Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Writers write. Don’t wait for inspiration. Everyone who writes is a writer. Think of yourself as a writer. Less is more. We preach this with religious fervour. Economy, efficiency, integration. A screenplay is an elaborate list of sights and sounds whose purpose is to move the story forward.
I should make a full disclosure here and say that two of these books were written by close friends of mine: Hal Ackerman and Lew Hunter. Lew was my long-term partner at UCLA and we’ve been in the business together for 30 years. He’s now an emeritus professor living in Nebraska but he comes back to Westwood every winter to teach a 434. That’s the Film, Television and Digital Media catalogue number and the name of our meat-and-potatoes, bread-and-butter course. I’m into high-cholesterol metaphors. Our students take the course several times during their tenure in our Screenwriting MFA program at UCLA.
It’s a feature-length film workshop and everyone writes a feature-length film. Some students will enrol in the course eight or nine times. Anyway, Lew knows better than to spend the winter in Nebraska and he’s a legendary screenwriting teacher – many of the great writers have been through this course.
I love Lew, but that shouldn’t be held against him. You know, most people can’t take his class because you have to be a matriculated UCLA student, but you don’t need to take the class! You can read the book!
What does he say in it?
Well, there are two big pieces of advice. Writers write. Don’t wait for inspiration. Everyone who writes is a writer. Think of yourself as a writer. And less is more. We preach this with religious fervour. Economy, efficiency, integration. A screenplay is an elaborate list of sights and sounds whose purpose is moving the story forward.
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With a reputation as the godfather of screenwriting, UCLA’s Professor Richard Walter has mentored many of Hollywood’s most successful screenwriters. Walter is a member of the Writers Guild of America and is a writer of substantial professional experience throughout the media. He is the author of Escape From Film School and Screenwriting: The Art, Craft and Business of Film and Television Writing. He has written numerous feature assignments for the major studios and has sold material to all three networks. His latest book, Essentials of Screenwriting, is available from the end of June. Walter lectures on screenwriting throughout the world. He says Aristotle’s guidelines should be followed, not interpreted.
