Recommended Reading List

Kevan · Liger Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 843

This section has been provided by and sanctioned with the kind permission of the forum owner Blake Snyder the author of Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need and Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies: The Screenwriter's Guide to Every Story Ever Told

It is hoped the publications listed here are recommended in such a way to help and stimulate your development and understanding of the art and craft of screenwriting and to supplement Blake's Snyder's books and his method...

It is not necessary to acquire all these books but the list has been provided in the first instance so the forum has a dedicated list where members can be pointed to when a particular book is referenced on the forum. And secondly, for those who wish to purchase a particular book then the details may be found quickly in the Recommended Reading List. A brief synopsis together with the ISBN library number, price, availability and where the book can be purchased will be provided in each book entry together with author and publisher information..

It is hoped this Recommended Reading List on the Save The Cat! forum will be a useful addition to our members to assist them in achieving their goals, to enhance their learning experience and help in their quest for knowledge.

The list is locked but maintained by the forum administrator John J. Austrian and the other forum moderators. If you consider a particular publication has been excluded for or overlooked then please send a Personal Message or "PM" to John or one of the other moderators, mention the book and it will be considered for inclusion into the list.

Kevan · Liger Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 843

A

#1Write Screenplays That Sell: The Ackerman Way

Author: Hal Ackerman
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Tallfellow Press (October 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1931290520
ISBN-13: 978-1931290524
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
Price: $14.93
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Write-Screenplays-That-Sell-Ackerman/dp/1931290520/ref=pd_sim_b_title_18#
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=1967

This is a must-have book on screenwriting. It gives you techniques to see your story as a series of scenes that you target to build your story, use colored cards to enhance your story's conflict, techniques to get deeper into your story, techniques to find ideas within your story. This book is rich with ideas and techniques that will help you strengthen your story writing skills. Instead of spending many months writing, learn the skills in this book to write a screenplay in weeks.
Best screenwriting book on the market.

You don’t have to attend film school to take a course with a master teacher in the field – It’s all in his book! Meet Hal Ackerman, up close and personal, just as hundreds of his students have known him through the years.

Over the last decade, a dozen screenplays written in his classes have sold and six have become films, including ones starring Tom Hanks (directed by Steven Spielberg), Gwyneth Paltrow, Hilary Swank, and Diane Lane. Many other student scripts have dominated the major screenwriting contests.

With this book every professional writer gets a lifetime collaborator and every aspiring writer has a teacher in residence on his or her shelf. From structure to rewrites, Hal Ackerman guides you seamlessly through the writing process from beginning to end.

#2 The Screenwriter's Survival Guide: Or, Guerrilla Meeting Tactics and Other Acts of War

Author: Max Adams
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (March 1, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446676225
ISBN-13: 978-0446676229
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
Price: used & new available from $5.99
Links:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookSearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&ISBN=0446676225&r=1
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446676225/collectorzcom-20
Personal Web page
http://www.seemaxrun.com/

In The Screenwriters Survival Guide, veteran screenwriter Max Adams takes you through all the steps to selling your screenplay in Hollywood and getting your movie produced. The book covers every topic essential to a screenwriters life: From writing that first pitch letter to negotiating a million-dollar movie deal, to finding, working with, and firing your agent. Filled with tons of practical advice, sample letters, forms, contracts, and format pages, and written in an inspirational, in the trenches tone, The Screenwriters Survival Guide is sure to become a perennial backlist title.

#3 Aristotle Poetics

Author: Aristotle
Translator: Gerald Else
Paperback: 136 pages
Publisher: University of Michigan Press (July 1, 1967)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0472061666
ISBN-13: 978-0472061662
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
Price: $12.95
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0472061666/thescreenwrightr

Aristotles Poetics is a classic in every way and still deserves to be studied and used, not just as a piece of literature. Although Aristotle expresses the highest standards a play should have it can be used as a guide or premise in which to follow in their own writings. Declaring that Sophacles' Oedipus the King as the perfect play, which would be a good companion to this piece, Aristotle demonstrates how every play should have these attributes, namely a 24 hour time limit to disclose the plot and mysteries of a story. Among other things, which would be too lengthy to go into any review, Poetics stands as a classic guide and should be continued to be practiced and be in any writers library.

Kevan · Liger Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 843

B

#1 Television and Screen Writing: From Concept to Contract, Fourth Edition

Author: Richard A Blum
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Focal Press; 4 edition (December 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0240803973
ISBN-13: 978-0240803975
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1 inches
Price: $26.24 (Amazon)
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Television-Screen-Writing-Concept-Contract/dp/0240803973/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208533146&sr=1-1
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=414

Download: Sample chapter before purchasing the book
http://rapidshare.com/files/108490269/blum_sitcom_writing.pdf

Now in its fourth edition, Television and Screen Writing: From Concept to Contract is a classic resource for students and professionals in screenwriting and television writing. This book will teach you how to become a creative and marketable writer in every professional arena – including major studios, production companies, networks, cable and pay TV, animation, and interactive programs. Specific techniques and script samples for writing high-quality and producible “spec” scripts for theatrical motion pictures, the sitcom series, one-hour dramatic series, longform television, soaps, talk show, variety, animation, interactive and new media are provided. Television and Screen Writing: From Concept to Contract, Fourth Edition also offers a fully detailed examination of the current marketplace, and distinct strategies for marketing your scripts, from registering and copyrighting the script to signing with an agent.

#2 The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories

Author: Christopher Booker
Paperback: 736 pages
Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group (January 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0826480373
ISBN-13: 978-0826480378
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.9 inches
Price: $17.79 (£13.99 at Waterstones UK)
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0826480373/collectorzcom-20
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=3997850

Breathtaking in its scope and originality, "Seven Basic Plots" examines the basis of story telling in literature, film, and libretto. No one will ever see stories in the same way again. This remarkable and monumental book at last provides a comprehensive answer to the age-old riddle of whether there are only a small number of 'basic stories' in the world. Using a wealth of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, it shows that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling. But this is only the prelude to an investigation into how and why we are 'programmed' to imagine stories in these ways, and how they relate to the inmost patterns of human psychology. Drawing on a vast array of examples, from Proust to detective stories, from the Marquis de Sade to E.T., Christopher Booker then leads us through the extraordinary changes in the nature of storytelling over the past 200 years, and why so many stories have 'lost the plot' by losing touch with their underlying archetypal purpose. Booker analyses why evolution has given us the need to tell stories and illustrates how storytelling has provided a uniquely revealing mirror to mankind's psychological development over the past 5000 years. This seminal book opens up in an entirely new way our understanding of the real purpose storytelling plays in our lives, and will be a talking point for years to come.

Kevan · Liger Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 843

C

#1 The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Author: Joseph Campbell
Edition: 2nd
Series: Mythos: Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology
Paperback: 464 pages
Publisher: Princeton University Press (March 1, 1972)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0691017840
ISBN-13: 978-0691017846
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
Price: used & new available from $6.00
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691017840?ie=UTF8&tag=josepcampbfou-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0691017840
http://www.jcf.org/works.php?id=104
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_with_a_Thousand_Faces
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth

The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) is a non-fiction book, and seminal work of comparative mythology by Joseph Campbell. In this publication, Campbell discusses his theory of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world mythologies.

Since publication of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell's theory has been consciously applied by a wide variety of modern writers and artists. The best known is perhaps George Lucas, who has acknowledged a debt to Campbell regarding the stories of the Star Wars films.

Originally written by Campbell in the '40s-- in his pre-Bill Moyers days -- and famous as George Lucas' inspiration for "Star Wars," this book will likewise inspire any writer or reader in its well considered assertion that while all stories have already been told, this is *not* a bad thing, since the *retelling* is still necessary. And while our own life's journey must always be ended alone, the travel is undertaken in the company not only of immediate loved ones and primal passion, but of the heroes and heroines -- and myth-cycles -- that have preceded us.

#2 Characters and Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing)

Author: Orson Scott Card
Paperback: 182 pages
Publisher: Writer's Digest Books; New Ed edition (April 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0898799279
ISBN-13: 978-0898799279
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
Price: $10.19 (Amazon)
Links:
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=128
http://www.amazon.com/Characters-Viewpoint-Elements-Fiction-Writing/dp/0898799279/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208059086&sr=8-1

Vivid and memorable characters aren't born: they have to be made.

This book is a set of tools: literary crowbars, chisels, mallets, pliers and tongs. Use them to pry, chip, yank and sift good characters out of the place where you live in your memory, your imagination and your soul.

Award-winning author Orson Scott Card explains in depth the techniques of inventing, developing and presenting characters, plus handling viewpoint in novels and short stories. With specific examples, he spells out your narrative options--the choices you'll make in creating fictional people so "real" that readers will feel they know them like members of their own families.

