Brackett, died just one month after finishing her draft."

"With encouragement from Kirschner, Lucas hired now legendary screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan to write the production drafts of the screenplay."

"It's such a beautiful episode and wonderfully written."

"I think part of that is us, we have writers with Oscars that worked on Nightmare on Elm Street."

"You write the pilot to prove the concept and the characters and the world and the story, and then you pitch the show."

"Things have just gotten better... it's far easier to sell a script than it used to."

"There's a legitimate art to action movie screenwriting, and you can just see all of that in action here in this opening sequence."

"The prevailing mindset in this space is the early days of The Simpsons were a master class in screenwriting, animation, and character."

"If you want to make money, buy rental properties. But if you want to be a screenwriter, tell the stories that matter to you."

"Being a screenwriter requires the Bushido Warrior Code of risk, fail, risk again."

"...good writing belongs in books, that screenwriting should be as absolutely as economic as possible so that the filmmaking can take over, so that an actor can take over, so that the camera can take over, you know, that it's best, um, it becomes invisible, you know?"

"How non-professional screenwriters create plot often it's the same as professional screenwriters."

"If you want to make it as a screenwriter, you have to master writing simple scenes."

"Aaron Sorkin made his screenwriting debut here, introducing the world to his signature Quick Draw Snappy dialogue."

"One of the biggest differences between a professional screenwriter and an amateur is an understanding of genre."

"Most people fail at screenwriting because they don't understand what the screenwriting business is looking for."

"It's like the writer grabbed me out of the screen I'm like she's cool okay."

"I wish I had the superpower to remember when my friends come up with really funny, good ideas that I never remember or write down. If I could just remember all of those, I would be really wealthy as a screenwriter right now."

"It's not around and I really had to free myself from the idea of that traditional screenwriting form."

"If you write the screenplay, they have to cast you and that changes everything."

"Every line of dialogue has an objective, the subtext if you will. A bad screenwriter writes on the nose. A true screenwriter hides the subtext behind the actual words used, adding subtlety and intelligence."

"If you're interested in working with me one-on-one to get your screenplay to the level you want it to be, click that link in the description."

"The pursuit of emotion is the well of what you want screenwriting and visual storytelling to be."

"If you create a good one-liner for your screenplay, it's worth fifty thousand dollars to half a million dollars if you can sell that screenplay."

"The American film industry is still the envy of the world, yet it's so tough for screenwriters."

"Screenwriters are pressured to work for free, it's against our contract, but they sort of say, 'Hey, could you maybe just make some tweaks?'"

"Screenwriting can take you around the world and into worlds that you would never, ever be able to approach."

"Screenwriting is very well served by a knowledge of the world and its textures."

"As the movie you know, you read it, that's it. That's what some version of that is going to be on the screen. With a television show, you gotta go, 'Alright, that's just the beginning.'"

"I think when you start out writing screenplays...you ever understand when you are a screenwriter and haven't had a movie made how much every single decision that happens from then on effects your movie."

"The best scripts I've ever read didn't make good movies."

"It saves the screenwriter the backstory. If that alien looked like a ten-speed bicycle, you'd have to explain what it is."

"Screenwriting is very mysterious. If anyone calls themselves a master screenwriter, they are about to write a terrible screenplay."

"I think many people are familiar with his credits as a screenwriter, including the Bourne Ultimatum, The Informant, Contagion, and Side Effects."

"Sarah Dollard, she was perfect for Doctor Who."

"It's a big twist and also a screenwriting 101 twist."

"No one gets better than the Coen Brothers' dialogue."

"Tony Gilroy understood that, he's a quality writer, he knows writing, he knows how to tell a story."

"I realized Star Wars used to be really great, the writing was fantastic."

"I should have more faith in myself... always trust yourself, write the version of the movie that you know is right."

"I feel pretty confident in saying this is Chibnall's greatest ever script in the Doctor universe."

"Witty dialogue, that guy's a hell of an actor."

"That is how Wes Craven designed one of his most famous characters, Fred Krueger, from the first Nightmare on Elm Street."

"I personally think that you should gauge the concept and make sure that each idea you're weighing is a strong enough idea to be a screenplay."

"Every single professional screenwriter has been rejected at some point in their career."

