These questions originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.
Answers by Matt Charman, Screenwriter, Bridge of Spies (Academy Award nominee, Best Original Screenplay), on Quora.
A: I used to sneak into the second acts of West End plays while I was at university in London. I couldn't afford to buy tickets so after the interval, I would slip in behind people who had been outside having a cigarette, wait for the lights to go down and find an empty seat. That's really bad of me (and I should probably advise you not to do it!) but it was an amazing education because only seeing the second acts made me spend the whole night making up what the first act might have been in my head, before I was able to check in the University library the next day. I didn't know it at the time but I was learning the art of structuring stories and what you do and don't need to know. It was a great grounding for me.
...
A: If you hear a good line of dialogue on the bus or tube, write it down. If you have a good character name in your head, write it down. A good opening image? Write it down. Most writers are like hoarders who find little pieces of 'treasure' and hide them away in a safe place to use later. You never know when you might need something so if it's good, write it down.
...
A: Be where the hottest point of the drama is and make sure the scene you're writing is where the audience wants to be. Don't be in the room next to the action, but with the action itself. That doesn't mean the most dramatic place isn't quiet and still, it just means what we're hearing and seeing is the most thrilling part of the story at that exact moment.
...
A: It's hard for this not to turn into a list but I love Paddy Chayefsky in a completely different way to how I love the remarkable Melissa Matheson. The films NETWORK and E.T. show the complete range of what cinema can be. I would love to write a movie that stood the test of time like those two screenplays have and surely always will. The screen writers who inspire me now? The Coen's, working with them was a dream come true. Aaron Sorkin, Lena Dunham, Tina Fey, damn you see...? It's become a list!
- Screenwriters: How involved was Matt Charman in the filming of Bridge of Spies?
- Writing Advice: What did Steven Spielberg teach you about writing and filmmaking?
- Screenwriting: With your own screenplays, when you adapt history for a movie, are there any inviolate truths about history that must not be compromised?