You are absolutely right – most screenwriters don’t read enough scripts. We all need to read more scripts. But, they also don’t watch enough movies. This is also a basic part of the job. We are writing movies, and one should have an intimate knowledge of the greats across all genres. This is the best way to get a good sense for what makes a cinematic story. I read a lot of scripts that don’t really have enough content to make a movie, and I think these writers don’t watch enough movies to have a real sense of what goes into a movie. I have been told many times by writers that they don’t watch movies within their genre – either the classics or recent movies. That is just unprofessional. We need to have an intimate working knowledge of our genre and also what’s being produced in the market now. We all have to have a bigger vision of what we’re trying to do – make movies – and the best way to get a feel for a great movie is to watch them.