EXPERIENCE VS SKILL

If you had to choose one as a screenwriter, which would it be? If you had to write a CSI script, would you rather be a writer that had never been on a crime scene but has research at hand, or a cop with twenty years of experience in smelling blood and covering up body parts with white sheets?

There's a lot to be said for both sides of that, without the knowledge of proper structure and a good story vast descriptions of crime scenes just become another version of "COPS", might as well just take the camera along, who needs a script?

And, staring at the black and white with plot in mind doesn't really give us the sense of what blood smells like on the crime scene, and if there's a way to put that smell into words it would be in our best interest to try to convey it.

Actors are known for their research, even more than writers, who probably do more of it, but we'd rather hear about Russell Crowe in a fight training camp learning moves for "Gladiator" than the writer who studied the romans to put this all in proper technical context.

There's a balance out there, and I believe everyone can use their life experience in their script.

In the end, it's up to us to decide what we write about.