11 Writing Practices That Aaron Sorkin Swears By

When you think of the best writers in Hollywood, Aaron Sorkin is certainly one of the top five names.

Sorkin is credited with some of the most legendary screenplays in American cinema. The Social Network (2010), Moneyball (2011), A Few Good Men (1992), The West Wing (1999-2006), and The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) are just a few films and TV series he wrote.

Obviously, there’s a ton we can learn from such a prolific screenwriter. In this article, we’ve compiled the best writing tips that Sorkin swears by, giving you a sneak peek into his perspective on the entire writing process.

Aaron Sorkin’s 11 Writing Tips

1. The Key to Creating a Good Drama Is Intention and Obstacles

This means that whatever you choose to write about, for a drama to land successfully, intention and obstacles are more important than your character’s personality or looks, Sorkin told Wired.

“Somebody wants something, something formidable is standing in their way of getting it,” Sorkin said (via Wired).

For instance, you want to write about a house party. Is there anything or anyone stopping you from throwing the party? Or maybe you’re supposed to wrap up the party by a deadline, but now your guests are too drunk and creating a scene?

To get a little wilder, what if a fire breaks out during the party? All these are different “obstacles” that are standing in your way of having a successful house party (your intention).

Now, failure and success are irrelevant to the story. What is important is that we understand why it's important to your character.

How the character overcomes their obstacles is a reflection of their core identity. Sorkin advises that, as a writer, you’re supposed to show the audience, not tell them.

2. As dramatists, you are allowed to tweak reality.

Art is not supposed to prioritize accuracy at all costs or be journalistic. It is supposed to be subjective and objective.

According to Sorkin, dramatists have the liberty to tweak reality for the sake of storytelling, as long as they’re not perverting history or defaming the characters in any way (via Collider).

As fiction writers, our moral compass is constantly tested. How much can you bend the truth for the sake of drama? Or does one always have to be accurate about facts?

In such cases, Sorkin advises us to weigh the impact of the truth and then make a choice. Emphasizing further, he told the Hollywood Reporter, “What you want from art is not a Wikipedia page shot nicely. It ought to be subjective and not objective.”

3. Reality Is Less Interesting Than You Think

Sorkin believes that real people and fictional characters seldom have much in common. “The properties of people and the properties of character almost have nothing to do with each other,” Sorkin says.

In fact, real people aren’t as interesting as we think they should be: they neither speak in dialogue, nor live lives that unfold in a tidy series of scenes. The properties of reality vary distinctively from the rules of drama.

Therefore, as a writer, the focus shouldn’t be on realism while developing a fictional character. Instead, it should be on creating characters and dialogue that are interesting.

Real people and genuine conversations are a source of inspiration. But, because they’re mundane, they might not be enough to keep audiences interested. So if you ever have to choose between “believable” and “interesting,” it is better to opt for the latter.

4. Great Villains Demand Complete Non-judgment

As a writer, when creating a negative character, focus on empathizing with and relating to them. The key is “to write the character like they’re making their case to God why they should be allowed into heaven,” says Sorkin (via Wired).

To illustrate, he uses the example of Colonel Jessep (played by Jack Nicholson) from the film A Few Good Men.

In the courtroom scene with Lt. Kaffee (Tom Cruise), Col. Jessep roars, "You can’t handle the truth.” He goes on to justify his act, despite killing a Marine private.

“The audience can think of them as a villain, but not you,” Sorkin says.

5. Dialogue Should Be Rhythmic

Dialogue should have the properties of a musical piece. In dialogue, syllables control the rhythm and meter. They’re like the time signatures on the speech that is being spoken out loud.

Sorkin says, “Much in the same way in a line of dialogue—if you drop a word and substitute a two-syllable word for a one-syllable word, that will very often dampen the impact of the line, ruin a joke, that kind of thing. Actors know that” (via The Saturday Paper).

He told Tom Power that he scripts every sound made by his characters, including every ad-lib and verbal hiccup, like all the “ums” and “ohs.” He strongly believes that without an orchestrated rhythm in the dialogue, the jokes, comebacks, and everything else run a definite risk of falling flat.

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Sorkin suggests that one way to test it is by reading it out loud and judging it by the sound (via Collider).

While discussing his inspirations from reality, Sorokin talks about his unique style, which involves eavesdropping on real conversations in public places.

He told The Aspen Institute, “Frequently, if I'm really stuck, I'll go out into a public place, a diner, a bus stop, any place where you might overhear a conversation, and hope that I can land in the middle of a conversation that will get me thinking, ‘How in the world did this—what in the world was the beginning of this conversation?’”

His process involves finding a line that resonates with you and then building scenes before and after it.

6. Conscience Is Non-Negotiable in Characters

Be it a hero or a villain, give your characters a conscience. Because, without one, you cannot have an interesting character, Sorkin told The View.

Implausible personalities are not cut out to be characters.

7. Rewrite After the First Draft

After you are done with your first draft, go for a complete rewrite of the draft from scratch. Only this time, “Peel away the things that don’t have anything to do with your story” (via Wired).

Now that you know the end, your perspective is clearer to make edits. This allows you to identify plot holes and their origins, refine the clunky areas of your screenplay, and eliminate unnecessary sections from the story.

8. Be a “Diagnostician”

Knowing what isn’t working is great, but knowing why it isn’t working is the best-case scenario.

Whether it’s your work or someone else’s, try to understand why you didn’t like something, Sorkin told Kinowetter.

This means diving deep into diagnosing the writing to analyze its flaws. This will help you become well-versed in mistakes that can cost you your audience’s attention.

9. Avoid Stereotypes

Not being offensive is not the only reason to avoid stereotypes. According to Sorkin, stereotypes are just bad writing.

While answering screenwriting queries via X (formerly Twitter) for Wired, Sorkin explained how it is primal in humans to empathize with other humans. Therefore, one doesn’t need to rely on stereotypes to evoke a sense of familiarity in the audience.

He says, “I can be different in every possible way. But if that person is a father—I’m a father—if that person is also a father, I feel like I know everything about them.”

10. Do Not Underestimate Your Audience

As a writer, disrespecting the audience and their intelligence is a big mistake. “I don’t think that the people who make movies are any smarter than the people who watch movies,” Sorkin told Gold Derby.

According to him, if the audience realizes that you’re belittling their intelligence, chances are they won’t like your story very much.

Sorkin prefers opening his story by throwing the audience right into the chaos of the narrative. He says, “Make [the audience] just sit forward a little bit to try to catch up to where we are, because we're running out ahead of them.”

That would also require you to focus on involving the audience in ways that make them more than just spectators.

11. Practice Is Crucial

Sorkin emphasizes practice. He says, “Writing is like playing violin. It takes practice. You get better as you get older.”

How many of these do you already practice? Let us know which tip was the most helpful for you.