20 Screenwriting Tips from Paul Thomas Anderson on how he wrote Licorice Pizza & There Will Be Blood

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Paul Thomas Anderson is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He developed an interest in filmmaking from a young age. He made his feature-film debut with Hard Eight (1996). He found critical and commercial success with Boogie Nights (1997), set in the Golden Age of Porn, and received further accolades with Magnolia (1999), an ensemble piece set in the San Fernando Valley, and Punch-Drunk Love (2002), a romantic comedy-drama film.
Anderson's fifth film, There Will Be Blood (2007), about an oil prospector during the Southern California oil boom, achieved major critical and commercial success, and is often cited as one of the greatest films of the 2000s. This was followed by The Master (2012) and Inherent Vice (2014). Anderson's eighth film, Phantom Thread, was released in 2017. His ninth film, Licorice Pizza, was released in 2021.
Allow your story to naturally emerge rather than making sure you know the theme or the meaning of your film straight from the start.
It’s fun to have an ego when you’re writing by yourself, so it might seem terrifying to become selfless and share your script with your collaborators but that’s when it starts becoming good.
If there’s a problem with something in your film, it usually means you need to track it all the way back to writing.
Create without fear.
Spectacular ideas come from the mundane situations of life. Explore the core elements of our everyday lives, relationships and then use your writing to find a deeper truth about what it means.
Writing can happen really fast if you’ve done your research about the setting, time and the characters.
Your job as a director is being an audience member and a collaborator.
Writing makes or breaks a film. Good writing makes directing and making a film easier, and poor writing makes it harder.
No matter how unique your idea, there is probably something with a resemblance out there. Watch it, study it. See where you can take ideas and critique and avoid mistakes.
Don’t be too descriptive, show your character’s motivations through their actions and their dialogue.
Think about the songs you feel match your story, and why. What about the themes of the song, the style, tells your story. This means your music, and your writing will be more unified and natural overall.
Film school can provide you with a great leg up, but ensure you learn from watching, and creating films first and foremost.
When on set, take the work seriously, but don't take yourself seriously. Make sure you’ve already had all the key conversations and meetings before shooting takes place.
Leap from project to project. Harness your excitement from each project to motivate yourself to do the next. Never allow your filmmaking to simply end.
As a writing exercise, write someone else’s words down to get inspired and work your own script from there.
Never just stare at the blank piece of paper. Build a momentum where you can write every day without it ever tiring you out, even if you only have vague ideas about what to write about.
Don’t start with a theme. Start with characters.
Constantly practise writing. If you don’t know where to start, use stories or ideas you’ve written down when you were younger.
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#PaulThomasAnderson #screenwriter #screenwriting #LicoricePizza #screenplay

[@cobymarcum1442]

100% agree on not staring at a blank page when trying to write. Go for a walk. Watch people. Make up a background story about two people you see. Do anything but nothing.

[@OutstandingScreenplays]

Do anything but nothing. ✅

[@njujuznem6554]

I loved Licorice Pizza. I've seen it 3 times now in the cinema

[@OutstandingScreenplays]

💟💯✅🙌🍕

[@benlongo904]

Same 😂

[@realmediummike]

I didn’t like it as much as I hoped to

[@filmmaker610]

I wish Licorice Pizza would release in theaters in India. Great video.

[@MrTheWilliamville]

Glad to see PTA on this series!

[@jamesdelcol3701]

I'm starting to get into these videos. I am learning as I watch these. If you can describe a relationship, you have told a big story.

[@dameanvil]

00:00 🤖 Paul Thomas Anderson emphasizes the importance of transitioning from a writer's ego to a collaborative mindset when working on a film. 03:11 🛡 Anderson believes that good directing hinges on strong writing; if the writing isn't right, correcting it can be challenging. 11:30 💼 Anderson draws inspiration from various sources, including literature, to fuel his creativity in writing. 14:02 🤖 Anderson values efficiency and minimal dialogue on set, focusing on creating a productive and quiet atmosphere. 19:48 🛡 Anderson suggests avoiding fixating on themes and instead letting them naturally emerge from a story. He believes writing is more effective when characters guide the narrative. 21:42 🛡 Anderson discusses the precision and narrative momentum in a specific scene, highlighting the importance of letting the scene naturally unfold without excessive manipulation. 22:10 🤖 He emphasizes the challenge of writing scenes that move the plot forward and mentions how his approach to writing evolved over the years, from early exercises to more complex scripts like "Boogie Nights."

[@victorvargascb]

The greatest director of all time.

