Screenwriter's Compass

6

FINISHING

WRIGHTING A SCREENPLAY

Wrighting versus Writing

Ever notice how a writer for the theatre is called a playwright, yet the writer for film is called a screenwriter? Playwright is modeled upon archaic compound nouns such as wheelwright and barrelwright and ploughwright.

Here’s a definition of wright from the Oxford English Dictionary:

Noun:

1. An artificer or handicraftsman; esp. a constructive workman. b. Applied to the Deity, = CREATOR

2. One who does or performs something; a doer or worker.

Verb:

1. trans. To build, construct. Obs. rare.

2. To repair (a ship); to renovate, mend.

Buried deep within the word/suffix wright lies the idea of artifice and creation. The word also contains the implication of manual labor that requires ...