Rod Serling on Writing

Part 3 of a 16-part series featuring the master storyteller on video.

Ever since I launched Go Into The Story, I have regularly gone down the Internet’s rabbit hole in search of unique video clips featuring renowned writers. In 2010, I hit the Mother Lode: A series of 16 clips featuring Rod Serling chatting with what appear to be college students circa 1970.

Most well-known for the long-running TV anthology series “The Twilight Zone” (148 episodes, 1959–1964), Serling has over 70 writing credits including the screenplays for movies such as Seven Days in May and the original Planet of the Apes.

Back in 2010, I went through each clip and extracted some key quotes from Serling. Then as is often the case with the Internet, the videos disappeared.

However, they have emerged once again, a big hat tip to Doc Kane for surfacing them. As long as they are up, I will reprise the series. Today Serling considers this question: Does espousing a cause lose character credibility?

“Leave that soapbox behind. Carry it with you at all times, your sense of caring and concern. But put it into the mouths of flesh-and-blood people. If not, write tracts.”

NOTE: At 0:32 in this video, Serling mentions the phrase “plot point.” And here I thought that Syd Field created that idea. I don’t know when these Serling interviews were produced, but they were certainly before 1984, the year Field’s first book, “Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting” was first published. So perhaps time to revise screenplay history.

For Part 1 of the series, go here.

Part 2, here.

Tomorrow: More of the interviews with Rod Serling.