You'll learn how to...

Draw characters from a variety of sources, including a story's basic idea, real life--even a character's social circumstances. Make characters show who they are by the things they do and say, and by their individual style.

Develop characters readers will love--or love to hate. Distinguish among major characters, minor characters and walk-ons, and develop each appropriately.

Choose the most effective viewpoint to reveal the characters and move the storytelling. Decide how deeply you should explore your characters' thoughts, emotions and attitudes

NOTE: This book is also excellent for screenwriters in developing characters using exactly the same theories and tools as the novelist..

#3 Writing Dialogue

Author: Tom Chiarella
Paperback: 170 pages
Publisher: Story Press Books (February 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1884910327
ISBN-13: 978-1884910326
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
Price: $10.19 (Amazon) $14.99 (Writers Store)
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Dialogue-Tom-Chiarella/dp/1884910327/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208196387&sr=8-1
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=463

Beginning as well as more experienced fiction writers can create engaging dialogue by listening to the world around them and to their characters. Rich, vivid dialogue moves a plot forward, presents important points of exposition, develops unique, authentic character voices, and sharpens conflict and tension. In an upbeat, authoritative style, Writing Dialogue gives the reader a thorough understanding and a strong foundation of this key element of the fiction-writing craft."Good dialogue is like no other part of a story in that it can, and it ought to, give some sense of being an event unto itself. Good dialogue lends the readers a sense that it is happening outside the writer's control, while clearly it is anything but outside his control," says successful fiction writer and teacher Tom Chiarella. "Of all the elements of fiction, good dialogue comes closest to reflecting the world accurately." Illustrative examples from classic and contemporary literature are coupled with hands-on writing exercises to guide the reader in practicing the lessons given and point-by-point summaries to reiterate key advice. Writing Dialogue takes a sophisticated yet accessible approach that will attract readers of all levels of skill and experience. And it's clear, practical instruction will be useful to writers in any form and genre, since dialogue appears in every type of fiction.

#4 Writing Great Screenplays F/FI (Writing Great Screenplays for Film and TV)

Author: Dona Cooper
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Arco; 2 edition (July 23, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0028615557
ISBN-13: 978-0028615554
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
Price: $14.95
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Great-Screenplays-FI-Film/dp/0028615557/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208275834&sr=1-1

The American Film Institutes bestselling sreenwriting guide is now updated!Only the American Film Institute -- the countrys most prestigious film organization -- could offer this level of screenwriting expertise! Specially created by a top television programming executive and former instructor at the AFI film school, this bestselling screenwriting guide is now revised and updated to cover the latest techniques for crafting first-rate screenplays for film and TV. Professional, practical and totally authoritative, this outstanding reference is a favorite of aspiring screenwriters and their teachers. Contents include:- Innovative ideas for structuring the plot, developing characters, and building momentum- Professional guidance on marketing a screenplay- Concise encyclopedia of screenwriting techniquesDona Cooper, a senior television programming executive, has taught screenwriting at the AFI Center for Advanced Film and Television Studies in Los Angeles.

#5 Writing the Short Film, Third Edition

Author: Patricia Cooper & Ken Dancyger
Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: Focal Press; 3 edition (October 26, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0240805887
ISBN-13: 978-0240805887
Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 0.9 inches
Price: $19.77
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Short-Third-Patricia-Cooper/dp/0240805887/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208277344&sr=1-1
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=500

The short film is a unique narrative art form that, while lending itself to experimentation, requires tremendous discipline in following traditional filmic considerations. This book takes the student and novice screenwriter through the storytelling process- from conception, to visualization, to dramatization, to characterization and dialogue- and teaches them how to create a dramatic narrative that is at once short (approximately half an hour in length) and complete. This edition has been expanded to include a chapter on character development, plus a new section that includes chapters on melodrama, docudrama, hyperdrama, and experimental drama- genres well suited to the short film.

#6 Writing Short Films: Structure and Content for Screenwriters

Author: Linda J. Cowgill
Paperback: 275 pages
Publisher: Lone Eagle; 2 edition (September 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1580650635
ISBN-13: 978-1580650632
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
Price: $13.57
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Short-Films-Structure-Screenwriters/dp/1580650635/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208277344&sr=1-2

This new edition has been completely updated and revised along with the addition of several new chapters. Currently, this title remains the best selling university text book on writing short film screenplays.

Kevan · Liger Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 843

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#1 Writing Dialogue for Scripts: Effective Dialogue for Film, TV, Radio and Stage

Authors: Rib Davis
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: A & C Black; 3Rev Ed edition (January 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1408101343
ISBN-13: 978-1408101346
Price: $19.95
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Dialogue-Scripts-Effective-Handbooks/dp/1408101343/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208196756&sr=1-1

#2 Screenwright: The Craft of Screenwriting

Author: Charles Deemer
Paperback: 220 pages
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation (20 Aug 2000)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0738803367
ISBN-13: 978-0738803364
Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.8 x 1.8 cm
Price: $21.99
Links:
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=1935
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0738803367/collectorzcom-20
Personal home page
http://www.geocities.com/cdeemer/
Literary archive
http://www.ibiblio.org/cdeemer
Charles Deemer Blog
http://cdeemer.blogspot.com/

Analyzing the structure of such hit movies as E.T., Atlantic City, Thelma and Louise, North by Northwest, and many more, Deemer establishes the overwhelming logic of the three-act story structure - and then applies its lessons in different environments for those who write from the head first and those who write from the heart first.

Both inspirational and comprehensive, this book analyzes many other existing paradigms in the screenwriting marketplace and shows how they all reduce to the oldest one in the culture, Aristotle's insight that stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Also how to w rite Spec Scripts and what to include and what not to. Screenwright is based on Deemer's popular electronic screenwriting course of the same name, which has been called "the bible of screenwriting for the novice."

Deemer teaches undergraduate and graduate screenwriting at Portland State University and also online. He has had six screenplays optioned and over three dozen plays produced. His play Famililly won the 1997 "Crossing Borders" international new play competition.

#3 Practical Screenwriting

Author: Charles Deemer
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Co. (July 28, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1585101281
ISBN-13: 978-1585101283
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
Price: $24.95
Links:

http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Screenwriting-Charles-Deemer/dp/1585101281/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208056848&sr=1-1
Personal home page
http://www.geocities.com/cdeemer/
Literary archive
http://www.ibiblio.org/cdeemer
Charles Deemer Blog
http://cdeemer.blogspot.com/

Practical Screenwriting is a structured guide for the novice screenwriter that provides exercises in writing as well as practical guides to analyzing major films in ways that will provide insight into the screenwriting process. It is, first and foremost, a guide to writing clean, crisp, clear scripts that will get read in the crowded contemporary marketplace.

#4 Anatomy of A Screenplay: Writing the American Screenplay from Character Structure to Convergence

Author: Dan Decker
Paperback: 201 pages
Publisher: Dan Deker Books; 1 edition (November 1, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 096657320X
ISBN-13: 978-0966573206
# Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
Price: $19.95
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Screenplay-Dan-Decker/dp/096657320X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208197346&sr=1-1
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=88

With clear logic and accessible language, Anatomy of a Screenplay goes beyond the rigid-rule and subjective approaches to screenwriting to show a flexible and accurate way of understanding a screenplay. Dan Decker's revolutionary theories of Character Structure, Drive Structure and Convergence are presented to the public for the first time in this book.

#5 Script Magic : Subconscious Techniques to Conquer Writer's Block

Author: Marisa DVari
Paperback: 250 pages
Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions (May 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0941188744
ISBN-13: 978-0941188746
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
Price: $14.78
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Script-Magic-Subconscious-Techniques-Conquer/dp/0941188744/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208266414&sr=1-1
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=390

Script Magic is an excellent creativity tool for all writers! D'Vari, a creativity expert/consultant, reveals how to tap into your subconscious mind to write scripts and books that sell! Script Magic is a powerful antidote to writer's block that both professional and aspiring creative writers can benefit from, based on a deceptively simple principle: If you're not having fun writing it, your script probably isn't going to be any fun to read, either. And if it's not fun to read, how is it ever going to be sold and made into a movie that people will want to spend their money to see? Using easy and fun techniques designed to circumvent the practical, critical conscious mind and tap into the rich creative resources of the subconscious mind, readers will learn how to revitalize their writing and improve their productivity. Create engaging characters, dialogue that jumps off the page and screenplays that sell!

