How to be an author

Frederic Raphael, the screenwriter of Eyes Wide Shut , has a great definition of work: “Work,” he says, “is when you have pages at the end of the day that you didn’t have at the beginning.” That works for all of us—actors, entrepreneurs, everyone

I have certain ways to get past things that block writers. If I'm doing a manuscript and I'm not getting a chapter, I’ll just think, “I'll get it next time.” I'll literally write that: "Next pass." I just move on. That kills writers sometimes: they can't get that chapter, and three months later, they’re still trying to get it. I always say, "No, go... See more

If you can write beginnings and ends, you can make a nice living as a writer. If you write middles, you win Pulitzers and Nobel Prizes and stuff. But with beginnings and ends, you're going to do okay.