Every adaptation requires that the screenwriter make difficult choices – and in particular, difficult cuts.
You’re a writer. Make it up.
There’s never been a fantasy movie of the epic battle of good versus evil that ended with evil winning.
The fire was silent, the little houses collapsing into the flames without complaint, flocks of sparks rising to the sky. At a distance it seemed beautiful, and I thought it was strange that powerful violence is often so pleasing to the eye...
You don’t like the girl. You don’t know what color eyes she has, you don’t like her.
Every time something bad happens, like we lose a day because of weather or an actor gets injured or anything else happens, the schedule has to change. It’s the most challenging Tetris puzzle.
I think, in a weird way, the reason I was drawn to screenwriting and the reason I really love doing it is because I love writing dialogue.
I’m just not a natural teacher.
I’ve never flown a kite.
And I didn’t grow up wanting to be a director. I grew up wanting to be a writer, so for me, that was always the goal – to be a novelist, not a screenwriter. And I think, again, if I didn’t have the novels, maybe I’d be much more frustrated by not having directed yet.
Once you realise that heroes die, everything becomes that much more terrifying.
With the movies, people are not going to wait around. The deadline is a deadline. In publishing it’s more a polite suggestion.
I like having my own story remain my story.
Fiction novels, that’s my game.
A certain luxury when you get to writing a novel is to have the space to have your characters just banter.
Everyone knew this was the episode that was going to make or break the season.
The secret to winning a woman is calculated neglect.
Perhaps a hero is someone who doesn’t register his own vulnerability. Is it courage, then, if you’re too daft to know you’re mortal?
Contrary to popular belief, the experience of terror does not make you braver. Perhaps though, it is easier to hide your fear when you’re afraid all the time.
I was half asleep but I smiled. In spite of all his irritating qualities, I couldn’t help liking a man who despised a fictional character with such passion.