Kevan · Liger Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 843

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#1 I Liked It, Didn't Love It: Screenplay Development from the Inside Out

Author: Rona Edwards and Monika Skerbelis
Paperback: 250 pages
Publisher: Lone Eagle (May 1, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1580650627
ISBN-13: 978-1580650625
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
Price: $12.89 (Amazon)
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Liked-Didnt-Love-Screenplay-Development/dp/1580650627/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208275834&sr=1-2
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=2761

The most commonly used rejection line spewed by studio executive honchos when they do not buy a script is, "I liked it, didn’t love it." What happens to your screenplay or novel when it leaves your hands and is submitted to a studio or production company? What happens to it after it’s optioned or sold? What does "in development" really mean? Rona Edwards and Monika Skerbelis will shed light on all those questions for both those who are new to the business, and those already journeying through the "storied" halls at a film studio, television network, or production company.

Edwards and Skerbelis will tackle how to find new ideas, what it takes to be a development executive or a story analyst, how to work with producers and writers, and tips for pitching. They present exercises created to assist the reader in developing their writing skills.

Monika Skerbelis and Rona Edwards have lived the life of a studio and development executive, having developed and sold screenplays for the past 15 years. They have taught feature film development classes at UCLA for the past six years.. Both authors live in Los Angeles.

#2 Art Of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives

Author: Lajos Egri
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Touchstone; Newly Rev. Ed edition (February 15, 1972)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0671213326
ISBN-13: 978-0671213329
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
Price: $11.20
Links:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671213326/collectorzcom-20
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=65

Amid the hundreds of "how-to" books that have appeared in recent years, there have been very few which attempted to analyze the mysteries of play-construction. This book does that - and its principles are so valid that they apply equally well to the short story, novel and screenplay. Lajos Egri examines a play from the inside out, starting with the heart of any drama: its characters. For it is people - their private natures and their inter-relationships - that move a story and give it life. All good dramatic writing depends upon an understanding of human motives. Why do people act as they do? What forces tranform a coward into a hero, a hero into a coward? What is it that Romeo does early in Shakespeare's play that makes his later suicide seem inevitable? Why must Nora leave her husband at the end of A Doll's House? These are a few of the fascinating problems which Egri analyzes. He shows how it is essential for the author to have a basic premise - a thesis, demonstrated in terms of human behavior - and to develop his dramatic conflict on the basis of that behavior. Premise, character, conflict: this is Egri's ABC. His book is a direct, jargon-free approach to the problem of achieving truth in a literary creation.

#3 The Devil's Guide to Hollywood: The Screenwriter as God!

Author: Joe Eszterhas
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press (September 19, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 031235987X (hard cover
ISBN-10 0312373848 (softcover)
ISBN-13: 978-0312359874 (hardcover)
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
Price: $18.21 (hardcover) $14.95 (softcover)
Links:
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=3169
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/031235987X/collectorzcom-20
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Eszterhas

In The Devil's Guide to Hollywood, bestselling author and legendary bad-boy screenwriter Joe Eszterhas tells everything he knows about the industry, its players, and screenwriting itself — from the first blank sheet of paper in the Olivetti to the size of the credit on the one-sheet.

The Devil's Guide to Hollywood distills everything one of Hollywood's most accomplished screenwriters knows about the business: from writing advice to negotiation tricks, from the wisdom of past players to the feuds of current ones. Eszterhas dispenses advice as only he can: with his tongue firmly in cheek and a certain finger extended good-naturedly toward the sky. His tips on how to survive in Hollywood are based on his own rugged and real-life experiences: they are not just useful but vastly entertaining. He reveals what he's seen in Hollywood and what he's learned about writing and selling scripts there for record amounts. He also recounts bite-sized takes from personalities he either admires or loathes, sharing the richest, best industry lore that has inspired, amused or enraged him over the years.

The Devil's Guide to Hollywood is hilarious, ornery, colorful and wise. It could only have been written by someone who loves the business as much as Eszterhas does — but who also has its number.

Kevan · Liger Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 843

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#1 Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting

Author: Syd Field
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Delta (November 29, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385339038
ISBN-13: 978-0385339032
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
Price: $10.88
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Screenplay-Foundations-Screenwriting-Syd-Field/dp/0385339038/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208054598&sr=1-1
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=352

For almost twenty-five years, aspiring screenwriters have turned to guru Syd Field for clear and insightful step-by-step guidelines on the art and craft of writing screenplays. Now, with a totally new, up-to-date perspective on today's film industry, Syd Field again proves why he is revered as a master - and why SCREENPLAY remains the bible of the film industry. From inception through completion, from opening scene to finished script, here is a sourcebook designed to help today's aspiring screenwriters turn their ideas into scripts that will sell and succeed on the screen tomorrow.

#2 How Not to Write a Screenplay: 101 Common Mistakes Most Screenwriters Make

Author: Denny Martin Flinn
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Lone Eagle (May 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1580650155
ISBN-13: 978-1580650151
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
Price: $11.53
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Write-Screenplay-Screenwriters/dp/1580650155/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208046217&sr=1-1
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=244

How Not to Write a Screenplay is an invaluable addition to any aspiring screenwriter's shelf--and you'd best make the shelf within arm's reach of the computer. Author Denny Martin Flinn, an experienced script reader, details the common rookie mistakes that drive script readers crazy. Flinn makes no pretense of being able to teach anyone how to write the next Great American Film--or for that matter the next Stupid Summer Blockbuster. Instead he offers information that will help keep the novice screenwriter's opus from being immediately tossed on the trash pile (arguably a more valuable service). As Flinn says in his introduction, if you follow the advice in this book, "you may not write a particularly good screenplay, but you won't write a bad one." Flinn offers practical advice on formatting, such as the proper form for a slugline and where to set your margins, and more general rules of thumb on giving the actors room to interpret their roles and avoiding dictating camera angles to the director (who will ignore them anyway). The second half of the book deals with content, also in a remarkably pragmatic way--structure, pacing, plot resolution, and dialogue that really stink are all handily dealt with. Flinn illustrates almost all his points with excerpts from screenplays both good and bad (names have been changed to protect the guilty), giving the reader concrete examples of the difference between poorly and well-structured scenes. Not sucking is an unusual goal for a screenwriting manual, but any script reader will agree it is a noble one.

Kevan · Liger Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 843

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#1 Adventures in the Screen Trade

Author: William Goldman
Paperback: 594 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (March 10, 1989)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446391174
ISBN-13: 978-0446391177
Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 1.5 inches
Price: $13.59
Links:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446391174?tag=collectorzapp-20
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=68

No one knows the writer's Hollywood more intimately than William Goldman. Two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter and the bestselling author of Marathon Man, Tinsel, Boys and Girls Together, and other novels, Goldman now takes you into Hollywood's inner sanctums...on and behind the scenes for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, and other films...into the plush offices of Hollywood producers...into the working lives of acting greats such as Redford, Olivier, Newman, and Hoffman...and into his own professional experiences and creative thought processes in the crafting of screenplays. You get a firsthand look at why and how films get made and what elements make a good screenplay. Says columnist Liz Smith, "You'll be fascinated."

#2 Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade

Author: William Goldman
paperback:
Publisher: Vintage Books
Language: English
ISBN: 375703195
Price: $15.00
Links: http://www.writersstore.com/images/books/511b.jpg

From the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Princess Bride (he also wrote the novel), and the bestselling author of Adventures in the Screen Trade comes a garrulous new book that is as much a screenwriting how-to (and how-not-to) manual as it is a feast of insider information. If you want to know why a no-name like Kathy Bates was cast in Misery-it's in here. Or why Linda Hunt's brilliant work in Maverick didn't make the final cut-William Goldman gives you the straight truth. Why Clint Eastwood loves working with Gene Hackman and how MTV has changed movies for the worse-William Goldman, one of the most successful screenwriters in Hollywood today, tells all he knows. Devastatingly eye-opening and endlessly entertaining, Which Lie Did I Tell? is indispensable reading for anyone even slightly intrigued by the process of how a movie gets made.

#3 William Goldman: Four Screenplays with Essays

Author: William Goldman
Paperback:
Publisher: Applause Theatre & Cinema Book Publishers
Language: English
ISBN: 155783265
Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 1.5 inches
Price: $18.95
Links: http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=480

Two-time Academy-award winning writer gives his irreverent insights into the writing, producing and casting of four of his own screenplays: Marathon Man, The Princess Bride, Misery, and Academy winner, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In four merciless revealing essays, he covers the psychic and political terrain of Hollywood that gained him such a following from his first book, Adventures in the Screen Trade. He dissects how to write a screenplay, how stars happen, the art of adaptation, and the process of casting, all critical elements to his own successes. Includes the script excerpts for each film, although the examples are not necessarily those up on the screen, proving his case about how difficult, how collaborative, and how intoxicating the filmmaking process is. He holds nothing back, nothing!

#4 William Goldman: Five Screenplays with Essays

Author: William Goldman
Paperback:
Publisher: Applause Theatre & Cinema Book Publishers
Language: English
ISBN: 1557833621
Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 1.5 inches
Price: $18.95
Links: http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=475

Two-time Academy-award winning writer gives insights into the writing, producing and casting of five of his own films: All the President's Men, Harper, the Great Waldo Pepper, Magic, and Maverick. Now in paperback.

