Richard Price is an accomplished novelist and screenwriter, who wrote his first novel The Wanderers while attending Columbia University. After this impressive debut he wrote several other novels in quick succession, including Bloodbrothers, Ladies' Man and The Breaks. The Breaks, written in 1983, was a novel loosely based on his experiences at Cornell University. He said that The Breaks was "[t]he hardest book I have ever written, and the least satisfying" ("The Art of Fiction"). After writing this novel he struggled as a novelist and dedicated himself to screenwriting films and television series. While continuing to be a screenwriter, Price returned to writing novels with his famous work, The Clockers. Price admits that the reason he turned to screenwriting after writing The Breaks was due to his inability to come up with new material. This novel was an influential point in Price's career because it led him to explore a different path in his writing and helped him create new material later in life. Although Price admits that The Breaks was his least satisfying novel, it demonstrates his talent as a novelist because it helped shape his writing later in his life and influenced him to change his technique. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Richard Price's first three novels contained autobiographical links to the main character. For example, Peter Keller, the main character of The Breaks, studied law in college and chose a completely different path after graduation; he began teaching but continued to pursue his dream of becoming a comedian. Price had a similar story: Intending to go to Cornell to become a lawyer, he chose to become a writer instead. His experience at Cornell University gave him the material to write The Breaks, intertwining his story with that of Peter Keller. Price's style of including autobiographical elements in his first four novels left him little else to write about. This novel led Price to exclude his personal history from his writings. In an interview with Robert Birnbaum, Price said, "I stopped writing about myself with my first series of novels because it was getting boring... it smelled like panic" ("Richard Price"). He has since left himself out of his novels, showing that his experience writing The Breaks made him realize that he must try new things to become a better writer. Price's difficulties and dissatisfaction with The Breaks stemmed from multiple factors. One problem Price had was that he was reading another book while writing his own. He read Sophie's Choice while trying to complete his novel, which he said "was like trying to sing while someone else sang another song in the background" ("The Art of Fiction"). Price said this led him astray and he lost focus. Another reason Price had problems with this novel is because he wrote The Breaks to make sure his name was known. After publishing two novels almost every year, he felt he had to produce another novel so as not to be forgotten. He stated that "if you are talented enough, you will deliver readable page after readable page after readable page" ("The Art of Fiction"). Price displayed this talent with his novel, although he believes it has no value because it was simply a way to stop his career from a downward spiral. After completing The Breaks, Richard Price began his career as a screenwriter, usinghis past experience as a screenwriter. a novelist to help him achieve success. In Price's interview with James Linville, he states that the reason he accepted his first screenwriting assignment was his "feeling that he had cannibalized his own life as a subject" ("The Art of Fiction"). Price thought so because of the content of his first four novels, especially The Breaks, with its limited success. Price's career as a screenwriter is impressive, writing for Martin Scorsese and helping create films such as Sea of ​​Love, Kiss of Death, Mad Dog, Glory, and Ransom. Although Price found success as a screenwriter, he was still a novelist at heart. Robert Birnbaum asked Price in his 2003 interview if he could stop writing books since he was an established screenwriter, Price replied, “No, it's what I do. I mean, I'd like to think I could stop writing screenplays” (“Richard Price”). Price can't just stop writing screenplays because he has to support his wife and two children, however, he doesn't let that stop him from writing novels. Price ended his ten-year dry spell by writing his hit, The Clockers. Price's move into screenwriting after completing The Breaks was necessary so he could continue his career as a novelist. It was his success in the film industry that inspired him to write novels. When asked about his return to writing novels with The Clockers, he said: "I found a lot of confidence as a writer because my scripts were well received" ("The Art of Fiction"). This statement shows that Price had no confidence in his writing after The Breaks and needed to regain confidence in himself to continue writing. Price has also learned from his past novels that it is not always necessary to include autobiographical details in the story. The Clockers was his first novel that he did not write about himself, but entered the environment he intended to write about to gain a better understanding. He explains his philosophy on the subject in his interview with Robert Birnbaum stating, “Go out and learn something. Go out and see how good of a writer you are. See if you can imagine lives that aren't yours” (“Richard Price”). This experience was crucial to his career because it taught him a different perspective on his writing, one that he might not have learned if he hadn't written The Breaks. Price's development as a writer is directly related to the path he chose in his career. His experience as a screenwriter influenced his writing for novels such as The Clockers, Freedomland and Samaritan. Through this professional journey he learned this valuable lesson: “I don't have to continually write about myself. I've had a number of assignments where I had to write about people who were completely outside of my sphere, but I learned that if I simply hung out and absorbed their world a little, I was able to create characters that were compelling and somehow faithful to their world. their sources” (“The Art of Fiction”). He didn't learn this as a novelist and was discouraged about his writing after The Breaks. This novel turned Price on the film industry and prompted him to reevaluate his technique. The fact that Price could only learn this by becoming a screenwriter proves that The Breaks was an important piece in his career. If it had been an immature or flawed novel, Price would not have let it influence his decision to change careers. He could have left it all behind, but his talent for writing The Breaks achieved more for him than for a reader. The Breaks played a role;.