[@lilmilontiktok]

Licorice Pizza low key disappointed me

[@balloonheadproductions3284]

@@lilmilontiktok i think he wanted to relax and make a fun movie, i he’s made too great serious movies he needs to have fun

[@lilmilontiktok]

@@balloonheadproductions3284 true

[@Menapho]

There is no such thing! But I love his stories and the way he tells them.

[@lilmilontiktok]

@@Menapho i mean i respect that opinion. I still believe theres a greatest directed movie of all time which is citizen kane. Runner ups are definitely 2001, 1917, midsommar, and tragedy of macbeth which is pretty recent. (I tried to get a diverse group of movies too)

[@LycanVisuals]

Wish I could see Licorice Pizza again but it didn't play much in my area.

[@herranton0433]

Same. Such a shame

[@Obaulio]

In my area isn't still released

[@NASkeywest]

Best writer of all time. Got a script I work on a little bit every weekend cause of this guy. The longline and idea is very solid I just have to execute

[@oniriscope]

Great to have PTA here!

[@saicharansinganmala658]

Pta and Alejandro my all tym favorite and inspiration.

[@sindhanaiselvan3598]

😀❤️❤️

[@ryanmims9110]

Another tip not listed on here: "Have at least one scene where your main character is running"

[@sully6065]

huh?

[@callum6224]

@@sully6065 pta movies tend to have characters running, I guess. I can only think of instances from punch drunk love and there will be blood, and I guess magnolia.

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

@@callum6224 LIGHTS OUT! SHUT THAT FIRE OFF

[@YodasPapa]

@@callum6224 licorice Pizza at the end

[@akeithing1841]

​@callum6224 The Master. Where Freddie has to escape from the work camp where he accidentally poisoned the old man to death.

[@rajsingharora26]

Master Auteur & the best advice.

[@markcorless3552]

PTA is simply one of the best.

[@RekzaFS]

Incredible advice and as a heterosexual man this video also made me realize what a good looking man PTA is (I already knew he was a creative genius and never really paid attention to his looks)! Thank you for this video

[@theexpresidents]

Sure you're hetero?

[@RekzaFS]

​@@theexpresidents at least since the last time I checked

[@miked1869]

@@theexpresidents it's an odd thing about men acknowledging other men's good looks - that we should feel awkward about it and have to qualify it with "as a heterosexual man", or worse still with the godawful phrase "no homo".

[@BoiseNewWave]

Can we get links to each individual interview please?

[@yskim2636]

A true filmmaker is a writer first. 100%.

[@princewwe6032]

Make a video on Coen bros.

[@niallkquinn4458]

he looks so different without a beard

[@ptalove]

He is the best in this planet.

[@pandittroublejr]

💕💕

[@mattallengroupatREAL]

As good as PTA is, Charlie Rose was an expert interviewer.

[@pinakichakraborty8759]

❤

[@SmithQJohns-qm1yb]

He should play Kurt Kobain

[@KipArmadillo]

What's not to love about Paul?

[@iandt1367]

I wanna know how he wrote Translating the Name and Juturna.

[@callum6224]

I get your obscure reference. They do look similar.

[@PowersBenzoCoaching]

Too many commercials

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

You mean ads?

[@ReactionShot]

That's what ad-blocker is for. Try it, you'll like it.

[@goyu8801]

Please translate to Japanase

[@AntonQvarfordt]

I don't know... Basically I find most lessons on 'how to be a good writer' pointless unless you have already passed the fundamental 101 introductory course on how to ever think interesting thoughts and coherently processing them. Just focus on passing that course - when you've passed that just write it down. Simple as that. Except of course for the 2 years+ of grinding work turning it into any sort of narrative one can follow that make sense as a moving picture... But that's like... Just "folks".. Could do THAT :P

[@AntonQvarfordt]

I saw some interview with PTR where he was saying that it's a problem that film school tell students 'who basically just want to make Terminator', that it sucks and they should piss off... Which is kind of how I feel... And since PTR is like my top 3 all time favourite filmmakers and he has a diametrically opposed opinion from mine, then I'll concede I might be wrong :P Maybe the important thing is just to write something, at least to start with... And to have a good time doing it so you can continue... And having it be great/interesting will come with time as long as you keep doing it.

[@AntonQvarfordt]

But I also feel that there are way too many produced films that are 'academically' well-written... But that are ultimately impotent in any sense of discovery or similar things that to me are what it's really all about... And I'd rather watch a movie that's 'sloppily' written but that is potent in those things...

[@Matthew-is6ry]

11:00

[@eily_b]

Just marry Maya Rudolph finally. After 4 children and how many years together? 20?

[@theexpresidents]

You're starting to stray from writing....too much filler

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

What the fuck are you talking about? This is still about writing, obviously.