#5 The Big Picture: Who Killed Hollywood? and Other Essays

Author: William Goldman
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Applause Books (February 1, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1557834601
ISBN-13: 978-1557834607
Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
Price: $16.95
Links:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1557834601?tag=collectorzapp-20

The title of Goldman's newest collection of essays is deceptive. Unlike his expansive reflections in Adventures in the Screen Trade, these selections (most of which originally appeared in Premiere, the New York Daily News and New York magazine) narrowly focus on Goldman's once timely film reviews and his commentaries on the 1990-1999 Academy Awards. With two screenwriting Oscars under his belt (for Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid and All the President's Men), Goldman is a knowledgeable Hollywood tour guide. On the rare occasions when his predictions are off-target, he's still entertaining. However, this slight and somewhat repetitive collection could have benefited from annotations to make it more accessible to Hollywood outsiders who might be wondering which film finally won the Oscar and how much those projected hits ultimately grossed. Most pleasurable are Goldman's assured opinions ("Giving the Best ActorAactor is the word folksAto Roberto Benigni for his mugging in Life Is Beautiful is, for me, a sin, a disgrace and removes forever the argument from those who felt DeMille's Greatest Show on Earth was the worst Oscar winner ever.") and his contrarianisms ("The trouble with the Oscar show is that it is too short."). Goldman hits his stride with "You Go, Girls!," taking on executives who delude themselves into thinking that every successful movie about women is a fluke, and the "The Emperor's New Fatigues," which lambastes Saving Private Ryan. (Nov.) FYI: Goldman's royalties from this book will be donated to the Motion Picture and Television Fund.

#6 The Screenwriter's Story Planning Guide: (Or: How to Begin Working on an Idea You Don't Have.)

Author: Steven R. Gottry
Paperback: 55 pages
Publisher: Priority Multimedia Group (July 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0966748301
ISBN-13: 978-0966748307
Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 7 x 0.2 inches
Price: $7.99
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Screenwriters-Story-Planning-Guide-Working/dp/0966748301/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208449874&sr=1-1
http://www.commonsensebusiness.biz/books.html

Steve “Perspiring Screenwriter” Gottry, has written a book on screenwriting that will help other perspiring screenwriters begin work on ideas they don’t actually have yet. It's a “writer’s-block buster” with an easy-to-use checklist approach to creating characters and plots. Admittedly, it’s not an in-depth teaching tool, but it’s involving, fun, and cheap. What more could you ask?

Lew Hunter, Chair Emeritus of the UCLA Screenwriting Department, says:

“An excellent ‘How To’ screenwriting book with more laughs than all the other ‘gurus’ put together. From the laughter comes wisdom every ‘gotta-be’ screenwriter needs...badly.”

Ken Wales, Veteran Filmmaker and Executive Producer of "Christy" for CBS TV, offers this endorsement:

“Much more than a handy tool for screenwriters, this remarkable little book will help sharpen the thinking of anyone involved in the creative process of filmmaking. It’s a brilliant road map that will guide you on your way to a great film story.”

Christopher L. Buono wrote this review for the Jan/Feb 2000 issue of WRITER'S JOURNAL:

“THE SCREENWRITER'S STORY PLANNING GUIDE is an instant ‘fix-me-up’ for the struggling screenwriter, a good companion for the veteran, and a necessary read for those merely curious about screenwriting. Gottry’s quick-witted and humorous ‘in a nutshell’ style is immediately apparent...a refreshing and rewarding experience. As an author, screenwriter and playwright, Gottry sets forth a varied portfolio that enables him to provide an immediate ‘on your side’ understanding. The page-filled checklists, questions, and bio forms will stimulate even the most blocked imagination. What this guide lacks in page length it makes up for in properly adjusting the focus of screenwriters. This little gem of a book is a welcome addition to any screenwriting library.”

Then there's the email from a student in the USC Film School:

“Your book has been in my possession for only two hours now, and it has already helped me figure out how to approach a script idea that has been troubling me for quite some time. Not only that, but it entertained me while it helped me! There are very few things in this world about which you can say that.”

So you have to decide. Is it worth $7.99 to find out if Lew Hunter, Ken Wales, WRITER'S JOURNAL and the USC Film School student are right? Will this little book launch your career as a screenwriter—or inspire new ideas in the minds already successful screenwriters?

#7 The Screenwriter Within: How to Turn the Movie in Your Head into a Salable Screenplay

Author: D.B. Gilles
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1st ed edition (May 2, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0609804952
ISBN-13: 978-0609804957
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
Price: $11.90
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Screenwriter-Within-Movie-Salable-Screenplay/dp/0609804952/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208266759&sr=1-1
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=393

If you've ever dreamed of writing a screenplay, The Screenwriter Within is the book for you. Insightful, inspirational, and wildly irreverent, it takes you through all the stages of the writing process, using references to hit movies and the author's personal experience to show you how to: Turn everyday events into big-screen successes, Find the best stories to turn into screenplays, Develop strong characters, Write compelling dialogue, Find your niche as a screenwriter . . . and much more.

Kevan · Liger Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 843

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#1 The Screenwriter's Sourcebook: A Comprehensive Marketing Guide for Screen and Television Writers

Author: Michael Haddad
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Chicago Review Press (February 1, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1556525508
ISBN-13: 978-1556525506
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 1 inches
Price: $12.71 (Amazon) $16.95 (Writers Store)
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Screenwriters-Sourcebook-Comprehensive-Marketing-Television/dp/1556525508/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208452978&sr=1-24
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=2640

Some how-to books for writers offer hints about plotting, character design, dialogue, and other specific aspects of translating ideas into stories. Haddad, a studio story analyst and scriptwriter, leaves all that creative stuff to us. Let's assume, he says, that you have a finished script you want to sell. How do you do that? How do you get somebody to read the darn thing? The book has three broad sections (or acts, in movie lingo): contests, career opportunities, and resources. The first section is a list of screenwriting contests: who runs them, how much it costs to enter, and so on. Section two offers a state-by-state list of agents, managers, and production companies. The third section describes the various organizations--colonies, retreats, public agencies, and online resources--available to a screenwriter. The book also has a good glossary, to bring the reader up to speed on terms he or she needs to know (such as sublim, zip pan, and brad). A useful if unadorned resource guide for the screenwriter with product to peddle.

#2 Writing the Killer Treatment: Selling Your Story Without a Script

Author: Michael Halperin
Paperback: 150 pages
Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions (July 30, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 094118840X
ISBN-13: 978-0941188401
Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
Price: $10.17
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Killer-Treatment-Selling-Without/dp/094118840X/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208283675&sr=1-20
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=990

A treatment, which may range from one to several dozen pages, is the snapshot of the writer’s feature film or TV script. A treatment reveals the story’s structure, introduces characters and hooks, and is often the writer’s first and only opportunity to pitch his or her project.

The book includes:
-Developing believable characters and story structure
-Understanding the distinctions between treatments for screenplays, adaptations, sitcoms, Movies of the Week, episodic television, and soaps
-Useful exercises that will help writers develop their craft
-Insightful interviews with Oscar and Emmy winners

#3 Writing Screenplays That Sell: The Complete, Step-By-Step Guide for Writing and Selling to the Movies and TV, from Story Concept to Development Deal

Author: Michael Hauge
Paperback: 325 pages
Publisher: Collins (September 25, 1991)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062725009
ISBN-13: 978-0062725004
Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1 inches
Price: $11.56
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Screenplays-That-Step-Step/dp/0062725009/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208177517&sr=8-1
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=435

A complete blueprint for writing and selling film and TV scripts that is now considered the most practical book on the subject of scriptwriting. A myth-busting book that puts purpose behind your dream of breaking into the film industry and polishing your skills to stay for the long haul. Fascinating chapters on Four Paths to a Deal, Living and Working Outside Los Angeles, and The Life of a Screenwriter.

#4 Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read

Author: Michael Hauge
Paperback: 186 pages
Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions (October 1, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1932907203
ISBN-13: 978-1932907209
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
Price: $10.36 (Amazon)
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Selling-Your-Story-Seconds-Guaranteed/dp/1932907203/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208177517&sr=8-2
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=3213

The OFFICIAL SELECTION of the Great American Pitchfest!

