It Pays to Direct

10/29/1998 at 12:00 AM EST

One step closer to the Oscars: The Writers Guild announced its movie award nominations Wednesday, with more than half of the writing nods going to directors who wrote or co-wrote their own screenplays. Nominated for best original script were three films written by their directors: "Magnolia" (Paul Thomas Anderson), "The Sixth Sense" (M. Night Shyamalan) and "Three Kings" (David O. Russell). The other nominees were "American Beauty" (Alan Ball) and "Being John Malkovich" (Charlie Kaufman). For a script based on previously published material: "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (by its director Anthony Minghella), "The Insider" (director Michael Mann and co-writer Eric Roth), "Election" (director Alexander Payne and co-writer Jim Taylor), "The Cider House Rules" (by its novelist, John Irving) and "October Sky" (Lewis Colick and the book's author Homer H. Hickam Jr.). Winners will be announced March 5 and should determine who grabs the writing Oscars.