“The job of the screenplay is to identify and extract the essence of the story from the novel and reconfigure it for the screen, maintaining its essence in a different vehicle.” DifferentStoriesJobsNovelEssenceScreensVehicleMaintainingScreenplays Author:Barry Eisler
“What I found interesting writing a screenplay as opposed to writing a novel is not the obvious thing, which is having to pare everything down and find the kind of essence, the skeleton if you like, which can then be fleshed out by performance and cinematography.” IfsWritingKindFoundInterestingNovelEssencePerformancesDown AndObviousScreenplaysSkeletonsCinematographyObvious Things Author:Salman Rushdie
“A year after I'd graduated college, I went to a weeklong conference intensive in Boston, and that's when things kicked into high gear. My workshop leader was a Harvard professor and editor. At the end of the week we met one-on-one over breakfast, and she said, in essence, "Look, you're ready to turn pro." She gave me a list of literary agents to query once I had something to show them. I came home and wrote my first real novel, and the agent that sold it to Tor Books was on that list.” YearsFirstsLooksSaidBookRealEndsShowsHomeTurnsLeaderNovelWeekCollegeReadyMetsEssenceListsAgentsBreakfastEditorsProfessorsConferencesBostonHarvardGearsWorkshopsOne On OneQueriesLiterary Agents Author:Brian Hodge
“The lessons learned in journalism also apply. Writing for NPR has taught me to cut a piece in half and then in half again - without losing the essence. Apply that to the swollen prose of a bulky novel and you might reveal a beautiful work.” WritingMightBeautifulHalfNovelPiecesCuttingTaughtLessonsLosingEssenceJournalismProseSwollenLesson LearnedNpr Author:Julianna Baggott