From the author of "Writing Screenplays That Sell" comes his newest book that reveals a one-minute technique for getting one's screenplay or novel read by the major powers of Hollywood. In this book, best-selling author Michael Hauge reveals:

-How to Design, Practice, and Present the 60-Second Pitch
-The Cardinal Rule of Pitching
-The 10 Key Components of a Commercial Story
-The 8 Steps to a Powerful Pitch
-Targeting Your Buyers
-Securing Opportunities to Pitch
-Pitching Templates
-And much more, including "The Best Pitch I Ever Heard," an exclusive collection from major film executives

MICHAEL HAUGE has presented his seminars and lectures to more than 30,000 writers and filmmakers. He has coached hundreds of screenwriters and producers on their screenplays and pitches, and has consulted on projects for Warner Brothers, Disney, new Line, CBS, Lifetime, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, Kirsten Dunst, and Morgan Freeman.

#5 The Hero's 2 Journeys Audio CD

Authors: Michael Hauge & Christopher Vogler
Audio CD: 3 pages
Publisher: Writer's AudioShop (June 1, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1880717476
ISBN-13: 978-1880717479
Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
Links: $29.95 both Amazon and Writers Store
http://www.amazon.com/Heros-2-Journeys-Michael-Hauge/dp/1880717476/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208179347&sr=1-3
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=1936

In this exciting new three CD audio course, Michael Hauge and Christopher Vogler each present their unique approach to the hero’s inner and outer journey. Utilizing years of experience, Hauge and Vogler illustrate the essential structural principles driving every successful plot. From story structure, and character arc, to infusing your story with more commercial appeal, The Hero’s two journey’s is an indispensable CD for screenwriters, novelists, and fiction writers alike.

Over three hours of valuable lessons and examples will help your draw out the true essence of your story’s structure. As a bonus, this CD set includes written handouts of Hauge’s Six Stage Plot Structure and Vogler’s 12-Step Inner and Outer Journey.

#6 The Hero's 2 Journeys DVD

Authors: Michael Hauge & Christopher Vogler
Format: Color, Special Edition, NTSC
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Number of discs: 3
Studio: ScreenStyle.com
DVD Release Date: January 1, 2004
Run Time: 300 minutes
Language: English
Price: List Price: $119.95 $49.95 (Writers Store) $69.95 (Amazon)
Links:
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=1977
http://www.amazon.com/Heros-2-Journeys-Chris-Vogler/dp/B0001M2C44/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1208179541&sr=1-1

The Hero's 2 Journeys contains 3 DVDs with over 4 ½ hours of writing techniques and story analysis from Michael Hauge, author of Writing Screenplays that Sell, and Christopher Vogler, author of The Writer's Journey.

For the first time, two of Hollywood's top studio script consultants; story experts and authors unite to reveal the tools and principles you must know to move your screenplay, novel or film project from the rejection pile to the production slate. In this special 3-DVD set, designed for storytellers and filmmakers in all disciplines, these two renowned writers and teachers provide their unique insiders' understanding of the ways story structure, character arc, and theme must combine with myth, archetype, identity, and transformation to touch the widest possible audience.

The Hero's 2 Journeys reveals how your characters must travel two journeys for your story to succeed. Michael Hauge focuses on the Outer Journey. The Outer Journey is the physical path and includes the real-life obstacles your character must overcome.

Chris Vogler teaches the Inner Journey. The Inner Journey is the emotional path of your character and the inner changes required by your character on the way to his or her goal. Your character must travel both Journeys for a successful story.

Hauge and Vogler together discuss the Outer and Inner Journey of the lead character in the award-winning screenplay Erin Brockovich.

Dozens of detailed graphics are included in this DVD to better illustrate the concepts presented by the speakers. Unlike a one-time seminar, you can watch this DVD over and over again while you write your screenplay or story and send your character out on his or her journeys.

Highlights:

Disc 1: The Outer Journey
· Introduction
· The Foundation of All Story
· The Six Stage Plot Structure
· Using Myth and Archetype to Strengthen Your Story
· The 12 Steps of the Hero's Outer Journey

Disc 2: The Inner Journey
· Defining the Inner Journey
· The Inner Life of the Hero
· Uniting the Six Stage Plot Structure with Character
· The Power of Love Stories
· Myth and Archetype as Symbols
· Uniting the 12 Steps with the Hero's Inner Journey

Disc 3: The Journeys of Erin Brockovich

#7 Writing the Thriller Film: The Terror Within

Author: Neil D Hicks
Paperback: 150 pages
Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions (October 25, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0941188469
ISBN-13: 978-0941188463
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
Price: $11.66
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Thriller-Film-Michael-Productions/dp/0941188469/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=1476

A good Thriller will rupture the reality of your everyday world. It will put you on guard. Make you aware. That is the disquieting objective — successfully achieved — of this book as well.

Writing the Thriller Film concentrates on the Cosmos of Credibility, those not-so-obvious elements of screenwriting that contribute the essential meaning to a script. To do so, this book traces the thematic commonalities that actually define the genre, and offers corroboration from a number of screenplays, including such classics as North by Northwest, Marathon Man, and 3 Days of the Condor.

You will discover:
• The effect of the practical rules and physical expectations of the real world on the story
• The Timescape of the genre
• How both the protagonist and the antagonist must react to make a Thriller effective
• The need for your characters to make difficult choices with unexpected results

#8 Writing the Action Adventure Film: The Moment of Truth

Author: Neil D Hicks
Paperback: 150 pages
Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions (February 25, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0941188396
ISBN-13: 978-0941188395
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
Price: $11.21
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Action-Adventure-Film-Moment/dp/0941188396/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=996

Neill D. Hicks, is his new book, gives you the tools to create thrilling action adventure stories that have substance and style.

The action-adventure movie is consistently one of the most popular exports of the American film industry, drawing enormous audiences worldwide across many diverse societies, cultures, and languages.

There’s more than hot pursuits, hot lead, and hotheaded slugfests in a successful action-adventure script. With definitive examples from over 100 movies, Writing the Action-Adventure Film reveals the screenwriting principles that define the content and style of this popular film genre. Neill Hicks furnishes a set of tools to build a compelling screenplay that fulfills the expectations of the motion picture audience.

Highlights

* Create the Moment of Truth, where the stakes are life and death.
* Perfect a story structure that compels your characters to take immediate action.
* Recognize the different forms of action and where to use them effectively.
* Develop the narrative context of adventure to surround the audience in the special world of the story.

#9 Screenwriting 101: The Essential Craft of Feature Film Writing

Author: Neil D Hicks
Paperback: 220 pages
Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions (July 2, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0941188728
ISBN-13: 978-0941188722
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
Price: $12.71
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Screenwriting-101-Essential-Feature-Writing/dp/0941188728/ref=pd_sim_b_img_1
http://www.buy.com/prod/screenwriting-101-the-essential-craft-of-feature-film-writing/q/loc/106/30516728.html
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Screenwriting-101/Neill-D-Hicks/e/9780941188722/

This book, the third title in the new 101 series introduced by MWP this year, provides writers with the tools necessary to create and market a successful screenplay. In an informal and entertaining style, Hicks details key topics including: Structure; Characters & Style; The Business of screenwriting; The Economics of Film; Agents, attorneys, and the screenwriter; and more.

#10 Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay, Updated and Expanded edition

Author: Andrew Horton
Paperback: 249 pages
Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (February 23, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0520221656
ISBN-13: 978-0520221659
Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
Price: $14.21
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520221656?ie=UTF8&tag=thefreonlguit-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0520221656
http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/2878001.php

Tired of the hundreds of plot- and structure-oriented script books on the market? Tired of the "formula writing" espoused in an equal number of screen-writing seminars and weekend workshops? Horton (The Films of George Roy Hill, LJ 11/15/84) walks away with an Oscar in the "valuable tools for the prospective scripter" category with his latest rendering. He takes the reader step-by-step through the screen-writing process, with an emphasis on tried-and-true methods of developing stronger and more imaginative characters. Fully drawn characters are Horton's forte, and he pulls out every stop in his quest to educate the reader, even including a 14-week "character-building" exercise. Obstacles to writing the character-centered script are also discussed. Instructional books don't get much better than this. A great value; essential for all screen-writing collections. Marty D. Evansvold, Magnolia P.L., Tex.

