Play & Scriptwriting Books

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

Robert McKee

Amazon Price: $23.10 List Price: $35.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: HarperEntertainment Amazon Marketplace: 87 new & used starting at $16.52

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> Screenwriting
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> General
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 175 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

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.--Jane Steinberg

How to Write a Movie in 21 Days

Viki King

Amazon Price: $10.20 List Price: $15.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Collins Amazon Marketplace: 66 new & used starting at $4.98

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> Screenwriting
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> General
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 50 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Practical and motivating 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

The book does a good job of going over the common blocks to finishing a screenplay and how to overcome them. I love the writing prompts.

I was not able to write a screenplay in 21 days, and the reason is that I did not follow her prompts time line or her suggestion to keep to a random draft (instead of putting all the details and craftmanship later on). However, I did get through the first act and should be done with my random draft soon.

This is a motivating book with lots of useful information. Just be sure to do everything else to help yourself finish what you start: join a screenwriter's group, read screenplays in the genre you are attempting to write, watch movies, go to theater, listen to music, go to the art gallery, exercise, etc.)

Break a leg:)

Editorial Review:

No book can find your ideas for you, but this one provides a great service in helping you discover and develop a story, and to come up with the completed script. King helps you learn to think cinematically, in the language of the movies, and to keep asking the essential questions as they work: What's the story? Who is the story about? Do you care about the characters? Does anyone? King also tries to help you survive not just the structural pitfalls that can derail a script, but also the mental or emotional whirlpools that can prevent any artist from finishing a project.

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

Denny Martin Flinn

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Lone Eagle Amazon Marketplace: 65 new & used starting at $7.50

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> Direction & Production
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> Screenwriting
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 66 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

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 Dean 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. --Ali Davis

Making a Good Script Great

Linda Seger

Amazon Price: $10.36 List Price: $12.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Samuel French Amazon Marketplace: 68 new & used starting at $4.73

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> Screenwriting
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Television -> Screenwriting
Subjects -> Entertainment -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 63 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Polish Your Hollywood Star 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.

Reading a screenwriting book by Dr. Linda Seger is like taking a hundred meetings with Hollywood's best writers and directors, and listening in as Seger helps them mold their stories and scripts into a hit. Seger's experiences are vast, and she's generous with her advice, which is smart, visual, commercial, and practical. If you do what she says, your chances at selling and getting your screenplay made are tremendously magnified. Making a Good Script Great, for instance, is one of those books that every screenwriter should read (again-and-again) before starting the next project. A good screenplay is complex and sophisticated, but must read simply, easily, and enjoyably. The task is a multifaceted, intense, and long-suffering. Seger, however, provides the chisels and rouges to take your diamond in the rough, sharpen its edges, and polish its faces, until your script gleams and sparkles like a Hollywood star.

Linda's writing was helpful in the writing of my own book on screenwriting published by Michael Wiese Productions -- THE MORAL PREMISE: Harnessing Virtue and Vice for Box Office Success.

The 101 Habits Of Highly Successful Screenwriters: Insider's Secrets from Hollywood's Top Writers

Karl Iglesias

Amazon Price: $10.36 List Price: $12.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Adams Media Amazon Marketplace: 54 new & used starting at $4.95

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Performing Arts -> Reference
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Arts & Literature -> General AAS
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> Screenwriting

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Aspiring screenwriters don't need another book on how to write a screenplay, says Karl Iglesias. What they need is a book on how to be a screenwriter. Voilà: The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters, featuring interviews with 14 screenwriters, arranged by subject. The result reads like a panel discussion, touching on such subjects as collaboration, schmoozing, discipline, Hollywood, and story pitching. The dream of winning a Hollywood jackpot has lured everyone and his gardener into the screenwriting game. Still, despite the unencouraging odds, "all you need to do is write a good script," says Scott Rosenberg (Beautiful Girls). Some of the book's best advice concerns one of the screenwriter's most formidable hurdles: getting a screenplay read. Submit it to film festivals and screenwriting competitions, or follow Tom Schulman's (Dead Poet's Society) advice and hire an entertainment attorney. After all, "most of them know a lot of agents." --Jane Steinberg

The TV Writer's Workbook: A Creative Approach To Television Scripts

Ellen Sandler

Amazon Price: $10.88 List Price: $16.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Delta Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $8.10

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> Screenwriting
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Television -> Screenwriting
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Television -> Shows -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Why is TV writing different from any other kind of writing? How will writing a spec script open doors? What do I have to do to get a job writing for TV? Writing for television is a business. And, like any business, there are proven strategies for success. In this unique hands-on guide, television writer and producer Ellen Sandler shares the trade secrets she learned while writing for hit shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and Coach. She offers concrete advice on everything from finding a story to getting hired on a current series.

