More thoughts on writing from Francis Ford Coppola

Indiewire reported on Francis Ford Coppola’s talk at the Cannes Film Festival. Here are some interesting tidbits:

He wrote the screenplay for the movie, “Patton,” was fired, and six years later they made the film. He observed, “the thing you get fired for are the same things you get lifetime achievement award for later on.”

According to the article:
“Coppola encouraged fellow screenwriters in the room to do as he did. “When I write six pages I turn them over and never read them…Young writers have a hormone that makes them hate their writing.”

He also suggested to “write in the mornings” as that’s what he does because “no one has hurt my feelings yet.” 

And he also encouraged screenwriters to exercise…by applying “the seat to the bottom of the chair and start to work cause there’s a lot of procrastination in writing.”

PS: If you've never seen "Patton," get it on DVD and have a look--it's brilliant and one of the few war-themed movies considered a masterpiece by hawks and doves alike.

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