ABSTRACT
Screenwriting is one of the few art forms that are not complete when it’s finished. Novels take the form of a book. The painting is completed and put on the wall. The architect’s building is built and the ribbon is cut. But the screenplay is just the beginning of the art form. Writers have many different ways of organizing their thoughts before they actually begin writing the script. Any story set in a world unfamiliar to the writer presents special research challenges, whether an adaptation or an original story. Even when some aspects of the world are known, many writers find they need to do research to get the nuances and to make sure they are absolutely accurate. For Robin Swicord, research might include going to Japan for several weeks to spend time with geishas for Memoirs of a Geisha, or spend weeks in the library researching the Civil War, or doing interviews.
