Respect The Delicate Ecology Of Your Delusions.

One Of The Things I Love About My Job As A Playwright Or As A Screenwriter Is That I Get To Do A Lot Of Research And A Lot Of Thinking And Taking A Lot Of Notes Before I Turn It In.

When I Used To Teach Writing, What I Would Tell My Playwriting Students Is That While You're Writing Your Plays, You're Also Writing The Playwright. You're Developing Yourself As A Persona, As A Public Persona. It's Going To Be Partly Exposed Through The Writing Itself And Partly Created By All The Paraphernalia That Attaches Itself To Writing. But You Aren't Simply An Invisible Being Or Your Own Private Being At Work. You're Kind Of A Public Figure, As Well.

Accuracy Is Paramount In Every Detail Of A Work Of History. Here's My Rule: Ask Yourself, 'did This Thing Happen?' If The Answer Is Yes, Then It's Historical. Then Ask, 'did This Thing Happen Precisely This Way?' If The Answer Is Yes, Then It's History; If The Answer Is No, Not Precisely This Way, Then It's Historical Drama.

I Had A Dream, In 1985, I Believe, When A Friend I'd Gone To School With Was Sick - One Of The First People I Knew Who'd Gotten The Aids Virus. I Had A Dream Of Him In His Bedroom With An Angel Crashing Through The Ceiling. I Wrote A Poem Called 'angels In America.' I've Never Looked At The Poem Since The Day I Wrote It.

As Much As I Hate His Movies, Oliver Stone Has An Aspiration I Admire, And That Is That He Wants His Art To Be Part Of What Makes And Changes Public Policy And Cultural Practice.