"The most important thing for the show to get right is the characters, the dialogue, and the story."

"To me, it's like, if it's a screenplay idea, or if it's a documentary, I feel like it needs to have lived in my head for at least a couple of weeks and I don't forget about it."

"Every great story starts with a character wounded like this unless it's a superhero that's a separate genre that has their own rules but most of the movies you love have a hero who's wounded."

"If I see that on screen, I'll go okay, okay. I like that. If you tell the truth, comedy will happen."

"I'd be interested in writing a script for some kind of a funny style of movie."

"In movies, a logline is a statement of how a hero changes and heals; but in a television show, a logline is simply the hero's goals and the obstacles in his way."

"Good TV and good film, like Breaking Bad, are literature in a sense because people had to write it."

"Eric Monte wrote for the shows All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, and The Cosby Show."

"She knew how to take a script apart, she knew character development, she knew arcs."

"It doesn't feel juvenile; it feels smartly written."

"They are a likeable, entertaining cast with strong acting, which makes up for the writing follies."

"I combined the inciting incident with the climax of the first act, thereby knocking out two birds with one stone."

"I think Charlie Brooker is a genius when he gets it right."

"But that run he had, if you look at Patton, and the conversation, and the two Godfather pictures, and Apocalypse Now... Diane Keaton's career in the seventies, all the Woody Allen movies."

"Anytime I know where the movie's going, that means the audience knows where the movie's going, so every time I feel that way, I just turn the tables and write something completely different."

"Screenwriting works. It has practical applications; it can help you in your life."

"Listen, screenwriting isn't easy; it's the reason why not a lot of people do it. It's really hard work."

"Screenwriters are not really writers, they're builders."

"Screenwriting isn't about writing... it's all about structure, it's all about how it is constructed."

"A writer only needs one script, that's all I need."

"For me, when I read a screenplay, I want to be moved."

"It's about emotion, and for me, a screenplay is never an intellectual exercise."

"Having that network of people that you trust who can read your script, give you notes... that's when maybe your screenplay is ready to share with representation."

"Hundreds of scripts and it's all based on the specific genres we're going to hit."

"I really want to get into writing my own things, scripts, directing."

"CK Walker is an author and screenwriter from the Midwest."

"I really like screenwriting now, it's different and it's challenging."

"That's where my true love lies, is in screenwriting."

"Writing for movies is scripting images, the juxta position of which will create an idea in the mind of the audience."

"I've always wanted to be a screenwriter since I was a kid."

"Learn from screenplays and movies that are not good; why are they not good? Learn that."

"Orson Welles won an Oscar in which category for his work on the film Citizen Kane? Best Original Screenplay."

"I really wish George Lucas had been able to hand over the outlines to a competent seasoned screenwriter."

"Those three simple words are arguably the most famous in screen history."

"Everything that you put on screen has value, must have value, must mean something."

"The future is going to be AI generated scripts from chat."

"The writing in the movies always takes a turn in a direction that I'll never predict."

"He's the best writer-directors there is, so you take his lines very seriously."

"Writing jobs don't last nearly as long as they used to because seasons are significantly shorter now."

"If you like to be creative, you will definitely enjoy screenwriting."

"It is basically expected that goodwill triumphs over evil on our screens."

"The movie is the best possible commercial for my writing."

"Her remarkable career as an essayist, novelist, screenwriter has spanned well over three decades."

"Chiaki Konaka kept breaking the mold and doing something completely different from what anyone else was doing."

"Luc Besson wrote the story of The Fifth Element when he was just 16 years old."

"You should seriously consider becoming a screenwriter."

"This is everything you need to know about writing screenplays, scripts."

"Women and people of color are often regarded as soy-sauce, hired to sprinkle culturally specific details on a screenplay, rather than credited with the substantive work of crafting the story."

"I mean, 'Being John Malkovich' is pretty amazing because you just got one screenwriter, you got another director, they both work perfectly together."

"You can create your world even in the average screenplay."

"It's all script; you can only make a great film if the script is great."

"When you have these writing rooms, you just need to have a few women in there to let you know what works and what doesn't."

"It was super easy, barely an inconvenience."

"...he decided purely as a passion project he was going to write a script for a prequel to The Star Wars franchise."