Which Lie Did I Tell?

Which Lie Did I Tell? is a non-fiction book by celebrated screenwriter William Goldman. It follows on from his previous book about writing in Hollywood, Adventures in the Screen Trade.

Goldman is probably best remembered for writing the classic western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, for which he won one of his two Oscars. He also put pen to paper for the films Misery, Marathon Man, All The President's Men, A Bridge Too Far, Heat, The Princess Bride, Maverick and The Ghost and the Darkness, amongst many others. This book, Which Lie Did I Tell? is an entertaining, mildly cynical and practical look at being a writer in Hollywood.

Goldman is very much the archetypal Hollywood scriptwriter. I watched one of his later films the other day, The General's Daughter, and without knowing it was him I guessed that he was the writer. I'm not saying he's shit, but he definitely knows how to write a script in a very traditional 'Hollywood' way.

The first part of the book deals with Goldman's own experiences... the period in the '80s when he was out of work, how he came to write the very popular novel The Princess Bride, how it was adapted into a great film, and his work on the films Misery, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Absolute Power, the abysmal Year of the Comet and a few others. It's a refeshingly honest insight into how things get done in Hollywood, how egos can overwhelm a good idea (see The Ghost and the Darkness), and how little writers get recognition for their work. He regales the reader with all of this whilst using as little vitriol as possible and with much good humour, making for good reading (well, he'd wanna make for good reading if he's meant to be such a good writer!)

The next part of the book is about ideas he's had for films but hasn't followed through, and the reasons why certain scripts get picked up by studios whilst others don't. It's informative for anyone wanting to become a scriptwriter, a kind of guide to the do's and dont's.

The final part of the book shows an original script by Goldman and details the opinions of some of his peers on what works in this script and what doesn't... quite frankly, this script is an absolute stinking turkey and did little to endear me to Goldman's apparent talent. I know he has written some great films, and I've enjoyed quite a few of them, but if the script featured in this book (and the film The General's Daughter) is anything to go by - well, maybe he jumped the shark.

Anyway, this is a cool insider's guide to the Hollywood screenwriting process and has some nice trivia and amusing asides from Goldman on various bits and pieces to do with his career and the writing process. I can't say I think he's the greatest scriptwriter who ever lived, but I can say that he does know a thing or too about writing in general, and what he has to say is definitely worth reading for anyone even remotely interested in writing for a living, or anyone just interested in the behind-the-scenes hoopla of Hollywood.