The Screenwriter's Bible


Book Description

One of the most popular and useful books on screenwriting, now greatly expanded and completely updated. This edition includes a list of resources and contains approximately 100 new entries.




Crafty Screenwriting


Book Description

The most innovative and creative screenwriting book yet, from an author who knows first-hand what it takes to get a movie made. Based on an award-winning website hailed as "smart enough for professional screenwriters and accessible enough for aspiring screenwriters", Crafty Screenwriting is the first book not only to offer a successful screenwriter's tricks of the trade, but to explain what development executives really mean when they complain that the "dialogue is flat," or "the hero isn't likeable." Fresh, provocative, and funny, Alex Epstein diagnoses problem that other screenwriting books barely address, and answers questions they rarely ask, like "Why is it sometimes dangerous to know your characters too well before you start writing," or "Why does your script have to be so much better than the awful pictures that get made every day?" As a development executive who has accepted and rejected countless screenplays, and a produced screenwriter himself, Epstein can take you into the heart of the most important question of all: "Is this a movie?" A crucial book for anyone who has ever wondered what it takes to get their movie made.




The Essential Screenplay (3-Book Bundle)


Book Description

Hollywood’s script guru teaches you how to write a screenplay in the ultimate three-volume guide to writing for film, featuring “the ‘bible’ of screenwriting” (The New York Times), Screenplay—now celebrating forty years of screenwriting success! This blockbuster ebook bundle includes: SCREENPLAY: FOUNDATIONS OF SCREENWRITING • THE SCREENWRITER’S WORKBOOK • THE SCREENWRITER’S PROBLEM SOLVER Syd Field was “the most sought-after screenwriting teacher in the world” according to The Hollywood Reporter. His pioneering insights into structure, concept, and character launched innumerable careers. Now in one handy collection, his invaluable expertise is available to aspiring writers and working professionals alike. The Essential Screenplay contains Syd Field’s Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting, the industry standard for script development; The Screenwriter’s Workbook, a hands-on workshop full of practical exercises for creating successful screenplays; and The Screenwriter’s Problem Solver, a guide to identifying and fixing problems in your latest draft. Throughout, you’ll learn: • why the first ten pages of your script are crucially important • how to visually “grab” the reader from page one • what makes great stories work • the basics of writing dialogue • the essentials of creating great characters • how to adapt a novel, a play, or an article for the screen • the three ways to claim legal ownership of your work • tips for allowing your creative self to break free when you hit the “wall” • how to overcome writer’s block forever Featuring expert analysis of popular films including Pulp Fiction, Thelma & Louise, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Essential Screenplay will transform your initial idea into a screenplay that’s destined for success—and maybe even Cannes. Praise for Syd Field “The most sought-after screenwriting teacher in the world.”—The Hollywood Reporter “Syd Field is the preeminent analyzer in the study of American screenplays.”—James L. Brooks, Academy Award–winning writer, director, producer




Elements of Style for Screenwriters


Book Description

How to design and format manuscripts to impress any film school professor, story editor, agent, producer or studio executive.




Screenplay


Book Description

Providing examples from well-known movies, Field explains the structural and stylistic elements as well as writing techniques basic to the creation of a successful film script.




Save the Cat!


Book Description

This ultimate insider's guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a show biz veteran who's proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat!




The Complete Book of Scriptwriting


Book Description

To survive and thrive in the fantasyland that is show business, you need to know the realities of writing and selling. J. Michael Straczynski learned these realities the hard way. With his help, you'll learn them the easy way. Here the writer/producer of Murder, She Wrote and creator of Babylon 5 tells you how it really is - and how you can really succeed writing scripts. Straczynski shows you the importance of distinguishing yourself, through professionalism and discipline, from the wannabes. He helps you strengthen your writing technique while urging you to bring your own vision to your work, avoid formula, and create from passion. And he takes you in for a close look at every entertainment medium hungry for good scriptwriters.




Selling a Screenplay


Book Description

- Breaks Down the Business of Screenwriting - Explains What the Buyer Looks For - Shows You What to Do to Get in the Door - Tackles the Pitching Process - Provides Personal Insights from Famous Screenwriters Everybody has a story to tell. Everybody wants to write the great American screenplay. But what do you do after it’s written? How do you sell it? Studio honchos. Development Executives. Independent Producers. What do they want? Do you need an agent or manager to get it into production? Selling a screenplay can mean earning $250,000 or more, so competition is fierce. Syd Field gives you an insider’s look at the movie and TV industry, packed with essential tips from the pros. Selling a Screenplay is a must-have guide for every screenwriter, filled with frank real-life advice from Hollywood’s most powerful deal makers and most celebrated screenwriters. They all started somewhere.




Screenwriting For Dummies


Book Description

Write a great script and get it into the hands of the Hollywood players! So you want to be a screenwriter? Whether you want to write a feature film or a TV script or adapt your favorite book, this friendly guide gives you expert advice in everything from creating your story and developing memorable characters to formatting your script and selling it to the studios. You get savvy industry tips and strategies for getting your screenplay noticed! The screenwriting process from A to Z -- from developing a concept and thinking visually to plotline, conflicts, pacing, and the conclusion Craft living, breathing characters -- from creating the backstory to letting your characters speak to balancing dialogue with action Turn your story into a script -- from developing an outline and getting over writer's block to formatting your screenplay and handling rewrites Prepare for Hollywood -- from understanding the players and setting your expectations to polishing your copy and protecting your work Sell your script to the industry -- from preparing your pitch and finding an agent to meeting with executives and making a deal Open the book and find: The latest on the biz, from entertainment blogs to top agents to box office jargon New story examples from recently released films Tips on character development, a story's time clock, dramatic structure, and dialogue New details on developing the nontraditional screenplay -- from musicals to animation to high dramatic style Expanded information on adaptation and collaboration, with examples from successful screenwriting duos




SceneWriting


Book Description

You've got an idea for the next great screenplay. Maybe you're just getting started or perhaps you've spent time with other screenwriting books, and you have your hero's journey, plot twists, reversals, and cat-saving scenes all worked out. Either way, what stands between you and an outstanding finished screenplay are the blank pages that you must fill with cinematic life, energy, conflict, and emotion. So how on Earth do you do that? The secret is scenewriting. This thorough and effective guide will help the beginner and the professional master the most critical and overlooked part of the screenwriting process: the art and craft of writing scenes. With step-by-step instruction, and numerous exercises, you will learn how to transform an outline into a fully-developed script. Learn how to prepare scenes for writing, construct sparkling, naturalistic dialogue, utilize scene description and the unique structure of the screenplay format to maximum advantage, and polish your scenes so that your idea becomes the script you always imagined it could be. Through scenewriting, great ideas become brilliant scripts.