Write What You Know.

What does it really mean? On face value ‘write what you know’ appears limiting and restrictive, but it doesn’t have to be.

There is a quote attributed to the Roman playwright Terentius Publius

‘…I am human, nothing in humanity is alien to me…’

This really resonates with me.

In a very real sense, if I’m doing my job properly, I’m always writing what I know because regardless of any contextual variation; nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual persuasion etc. people are people and if I draw on that great wealth of human commonality in my writing I’m always writing what I know, however distant it might appear to my own life experience at first glance.

We all want the same things don't we? Love, affirmation, friendship, respect, dignity, meaning in our lives, ad infinitum... Once you find that emotional core, empathy, imagination and diligent research will do the rest.

There’s always a bridge to be found between your experience and that of the other. Your job as a screenwriter is to discover that bridge.

#screenwriting

#filmmaking