"Andrew Hortons book is by far the most dimensional book on character since Lajos Egri's The Art of Dramatic Writing (1949). Horton has an unduplicated ability to combine academic insight with a very practical nuts-and- bolts approach to the art and craft of screenwriting." Lew Hunter, University of California, Los Angeles

#11 Laughing Out Loud: Writing the Comedy-Centered Screenplay

Author: Andrew Horton
Paperback: 230 pages
Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (January 3, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0520220153
ISBN-13: 978-0520220157
Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
Price: $14.35 (Amazon)
Links
http://www.amazon.com/Laughing-Out-Loud-Comedy-Centered-Screenplay/dp/0520220153/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208356783&sr=1-1
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=286

Whoever wrote "Make 'em laugh!" knew that it's easier said than done. But people love to laugh, and good comedy will always sell. With the help of this complete and entertaining guide, writers and would-be writers for film and television can look forward to writing comedy that goes far beyond stereotypic jokes and characters. In Laughing Out Loud, award-winning screenwriter and author Andrew Horton blends history, theory, and analysis of comedy with invaluable advice. Using examples from Chaplin to Seinfeld, Aristophanes to Woody Allen, Horton describes comedy as a perspective rather than merely as a genre and then goes on to identify the essential elements of comedy. His lively overview of comedy's history traces its two main branches--anarchistic comedy and romantic comedy--from ancient Greece through contemporary Hollywood, by way of commedia dell'arte, vaudeville, and silent movies. Television and international cinema are included in Horton's analysis, which leads into an up-close review of the comedy chemistry in a number of specific films and television shows. The rest of the book is a practical guide to writing feature comedy and episodic TV comedy, complete with schedules and exercises designed to unblock any writer's comic potential. The appendices offer tips on networking, marketing, and even producing comedies, and are followed by a list of recommended comedies and a bibliography.

#12 Screenwriting for a Global Market: Selling Your Scripts from Hollywood to Hong Kong

Author: Andrew Horton
Paperback: 227 pages
Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (April 1, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0520240219
ISBN-13: 978-0520240216
Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
Price: $19.95
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Screenwriting-Global-Market-Selling-Hollywood/dp/0520240219/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208356783&sr=1-5
http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9667.php

Cinema is a truly global phenomenon and screenwriters who limit their ambitions to Hollywood can unnecessarily limit their careers. This book, loaded with information on every page, provides the practical know-how for breaking into the global marketplace. It is the first book to offer specific advice on writing for screens large and small, around the world from Hollywood to New Zealand, from Europe to Russia, and for alternative American markets including Native American, regional, and experimental.

The book provides valuable insider information, such as
* Twenty-five percent of German television is written by Hollywood writers. Screenwriters just need to know how to reach that market.
* Many countries, including those in the European Union, have script development money available--to both foreign and local talent--from government-sponsored film funds.

* The Web's influence on the film industry has been profound, and here you can find out how to network through the Web. The book also lists the key Web addresses for writers.

Andrew Horton, author of two acclaimed books on screenwriting, includes personal essays by accomplished screenwriters from around the world and offers insightful case studies of several films and television scripts, among them My Big Fat Greek Wedding; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; and The Sopranos. Full of endless enthusiasm for great films and great scripts, this book will be an essential resource for both aspiring writers and accomplished writers hoping to expand their horizons, improve their skills, and increase their chances for success.

#13 Lew Hunter's Screenwriting 434: The Industry's Premier Teacher Reveals the Secrets of the Successful Screenplay

Author: Lew Hunter
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Perigee Trade; Revised edition (May 4, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399529861
ISBN-13: 978-0399529863
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
Price: $10.85
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Lew-Hunters-Screenwriting-434-Successful/dp/0399529861/ref=pd_sim_b_title_4
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=280

From his spirited and competitive graduate workshop, UCLA Professor Hunter has launched a generation of filmmakers. His secrets for effective screenwriting are all in here, from writing an original script to adapting a story from another medium. His non-formulaic ideas are based on the Act 1, 2 and 3 script, and how it flows, and his famous two-minute-movie lecture is a gem. The Greeks had a word for it, drama, which means "to do" and Hunter tells you how to do it and do it well. Feisty, refreshing, and a heckuva great read.

Kevan · Liger Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 843

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#1 Writing for Emotional Impact: Advanced Dramatic Techniques to Attract, Engage, and Fascinate the Reader from Beginning to End

Author: Karl Iglesias
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: WingSpan Press (September 1, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595940286
ISBN-13: 978-1595940285
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
Price: $19.76
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Emotional-Impact-Karl-Iglesias/dp/1595940286/ref=pd_sim_b_title_13
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=2870

here are three kinds of feelings when reading a story – boredom, interest, and WOW! To become a successful writer, you must create that WOW! feeling on as many pages as possible, and this requires writing that engages the reader emotionally.

In his bestselling 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters, screenwriter Karl Iglesias explored the working habits of A-list Hollywood scribes. Now, he breaks new ground by focusing on the psychology of the reader. Based on his acclaimed classes at UCLA Extension, Writing for Emotional Impact goes beyond the basics and argues that Hollywood is in the emotion-delivery business, selling emotional experiences packaged in movies and TV shows. Karl not only encourages you to deliver emotional impact on as many pages as possible, he shows you how, offering you hundreds of dramatic techniques to take your writing to the professional level. You’ll learn:

# Over 40 techniques to humanize a character for instant empathy
# The 7 essential storytelling emotions and over 70 techniques to create them
# Over 50 ways to craft powerful scenes, including the Emotional Palette
# Over 30 techniques to shape your words and energize your narrative description
# The most common dialogue flaws and fixes for each
# Over 60 techniques to craft dynamic dialogue that snaps, crackles and pops off the page

Karl Iglesias is a screenwriter and sought-after script doctor and consultant, specializing in the reader’s emotional response to the written page. He teaches at UCLA Extension’s Writers’ Program, the Screenwriting Expo and online at www.WritersUniversity.com. He also writes a regular column on the craft for Creative Screenwriting magazine.

Kevan · Liger Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 843

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#1 Four Archetypes

Author: Carl G. Jung
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Routledge; New Ed edition (August 28, 1986)
ISBN-10: 074480034X
ISBN-13: 978-0744800340
Price: used & new available from $1.00
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/074480034X/collectorzcom-20

Author: Carl G. Jung
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Princeton University Press (March 1, 1971)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0691017662
ISBN-13: 978-0691017662
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
Price: $13.46 ($17.95 / £10.95 Princeton University Press)
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Four-Archetypes-C-G-Jung/dp/0691017662
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/692.html

Extracted from Volume 9, Part I. Includes "Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype," "Concerning Rebirth," "The Phenomenology of the Spirit in Fairytales," and "On the Psychology of the Trickster-Figure."

#2 Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect, Second Edition

Author: Claudia H. Johnson
Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: Focal Press; 2 edition (January 21, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0240806417
ISBN-13: 978-0240806419
Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
Price: $30.70 (Amazon) GBP 20.99, USD 33.95, EUR 30.95 (Elsevier)
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Crafting-Short-Screenplays-Connect-Second/dp/0240806417/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208277344&sr=1-11
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/704269/description#description

* The only screenwriting book that includes a DVD that contains performances of the short films and screenplays that are featured in the book!

"In this beautifully written and inspiring book, Claudia Johnson leads the reader through the process of writing the short film, along the way illuminating something much bigger--how to write great drama in any form. A very accessible book, well-researched and full of original thinking, Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect adds an important part to the literature of screenwriting and filmmaking, and will undoubtedly lead to some great short films." - Linda Seger, author, Making a Good Script Great

"Crafting Short Screenplays that Connect would make a good addition to any screenwriter's library...a very accessible book for aspiring screenwriters." - Videomaker

"Whether you want to write short screenplays because you want some practice before you go the distance, or because it's an assignment for your film class, 'Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect' is for youIt is explicit in its detail and direction. What is perhaps the most unique part of this guide is the fact that it contains five short screenplays that illustrate dramatic principles she teaches." - Jason Antebi, Done Deal (scriptsales.com)

#3 How to Enter Screenplay Contest ...And Win!

Author: Erik Joseph
Paperback: 300 pages
Publisher: Lone Eagle; 2 edition (July 15, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1580650341
ISBN-13: 978-1580650342
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
Price: $19.95
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Enter-Screenplay-Contest/dp/1580650341/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208268068&sr=1-1

Erik Joseph coordinates one of the longest running screenplay competitions in the country and is the Assistant Director of the Nevada State Film Commission. He also teaches entertainment industry classes at various colleges and university and has had numerous screenplays optioned. Joseph is perfectly positioned to provide an insider's guide to selling screenplays to Hollywood. How To Enter Screenplay Contests And Win is essential reading for all aspiring screenwriters with its practical, comprehensive, easy-to-follow tips, tricks and techniques for winning a screenplay contest -- the most affordable way to get a screenplay noticed, optioned, sold, and produced!

This book contains comprehensive listings of screenplay contests to enter as well as provide insider information, testimonials and seasoned advice for writers ready to make their first pitch.

Kevan · Liger Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 843

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#1 Women in Film Noir

Editor: E.Ann Kaplan
Paperback: 238 pages
Publisher: British Film Institute; New edition (January 22, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0851706665
ISBN-13: 978-0851706665
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
Price: $24.26 (£15.99 from BFI)
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0851706665/&tag=collectorzapp-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325
http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/acatalog/info_3403.html
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-84902442.html

Women in Film Noir is one of the classic course texts of film studies, a groundbreaking attempt to chart the ways in which meanings and fantasies are produced in film noir through representations of the femme fatal and other female roles.

