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An RSL/Booker Prize Foundation Masterclass with Deborah Moggach on writing for film.

Recommended reading and viewing

• The Diary of Anne Frank
• Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
• Short Cuts – the Raymond Carver short stories, and the DVD of the movie (Robert Altman screenwriter)
• Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen, and the DVD of the movie (Emma Thompson screenwriter)
• The Go-Between – LP Hartley, and the DVD of the movie (Harold Pinter screenwriter)

Plus the screenplays of the above movies.

Top tips

• Think of a novel as a noun and a screenplay as a verb. See it as action, moving always forwards.
• Think pictures – visualise those scenes. Films are what you see rather than what you hear.
• Grow a thick skin; you’ll get masses of criticism and everything will get changed. Don’t take it personally.
• Never let a character say “Do you remember…?” The audience will switch off in droves. Remembering is for novels.
• Download screenplays and read them, to get used to the format. Especially useful if you’ve already seen the film.

Recorded on: October 24, 2015
Recorded at: Llandrindod Wells Library, Wales
Sponsored by: Booker Prize Foundation