I was a great friend of the Europeans. I grew up in Wiesbaden. I love Germany very much.
You're dumber than you think I think you are.
Good dialogue illuminates what people are not saying
In dramatic writing, the very essence is character change. The character at the end is not the same as he was at the beginning. He's changed-psychologically, maybe even physically.
If you have a good ear for dialogue, you just can't help thinking about the way people talk. You're drawn to it. And the obsessive interest in it forces you to develop it. You almost can't help yourself.
Relative to the power that movie stars have, and producers and directors, I would say that even the most respected screenwriters have very little power in Hollywood. I don't think it's in the nature of the writer's profession to go after that power. Writers spend their time alone, hallucinating, writing, making these things up, while these other people are out schmoozing, making connections, meeting each other. They are trotting the corridors of power and making sure they've put their own imprints in it. And they're promoting themselves and their images, as they should.
What makes screenplays difficult are the things that require the most discipline and care and are just not seen by most people. I'm talking about movement - screenwriting is related to math and music, and if you zig here, you know you have to zag there. It's like the descriptions for a piece of music - you go fast or slow or with feeling. It's the same.
The Los Angeles riots were not caused by the Rodney King verdict. The Los Angeles riots were caused by rioters.
They are self-loathing people, these leftists. I can't imagine what it would be like to get up and live their life every day. To have to be mad all the time, at everybody else, knowing full well you are a failure and having the inability to do anything about it because you will not look at yourself. You gotta blame George W. Bush or you gotta blame corporations, or you have to blame somebody. Blame talk radio.
Even Jesus Christ cannot conduct a free and fair election in Nigeria.
My wife and I just started listening to the late Beethoven Quartets together, an activity I recommend for all married couples, but that doesn't really mean that I'm finished reading.