First published in 1978, Women in Film Noir assembled a group of scholars and critics committed to understanding the cinema in terms of gender, sexuality, politics, psychoanalysis and semiotics. This work remains fresh and insightful and is reprinted here.

For this new expanded edition the editor has brought together further essays which reflect the renewed interest in film noir which is apparent today. Exploring 'neo-noir', post-modernism, and other contemporary trends, new essays offer readings of, among others, Bound and Basic Instinct, broadening the scope of the book to include questions of race and homosexuality.

#2 Dialogue: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Effective Dialogue

Author: Gloria Kempton
Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (31 Dec 2004)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1582972893
ISBN-13: 978-1582972893
Product Dimensions: 22.4 x 15 x 1.8 cm
Price: $11.55 ($16.99 Writers Store)
Links:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1582972893/collectorzcom-21
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=2555

When should your character talk, what should (or shouldn’t) he say, and when should he say it? How do you know when dialogue – or the lack thereof – is dragging down your scene? How do you fix a character who speaks with the laconic wit of the Terminator?

This book by successful author and instructor Gloria Kempton has the answers to all of these questions and more! It’s packed with innovative exercises and instruction designed to teach you how to:

-Create dialogue that drives the story
-Weave dialogue with narrative and action
-Use dialogue to pace your story
-Write dialogue that fits specific genres
-Avoid the common pitfalls of writing dialogue
-Make dialogue unique for each character

#3 On Writing

Author: Stephen King
Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Pocket; Reprint edition (July 1, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743455967
ISBN-13: 978-0743455961
Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
Price: $7.99
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743455967/collectorzcom-20

Stephen King states the only reason he is a writer is because he is a reader.. And you'll have no finer introduction to the pleasures and pains of being a writer than this fine book by the man himself. Part biography and part insight into the craft of writing, this is a great book and proves well worth the read..

#4 How to Adapt Anything into a Screenplay

Author: Richard Krevolin
Paperback: 218 pages
Publisher: Wiley (March 13, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0471225452
ISBN-13: 978-0471225454
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
Price: $11.96
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471225452/collectorzcom-20
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=1714

Description
How to Adapt Anything into a Screenplay takes you from concept to finished draft. It is a nuts-and-bolts approach to adaptations. Aspiring and established screenwriters everywhere, take note! This down-to-earth guide clearly articulates the craft of adaptation. Drawing on his own experience and fourteen years of teaching, screenwriter Richard Krevolin presents his proven five-step process for adapting anything–from novels and short stories to newspaper articles and poems–into a screenplay. Used by thousands of novelists, playwrights, poets, and journalists around the country, this can’t-miss process features practical advice on how to break down a story into its essential components, as well as utilizes case studies of successful adaptations. Krevolin also provides an insider’s view of working and surviving within the Hollywood system–covering the legal issues, interviewing studio insiders on what they are looking for, and offering tips from established screenwriters who specialize in adaptations.

Highlights
* Outlines a series of stages that help you structure your story to fit the needs of a 120-page screenplay
* Explains how to adapt anything for Hollywood, from a single sentence story idea all the way to a thousand-page novel
* Advises on the tricky subject of just how faithful your adaptation should be
* Features helpful hints from Hollywood bigwigs–award-winning television writer Larry Brody; screenwriter and script reader Henry Jones; screenwriter and author Robin Russin; screenwriter and author Simon Rose; and more

Kevan · Liger Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 843

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#1 Secrets of Film Writing

Author: Tom Lazarus
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (June 2, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312269080
ISBN-13: 978-0312269081
Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
Price: $10.17
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Film-Writing-Tom-Lazarus/dp/0312269080/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208267189&sr=1-1
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=906

A new paradigm for film and television writing.

Revealing a working Hollywood writer’s secrets – the tips, short cuts, tricks and insider advice that will get your story down on paper, maximize your idea and seduce your readers.

Learn why the three act structure is obsolete and how to make your script an easy read.

Learn insights and techniques that will improve your process and make your script more readable, and ultimately, more salable.

SECRETS OF FILM WRITING takes you behind-the-scenes of feature and television writing and demystifies, once and for all, the Hollywood System.

#2 Rewriting Secrets for Screenwriters: Seven Strategies to Improve and Sell Your Work

Author: Tom Lazarus
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (March 21, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312338317
ISBN-13: 978-0312338312
Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
Price:
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Rewriting-Secrets-Screenwriters-Strategies-Improve/dp/0312338317/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208267189&sr=1-5
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=3069

How to handle the working screenwriters toughest assignment: reworking, rewriting, and revising, from the author of Secrets of Film Writing.

Every screenwriter needs to rewrite-more than once, probably many times-to make the story work and then to make a sale. And then again later on, to please producers, studios or stars. Tom Lazarus -author of Stigmata, among other scripts- is a working screenwriter and instructor at UCLA extension. In this book, he's distilled his own experience and that of other screenwriters into a system. Rewriting Secrets for Screenwriters will teach writers how to:

-Prioritize big scenes.
-Track Transitions.
-Plot Corrections.
-Add new information.
-Pass through for dialogue.
-Do an "on the nose" rewrite.

Hugely valuable for first-time screenwriters and veterans of Hollywood pitch wars alike, Rewriting Secrets for Screenwriters is laced with humor and attitude as well as information. Its anatomy of a screenplay rewrite breaks down the books lessons into their practical application-a must for anyone looking for a break in the film business.

#3 500 Ways To Beat The Hollywood Script Reader: Writing the Screenplay the Reader Will Recommend

Author: Jenifer Lerch
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Fireside (July 13, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0684856409
ISBN-13: 978-0684856407
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
Price: $10.40
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Ways-Beat-Hollywood-Script-Reader/dp/0684856409/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208047253&sr=1-1
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=201

If Your Screenplay Can't Get Past the Hollywood Reader, It Can't Get to Hollywood

This ultimate insider's guide to screenwriting is designed to get you past the fiercest gatekeepers in Hollywood: the Hollywood script readers. This small army of freelancers will be among the first to read and evaluate your script and then to recommend it -- or not -- to the studios, directors, and stars.

Designed for quick and easy access, these 500 points are a step-by-step recipe. They cannot guarantee success, but failure to follow them can almost certainly guarantee failure. Tips include:

* Get your foot in the door: 23 ways to make a good first impression on the Hollywood Reader
* Screen talk: why it is essential to write dialogue that looks good on the page
* Your goals in each act: how to make your story unputdownable from beginning to end
* Specific genre issues: writing a romance? a mystery? a thriller? Learn their special requirements and pitfalls
* The final scenes: how to go out with a bang that will wow the Hollywood Reader
* Still didn't get positive coverage? Inside info on what to do and how to do it

Written by an industry insider who has recommended scripts that have sold for as much as one million dollars, this is the only book to show you what the Hollywood Reader wants to see. Clear, smart, and completely authoritative, 500 Ways to Beat the Hollywood Script Reader is by far the simplest, most practical book ever to hit the entertainment shelf.

#4 The Screenwriter's Guide to Agents and Managers

Author: John Scott Lewinski
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Allworth Press (January 1, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1581150792
ISBN-13: 978-1581150797
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
Price: $15.95 (allworth.com) $17.06 (Amazon)
Links:
http://www.allworth.com/The_Screenwriter_s_Guide_p/1-58115-079-2.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Screenwriters-Guide-Agents-Managers/dp/1581150792/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208452978&sr=1-17

Through engaging interviews with prominent agents and managers, readers will learn how the Hollywood power brokers choose material, what kinds of writers catch their attention, and what they expect from the writers they sign on. Leading television and film writers reveal how you can evaluate and revise your scripts to make them tighter, better, and more suitable.

This essential guide covers all aspects of representation, including:

• Motion picture agents versus television agents
• Big house agencies versus boutique agencies
• The entertainment attorney
• Managers versus agents
• Contacting production companies directly

(allworth.com)

The lessons to be learned from this helpful guide show aspiring screenwriters, television writers, and novelists how to catch a agent’s eye and develop a successful scriptwriting career. Step-by-step instructions reveal how to get around the “Catch 22” of the trade—but you can’t get an agent until you’ve sold a script. Interviews with prominent agents and managers disclose how the power brokers choose material, what kinds of writers command their attention, and what they expect from the writers they sign on. Tips on how to write a winning spec script, how to word an effective query letter, how to forge a sound relationship with reps, and other invaluable advice fill this insider’s guide. (Amazon)

Kevan · Liger Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 843

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#1 Writing the Romantic Comedy

Author: Billy Mernit
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Collins; New Ed edition (July 31, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060935030
ISBN-13: 978-0060935030
Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
Price: $10.20
Links:
http://www.billymernit.com/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060935030/collectorzcom-20
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=488

What makes ‘Annie Hall,’ ‘When Harry Met Sally,’ ‘Tootsie,’ and ‘The Lady Eve’ classics in the genre called romantic comedy? According to writer/teacher Mernit, all have seven essential plot points that could definitely impact your writing success. The book, an outgrowth of his program, Writing the Romantic Comedy for UCLA Extension, reflects Mernit’s experience as a story analyst for Universal Studios, Sony and Paramount, and his leaning towards the romantic was most likely honed in his work as a composer and as a writer for NBC’s ‘Santa Barbara.’ His eight provocative writing exercises will spark your imagination, and his sage advice for creating credible characters in believable story plots are applicable to any style of film, but particularly the romantic comedy. The exercises encourage you to write material as real as possible, personal, and how you can take risks for endings that truly satisfy the audience. Great list of 100 noteworthy films, of which 12 are available in screenplay form to study. Sure, he reminds us about character, structure, and dialogue, but the emphasis is on finding what is funny, sexy, and credible. The rewrite checklist for POV, theme, sensuality, humor, and image elements is worth the price of the book. Written in a very chatty easy-to-follow style, this book contains inspiring and specific information surrounded by good film analysis.

