The Screenwriter's Bible is good, but two books are FAR more important:
THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE by Strunk and White, and a recent copy of the WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY. Everything else is superflous.
Go to one of the online script sites like DREW'S and get yourself a few dozen screenplays, "spec scripts" would be best. The nice thing about sites like Drew's is that you can read spec scripts there, and some of them are damn good!
My own preferences?
THE COMPLETE BOOK OF SCRIPTWRITING by J. Michael Straczinski is probably the best book I've seen so far. It covers radio, stage, TV , animation, documentary and screen writing information. Check it out. Beg your librarian to add it to their collection!
I'm reading Philip Parker's The Art & Science of SCREENWRITING.
I've got the Second Edition published in Great Britain by Intellect Books 1999. ISBN 1-84150-000-3.
Despite the clunky title, "YOU CAN WRITE A MOVIE" by Pamela (WITNESS) Wallace is a very good, very informative beginner's book, so simple they could use it to teach screenwriting to grade school kids!
I really like "500 Ways to Beat the Hollywood Script Reader" by Jennifer Lerch. It's a compilation of often seen mistakes and advice from script readers/analysts in the biz. Once you're ready to try selling a script, you'll benefit greatly from the advice in this book.
In terms of wannabe books, I've read all of them: Syd Field, Robert McKee, Linda Seger, Richard Walter, etc. I found McKee's most generally useful, and Syd Field's books helpful in creating a skeleton, so to speak, for a screenplay. Not much more.
The book that taught me the most about the craft of screenwriting was Story by Robert Mckee. It outlines how to flesh out plot and character and create a work that's all your own, not a melting pot of previous films. I go back to it frequently.
Linda Seger's books," Making a Good Writer Great", "Making a Good Script Great" and "Creating Unforgettable Characters" were also helpful.
Of course taking a class is much better because you get feedback from professionals and fellow writers. Worth mortgaging your Shi-atszu for!
"Fearless Creativity" by Eric Maisel-the bible of tapping into your own creativity, dealing with writers block and disciplining yourself as a writer. His bottom line: Just Write!
Since almost all of us use computers to write, you don't need to know formatting, for instance since you can get software to do that for you. Right?
Wrong! There's much more to formatting than just getting the margins right!
Peruse the FORMAT forum. There's stuff in there that I didn't have Clue One about!
You need to read informative articles, like:
Talking Common Sense About Format and Style by Charles Deemer.
On my website http://www.trutopia.org, in the SCREENWRITING forum, check out THE AUGUST PAPERS for many helpful hints, and the very important article THE NEW SPEC STYLE by David Trottier.
I have posted enough articles on http://www.zoetrope.com to make your OWN book, and the information is more distilled, thus much more accessible. If you're not yet a member of Zoetrope (and why aren't you??) go sign up and send Mikal D. Huber a Zmail, requesting an invitation to my office.
THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE by Strunk and White, and a recent copy of the WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY. Everything else is superflous.
Go to one of the online script sites like DREW'S and get yourself a few dozen screenplays, "spec scripts" would be best. The nice thing about sites like Drew's is that you can read spec scripts there, and some of them are damn good!
My own preferences?
THE COMPLETE BOOK OF SCRIPTWRITING by J. Michael Straczinski is probably the best book I've seen so far. It covers radio, stage, TV , animation, documentary and screen writing information. Check it out. Beg your librarian to add it to their collection!
I'm reading Philip Parker's The Art & Science of SCREENWRITING.
I've got the Second Edition published in Great Britain by Intellect Books 1999. ISBN 1-84150-000-3.
Despite the clunky title, "YOU CAN WRITE A MOVIE" by Pamela (WITNESS) Wallace is a very good, very informative beginner's book, so simple they could use it to teach screenwriting to grade school kids!
I really like "500 Ways to Beat the Hollywood Script Reader" by Jennifer Lerch. It's a compilation of often seen mistakes and advice from script readers/analysts in the biz. Once you're ready to try selling a script, you'll benefit greatly from the advice in this book.
In terms of wannabe books, I've read all of them: Syd Field, Robert McKee, Linda Seger, Richard Walter, etc. I found McKee's most generally useful, and Syd Field's books helpful in creating a skeleton, so to speak, for a screenplay. Not much more.
The book that taught me the most about the craft of screenwriting was Story by Robert Mckee. It outlines how to flesh out plot and character and create a work that's all your own, not a melting pot of previous films. I go back to it frequently.
Linda Seger's books," Making a Good Writer Great", "Making a Good Script Great" and "Creating Unforgettable Characters" were also helpful.
Of course taking a class is much better because you get feedback from professionals and fellow writers. Worth mortgaging your Shi-atszu for!
"Fearless Creativity" by Eric Maisel-the bible of tapping into your own creativity, dealing with writers block and disciplining yourself as a writer. His bottom line: Just Write!
Since almost all of us use computers to write, you don't need to know formatting, for instance since you can get software to do that for you. Right?
Wrong! There's much more to formatting than just getting the margins right!
Peruse the FORMAT forum. There's stuff in there that I didn't have Clue One about!
You need to read informative articles, like:
Talking Common Sense About Format and Style by Charles Deemer.
On my website http://www.trutopia.org, in the SCREENWRITING forum, check out THE AUGUST PAPERS for many helpful hints, and the very important article THE NEW SPEC STYLE by David Trottier.
I have posted enough articles on http://www.zoetrope.com to make your OWN book, and the information is more distilled, thus much more accessible. If you're not yet a member of Zoetrope (and why aren't you??) go sign up and send Mikal D. Huber a Zmail, requesting an invitation to my office.
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