She co-wrote, with Ian Stokell, a screenplay based on the anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque,[2] and in 2006 acquired an option on the film rights for the book.

Paterson won the 2022 BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, sharing it with Stokell and director Edward Berger.

[6] She studied English and drama as an undergraduate at Loughborough,[4] and obtained a master's degree in theatre at San Diego State University.

In 2000, she won the silver medal at the World Junior Duathlon Championships, an event that does not require any swimming.

Paterson did not take up triathlon again until 2007, when on returning to Scotland for a summer holiday she entered the Scottish National Championships, and won the race.

"[6] She obtained an elite licence, and attempted her first XTERRA race in 2008 in Temecula, California using a second-hand mountain bike.

[7] She recorded a run time of 43:54, the same as the men's winner Michael Weiss, and almost 10 minutes faster than Lance Armstrong, whose presence had led to increased publicity for the race.

The three-time XTERRA champion Melanie McQuaid, who had led for most of the race and was overtaken by Paterson with less than a mile to go, collapsed 400 yards from the finish and required medical treatment.

[11] Facing an increasingly desperate financial position and the need to renew her option on the film rights to All Quiet, she entered the inaugural Costa Rica XTERRA triathlon, held on 29 March 2015.

[12] On a trial run[a] the day before the race she fell off her bike and broke her shoulder, causing her extreme pain.

She thought this might mean the end to her dream of winning an Oscar, but then her husband pointed out that she was "very good at the one-arm drill in the water" and suggested she race the swim stage using only one arm.

[23] Paterson and Stokell re-read the book together, and both realised there was an opportunity to re-make the film using modern technology.

[23] She said, "The theme of the betrayal of the youthful generation meant a lot to me, and my personality has always been that fight against the upper brass.

It is a story about hopelessness and helplessness, about betrayal and shock, about losing one's own humanity until the only thing you have left is war".

[24][d] They wrote a screenplay based on the book, and formed a film production company, Sliding Down Rainbows Entertainment.

[3][28] Paterson used her race winnings to help finance the option, but she and her husband Simon Marshall had to remortgage their house.

In July 2011 they signed Mimi Leder to direct the film adaptation, with shooting planned to start in 2012.

[30] Then Paterson and Stokell were approached by director Edward Berger and producer Malte Grunert, whom they later met at the 2020 Berlinale film festival.