Screenwriting 101: Liz Hannah

“Read everything you can. Read every script you can bad, good. Read Paddy Chayefsky’s collected works. That’s probably the best place to start, and then read everything else from there. Try and read bad scripts. Some of the best learning I’ve ever done is reading bad scripts. Try and sit there and analyze why it’s bad and why it doesn’t work. It’s really easy to just say, ‘Oh, I don’t like this…’ This was something that I’m really lucky to have learned in art school. When we were doing the critique in art school, you were never allowed to say like, ‘I don’t like it.’ You have to say, ‘Why don’t you like it?’ When you’re reading things, contextualize why it’s not working for you, why you didn’t like it. It’s the same thing with going to see films. Try and articulate why it’s not for you, because that will help you find your voice.”

— Liz Hannah

Go Into The Story interview, January 2018

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