Screenplays Quotes

“Some stories have to be written because no one would believe the absurdity of it all.”
― Shannon L. Alder

“In Hollywood, no one knows anything.”
― William Goldman

“It’s easier for me to make sense of it that way than it is for me to face the other way—reality. And yet, those evil spirits that were unleashed—be they fake entities from a stupid carnival ride, or cruel malevolencies from dark spiritual chasms of our universe—have stayed with me all these years”
― Tim Cummings, Orphans

“I leave the kitchen table to bathe, and to dress for church. If only my closet held on its shelves an array of faces I could wear rather than dresses, I would know which face to put on today. As for the dresses, I haven't a clue.”
― Tim Cummings, Orphans

“Listen, we’ll come visit you. Okay? I’ll dress up as William Shakespeare, Lucent as Emily Dickinson, and beautiful ‘Ray’ as someone dashing and manly like Jules Verne or Ernest Hemingway...and we’ll write on your white-room walls. We’ll write you out of your supposed insanity. I love you, Micky Affias.

-James (from "Descendants of the Eminent")”
― Tim Cummings

“Hugh Laurie (playing Mr. Palmer) felt the line 'Don't palm all your abuses [of language upon me]' was possibly too rude. 'It's in the book,' I said. He didn't hit me.”
― Emma Thompson, The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay and Diaries: Bringing Jane Austen's Novel to Film

“[Over breakfast] We discussed the 'novelisation' question. This is where the studio pay someone to novelise my script and sell it as Sense and Sensibility. I've said if this happens I will hang myself. Revolting notion. Beyond revolting.

Lindsay [Doran] said that the executive she had discussed it with had said 'as a human being I agree with you -- but ...' I laughed until my porridge was cool enough to swallow.”
― Emma Thompson, The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay and Diaries: Bringing Jane Austen's Novel to Film

“But the thing I remember most about the screening in October twenty years ago was the moment Julian grasped my hand that had gone numb on the armrest separating our seats. He did this because in the book Julian Wells lived but in the movie's new scenario he had to die. He had to be punished for all of his sins. That's what the movie demanded. (Later, as a screenwriter, I learned it's what all movies demanded.) When this scene occurred, in the last ten minutes, Julian looked at me in the darkness, stunned. "I died," he whispered. "They killed me off." I waited a bit before sighing, "But you're still here." Julian turned back to the screen and soon the movie ended, the credits rolling over the palm trees as I (improbably) take Blair back to my college while Roy Orbison wails a song about how life fades away.”
― Bret Easton Ellis, Imperial Bedrooms

“Screenplays are structure, and that’s all they are. The quality of writing—which is crucial in almost every other form of literature—is not what makes a screenplay work. Structure isn’t anything else but telling the story, starting as late as possible, starting each scene as late as possible. You don’t want to begin with “Once upon a time,” because the audience gets antsy.”
― William Goldman

“Every writer dreams about the day they can step into their fiction and wander its hallways.”
― Shannon L. Alder

“Makebelieve is a writer's best friend.”
― Solange nicole

“Of all the most devastating sounds in the universe, silence is the most powerful.”
― Gerard de Marigny

“Try everything; listen to everyone. Follow no one. You are your own story guru!”
― Jeff Lyons, Anatomy of a Premise Line: How to Master Premise and Story Development for Writing Success

“With the right tools, you can write anything ...”
― Jeff Lyons, Anatomy of a Premise Line: How to Master Premise and Story Development for Writing Success

“Novelist by day; screenwriter by night.”
― A.D. Posey

“There is magic in the old and magic in the new; the trick is to successfully combine the two.”
― A.D. Posey

“The business of making moving
pictures is the art of moving audiences.”
― Lawrence J. Kurnarsky, The Story of the Story: How to Kidnap Your Audience