Screenwriting 101: John August
“While working on Big Fish, I got very Method: I’d stare at a mirror until I could get myself crying, and then I would start writing. It…
“While working on Big Fish, I got very Method: I’d stare at a mirror until I could get myself crying, and then I would start writing. It was literally days of just staring at a mirror and crying, but it works — something about that process captures the right feeling. And by getting myself to the point of crying, it helped me get other people to that point. I had done it before with another project, a horror movie, so the process for that was to get myself terrified and then write. A lot of writers will play music while they’re writing, or they’ll have a scent that reminds them of the movie’s world and smelling gets them back into it. Anything’s fair game as long as it works.”
— John August (FilmCraft | Screenwriting, P. 43)
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