"It is my current belief that the function of the writer is to give the audience some shred of meaning to the otherwise meaningless pattern of their lives. Our lives are filled with endless moments of stimulus and depression. We relate to each other in an incredibly complicated manner. Every fiber of relationship is worth a dramatic study. There is far more exciting drama in the reasons why a man gets married than in why he murders someone. The man who is unhappy in his job, the wife who thinks of a lover, the girl who wants to get into television, your father, mother, sister, brothers, cousins, friends - all these are better subjects for drama than Iago. What makes a man ambitious? Why does one girl always try to steal her kid sister's boy friends? Why does your uncle attend his annual class reunion faithfully every year? Why do you always find it depressing to visit your father? These are the substances of good television drama; and the deeper you probe into and examine the twisted semiformed complexes of emotional entanglements, the more exciting your writing becomes."
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Academy Award winnersNovelists from the United StatesScreenwriters from the United StatesPeople from New York CityPlaywrights from the United States
Original Language: English
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Sources
Paddy Chayevsky's discussion of Marty, at p.178.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paddy_Chayefsky
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Paddy Chayefsky
Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (29 January 1923 – 1 August 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays.
31 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Paddy Chayefsky →
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