How They Wrote

Unforgettable Screen Moments

And How You Can, Too - A Practical Craft Guide for Screenwriters Build the Moment That Needs the Line A screenwriter does not write famous quotations. A screenwriter writes scenes. That distinction is the foundation of this book. Famous lines are usually remembered without the pressure that made them necessary: without the objective the character was pursuing, the information the audience already possessed, the danger of speaking plainly, the silence after the words, the actor's delivery, or the image that followed. The useful question is hard and practical: What must the scene, character, and story do so that these particular words become the strongest possible words at this particular moment?