Daily Inspiration Quote by John Sayles

Sayles is quietly demystifying authorship while also staking a claim to it. Calling the script "really just the first draft" is a director-writer’s way of admitting what most productions hide: the real writing happens later, in rehearsal, on location, in the edit, in the friction between plan and reality. But then he adds the kicker - he changes "about two lines per movie" - and the modesty flips into something tougher. It reads like an aesthetic manifesto: precision up front, discipline later.

The subtext is control without swagger. Sayles isn’t selling the romantic chaos of filmmaking; he’s arguing for a kind of blue-collar rigor. If the script is a first draft, it’s because cinema is collaborative and contingent. If he barely revises, it’s because he’s written with the full movie already in his head: the blocking, the budget limits, the actor’s breath, the cut. That "two lines" boast also signals independence. In a studio system where scripts are endlessly rewritten by committee, his minimal changes suggest a production model with fewer cooks, fewer notes, and fewer compromises.

Context matters: Sayles built a career in American indie film where time is short, money is tighter, and clarity is survival. The line count is less about literal editing than about a philosophy of intention. He’s telling you that flexibility doesn’t require constant tinkering; it requires a script sturdy enough to absorb reality without losing its spine.