A Writing Original

Responding to Lauren Bacall’s “itching to get back on stage” (“Aimee: The Book Can Wait,” Dec. 20):

As a screenwriter, I was put off by Bacall’s remark: “Can’t anybody write anymore?” It’s not as if undiscovered writers have abandoned their creative verve. I do believe that the majority of producers of stage and screen are not on the lookout for original material. And that in itself is another barrier writers are forced to endure.

Playwriting, as in screenwriting, is a lonely and time-consuming career, but I absolutely adore writing, so I stick to it listening to constructive criticism and bypassing rejection letters.

As young woman with three scripts cradled under my arm, I know I speak for struggling writers with ingenious material when I say please, Ms. Bacall, give us writers a break. We are doing the best we can do to put inventive and original material on stage and screen.

ANGIE M. COMER

Los Angeles