DAVID MAMET ON WRITING FOR THE SCREEN

REMEMBER YOU ARE WRITING FOR A VISUAL MEDIUM.> MOST > TELEVISION WRITING, OURS INCLUDED, SOUNDS LIKE> RADIO > . THE> CAMERA > CAN DO THE EXPLAINING FOR YOU.> LET > IT. WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERS> DOING > -*LITERALLY*. WHAT ARE THEY HANDLING, WHAT ARE THEY READING. WHAT ARE THEY WATCHING ON TELEVISION, WHAT ARE THEY> SEEING > .

via movieline.com

(Yes, he wrote it in all caps - except for one part where he accidentally un-cap-ified it.)

It’s an excellent 5-minute-university style how-to course in writing drama (or indeed anything, I think) for a medium that is still relatively new. Mamet writes like a house on fire, and he understands the screen as a medium. He advises to write as if the characters can’t talk, to focus on the visual.

If you write for idiots, only idiots will watch.