#2 Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting

Author: Robert Mckee
Hardcover: 480 pages
Publisher: HarperEntertainment; 1 edition (November 25, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060391685
ISBN-13: 978-0060391683
Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
Price: $23.10
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Substance-Structure-Principles-Screenwriting/dp/0060391685/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208265783&sr=8-1
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=351

Writing for the screen is quirky business. A writer must labor meticulously over his or her prose, yet very little of that prose is ever heard by filmgoers. The few words that do reach the audience, in the form of the characters' dialogue, are, according to Robert McKee, best left to last in the writing process. ("As Alfred Hitchcock once remarked, 'When the screenplay has been written and the dialogue has been added, we're ready to shoot.' ") In Story, McKee puts into book form what he has been teaching screenwriters for years in his seminar on story structure, which is considered by many to be a prerequisite to the film biz. (The long list of film and television projects that McKee's students have written, directed, or produced includes Air Force One, The Deer Hunter, E.R., A Fish Called Wanda, Forrest Gump, NYPD Blue, and Sleepless in Seattle.) Legions of writers flock to Hollywood in search of easy money, calculating the best way to get rich quick. This book is not for them. McKee is passionate about the art of screenwriting. "No one needs yet another recipe book on how to reheat Hollywood leftovers," he writes. "We need a rediscovery of the underlying tenets of our art, the guiding principles that liberate talent." Story is a true path to just such a rediscovery. In it, McKee offers so much sound advice, drawing from sources as wide ranging as Aristotle and Casablanca, Stanislavski and Chinatown, that it is impossible not to come away feeling immeasurably better equipped to write a screenplay and infinitely more inspired to write a brilliant one.

#3 Screenwriting for Film and Television

Author: William Miller
Paperback: 276 pages
Publisher: Allyn & Bacon; Subsequent edition (December 11, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0205272991
ISBN-13: 978-0205272990
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
Price: $55.10 (used & new available from $12.15)
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Screenwriting-Film-Television-William-Miller/dp/0205272991/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208450543&sr=1-1
http://www.pearsonhighered.com/academic/product/0,3110,0205272991,00.html

Screenwriting for Film and Television is a major rewrite of Bill Miller's 1980 text. This book is comprehensive, clear, and invaluable to both the novice and the experienced screenwriter of film and television.

The book begins with techniques to develop creativity and a practical approach to screenwriting. The inverted triangle method that takes the writer from concept through outlines to the final draft script offers a clear and useful strategy for keeping the storyline on target.

The character and structure chapters not only present the author's approaches (such as the multiple storylines model) but also discuss and critique other character and structure models, including the issue of three act structure.

Mini-chapters address: getting the story ideas, doing the rewrite, and alternative screenwriting for more innovative and experimental features. These chapters address important topics that are not usually seen in a screenwriting text.

There are formulations of techniques of exposition and preparation, in addition to a more thorough explanation on scenes and dialogue. The previously well regarded chapter on comedy has been expanded, updated, and remains a unique feature among screenwriting texts.

The tone of the book is straightforward and easily readable, yet it has the comprehensiveness suitable for college and university classes. It will help students get ideas and develop these into scripts, and continue to serve as a valuable reference source as they refine their screenwriting both in the classroom and out.

Kevan · Liger Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 843

William C. Martell

#1 SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions (June 25, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0970067704
ISBN-13: 978-0970067708
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
Price: * Currently being updated for 2nd Edition *
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links:
http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/book.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Action-Screenwriting-William-Martell/dp/0970067704

Personal Web Page
http://www.scriptsecrets.net/

240 pages packed with tips and techniques. Let the other books tell you about the 3 act structure! My book covers: How to write a plot twist, the four kinds of suspense (and how to create it), reversals to keep your description exciting, ten ways to invent new action scenes, secrets and lies, creating the ultimate villain, five kinds of love interests, creating effective violence, is sex necessary?, theme, using magnification to create kick ass stories, weapons for weirdos, plans for world destruction and/or domination, four ways to explode cliches, ten steps to a more focused script, the two types of heroes, emotional action scenes, your script's DNA, pacing, page turners, giving them something extra, and more.... Plus a complete analysis of DIE HARD and a bunch of "bonus techniques" (little tips).

Ted Elliott, co-writer of THE MASK OF ZORRO with Terry Rossio
"... the best book on the practical nuts-and-bolts mechanics of writing a screenplay I've ever read."

Ken Wheat, co-writer of PITCH BLACK and THE FLY 2 with Jim Wheat
"My only complaint... is that it wasn't around when I was starting out... would have saved me years of trial and error!"

BLUE BOOKS

#1 YOUR IDEA MACHINE

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

How to generate great ideas and create that killer concept.

#2 SECRET OF OUTLINING

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

Various outline methods, examples, pacing your script, more!

#3 STRUCTURE IN ACTION: THE MATRIX

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

Learn basic script structure.

#4 SECRETS OF STORY: LIAR LIAR

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

#5 FORMAT BASICS (under construction)

#6 HOOK ‘EM WITH YOUR FIRST TEN PAGES

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

Top tips to grab readers!

#7 CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

Prevent passive protagonists! Top tips!

#8 VISUAL STORYTELLING SECRETS

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

How to show character without dialogue.

#9 DESCRIPTION

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

It's 50% of your screenplay... Top Tips to make sure it's pulling 50% of the weight!

#10 DIALOGUE

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

Learn the secrets of creating sparkling dialogue!

#11 SCENE SECRETS

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

Learn how to tune up your scenes, link scenes, add spice to existing scenes!

#12 SUPPORTING CHARACTER SECRETS

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

Creating memorable supporting characters.

#13 ACT 2 SECRETS

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

Get rid of the Act 2 blues with these top tips!

#14 WRITE A BLOCKBUSTER

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

Write a big summer blockbuster! Using "Gladiator", "Planet Of The Apes" and other examples!

#15 TITLES, NAMES, GENRES (under construction - coming soon!)

#16 GRAND FINALES

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

Creating great endings for your scripts.

#17 REWRITE SECRETS

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

How to cut your script, rewrite to strengthen character and theme, and get your script ready for market.

#18 RESEARCH GUIDE (under construction - coming soon!)

#19 TREATMENTS AND LOGLINES

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

How to write a logline, treatment, synopsis, one pager, leave behind, and one paragraph synopsis!

#20 SELLING YOUR SCRIPT

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

From Query Letters to Guerrilla Marketing.

#21 SPECIAL EDITION: SECRETS OF PITCHING

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 14 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

How to pitch your project!

#22 BLUEBOOK - PRODUCERS GUIDE

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback: 52 pages
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H) [Special Edition only available at Script Secrets Seminars]
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

Over A Hundred Producers Listed!
Phone numbers, email addresses
Big Producers to Cable Producers
Plus - Finding the right producer for your script * call cold techniques.

RED BOOK - INDIES, KILLER Bs & CABLE FILMS

Author: William C. Martell
Paperback:
Publisher: First Strike Productions
Language: English
Price: $4.99 (plus $1 P&H)
Email: wcmartell@scriptsecrets.net
Links: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/bluebook.htm

From Confined Cameos to Central Locations and Bran Harvesting....

A step-by-step guide to writing Independent Films and Killer Bs from the writer of 19 films...

Making your own movie? Entering Project Greenlight? Want to go Indie? Thinking about writing Killer B or Cable flick? This Red Book contains the nuts & bolts of writing a screenplay for independent production. How to streamline your cast, find the right location for your story, the difference between a traveling story and a central location story, those expensive elements your budget can't afford, and how to use that limited budget to your creative advantage. If you want to write Indie scripts or enter Greenlight - this book is for you! 60 pages packed with information!

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