Screenwriter’s Backstory

Episode Two: Why I Write

Hi, I’m Jeff Goldstein, and welcome back to Screenwriter’s Backstory.

People often ask me why I write screenplays.

The easy answer is because I love movies.

But that’s not the real answer.

The real answer is that writing lets me explore the questions I’ve spent my whole life trying to understand.

Every screenplay starts with a different idea, but they all end up asking something personal.

Love You Two asks whether love is fate… or a choice.

Healed asks whether a gift can feel like a curse.

Taking Arizona asks whether it’s ever too late to chase one last dream.

The Vampire Russell asks what happens when we refuse to let go of the past.

And Brice asks a question that’s become very personal to me: Can someone who spends a lifetime making other people laugh ever truly accept themselves?

Those stories are completely different on the surface.

Underneath, they’re all really about people searching for hope, forgiveness, acceptance, or a second chance.

I don’t write because I already know the answers.

I write because I’m trying to discover them.

Every screenplay teaches me something I didn’t know before I started.

Sometimes it’s about the characters.

Sometimes… it’s about me.

That’s why I keep writing.

Not because it’s easy.

Not because it’s guaranteed to succeed.

But because every story is another chance to understand people a little better.

And maybe understand myself a little better, too.

Thanks for watching.

I’ll see you next time on Screenwriter’s Backstory.

Jeff Goldstein
Award-Winning Screenwriter

Next Week on Screenwriter’s Backstory…
Every screenwriter hears the same advice: “Write what you know.” But what does that really mean? In Episode Three, I’ll talk about why that advice isn’t as simple as it sounds.