Editing Screenwriter (section)

==Script doctoring==
Many screenwriters also work as full- or part-time [[script doctor]]s, attempting to better a script to suit the desires of a director or [[Movie studio|studio]]. For instance, studio management may have a complaint that the motivations of the characters are unclear or that the dialogue is weak.

Hollywood has shifted writers onto and off projects since its earliest days, and the assignment of credits is not always straightforward or complete, which poses a problem for film study. In his book ''Talking Pictures'', [[Richard Corliss]] discussed the historian's dilemma: "A writer may be given screen credit for work he didn't do (as with [[Sidney Buchman]] on ''[[Holiday (1938 film)|Holiday]]''), or be denied credit for work he did do (as with Sidney Buchman on ''[[The Awful Truth]]'')."<ref>Corliss, Richard. ''Talking Pictures: Screenwriters in the American Cinema, 1927–1973'', Overlook Books, 1974, p. 78</ref>