Filled with easy-to-implement exercises and practical wisdom, this ingenious how-to handbook outlines the steps for becoming a professional TV writer, starting with a winning script. Sandler explains the difference between “selling” and “telling,” form and formula, theme and plot.
Discover:

• A technique for breaking down a show style so you’re as close to being in the writing room as you can get without actually having a job there
• The 3 elements for that essential Concept Line that you must have
in order to create a story with passion and consequence
• Mining the 7 Deadly Sins for fresh and original story lines
• Sample scripts from hit shows
• In-depth graphs, script breakdown charts, vital checkpoints
along the way, and much, much more!

The Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay: How to Write Great Screenplays for Movies and Television

Cynthia Whitcomb

Amazon Price: $16.15 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: The Writer Books Amazon Marketplace: 30 new & used starting at $11.34

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> Screenwriting
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> General
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

With the average payment for a screenplay over $100,000, every writer knows that screenwriting is where the money is. In this guide, successful screenwriter and teacher Cynthia Whitcomb shares her extensive knowledge on writing for the screen. This book will teach you her proven techniques, including how to:

• test an idea for its commercial potential
• plan a compelling script
• write great openings and endings
• create characters that grow and evolve
• revise and hone your script to attract Hollywood agents and producers

Includes lists of the best movies to study—and why!

Cynthia Whitcomb has sold more than 70 feature-length screenplays, 25 of which have been filmed. She has made millions of dollars for her work, and her scripts have won and been nominated for many awards, including the Emmy Award, Cable Ace Award, Edgar Allan Poe Award, Humanitas Award, and Writers Guild of America Awards. Her students have also gone on to write successful box-office hits. She has taught screenwriting for many years, including seven at the acclaimed UCLA Film School.

Whitcomb’s commercial success and teaching experience make this an essential resource for anyone who wants to write winning scripts for Hollywood.

The Screenwriter's Workbook (Revised Edition)

Syd Field

Amazon Price: $10.88 List Price: $16.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Delta Amazon Marketplace: 61 new & used starting at $7.50

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> Screenwriting
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> General
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great tool for the novice screenwriter 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I've written my share of short stories, and even had some of them published. I couldn't tell you how many times I've started a story and after a strong opening scene and some character development, got completely flummoxed and didn't know what to do or where to take it. After reading this book, I may dig them back out...

This book, I found to be a great distillation of storytelling. Some may be put off by the "formula" or what has been called a "paint by numbers" approach that this book takes, which is far from accurate. Joseph Cambell distilled all world mythologies into his "Hero's Cycle" in THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES, and you can apply any myth from any continent to his pattern. Syd Field has just done the same thing to what could be argued is the only active myth system left to Western Culture, film. Take a two-hour myth and distill it down to its raw elements. That's his book. His pattern fits.

How do I create my own screenplay/myth? I have a great idea for this scene... Well, this book will force you to focus on the bits you have to think about to turn that great idea into a full screenplay.

This book was perfect for where I am as a storyteller. I know how to craft a good tale - sometimes it just all comes out one paragraph at at time until the ending scene... but sometimes, you need a tool to help you think about the whole structure to get to that next part. This book? A good tool for that.

You are writing your own characters and plot. All this book does is help you focus on the "why's" and "when's" of the "what happens" in YOUR script. It is not a "paint by numbers." You don't fill in the blanks like a mad-libs! It gives you a pattern to help you refine your ideas.

So, yes, if you are a professional screenwriter, SCREENWRITER'S WORKBOOK will probably insult you, because it simplifies what you considered to be a magical gift - the ability to create a screenplay. For those of us who are looking for a little help to refine our craft, it is a great tool.

As far as the repetitiveness some reviewers mentioned, many of the repeated passages were film quotes that you may or may not know verbatim. When focusing on the subtlety of the subtext of dialog in one chapter (or class, as the chapters are arranged), and the plot points that move the story forward in another chapter, the dialog should be reproduced each time to illustrate how important the words are. Since good screenwriting seems to be about tight focus of action and refined dialog, any responsible teacher *would* repeat the exact dialog.

I also recommend THE STORY, by Robert McKee.

Editorial Review:

Screenplays, according to Field, are not so much written as they are built, and in this book he provides a clear explanation of what raw materials are needed to assemble the modern Hollywood movie script.In this cogently constructed workbook--one of the standards in the industry--Field elucidates the strict three-act structure of screenplays, talks about the nature of character, describes what plot points are and where they must fall, and provides exercises to help the screenwriter take an idea from the first germ of a concept, to outline, to rewritten script.

Rewrite: A Step-by-Step Guide to Strengthen Structure, Characters, and Drama in your Screenplay

Paul Chitlik

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Michael Wiese Productions Amazon Marketplace: 30 new & used starting at $8.95

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> Screenwriting
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> General
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

All you need to know 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Rewrite covers everything you need to know about making your idea into a screenplay that somebody will want to buy.

You know the stakes have to be high, the scenes have to have a point, the protagonist needs to have a goal...but this book tells you HOW to do that, and also what to cut, step-by-step through the structure that you cannot afford to mess with.

Mentor is the perfect word to describe Paul Chitlik. He knows exactly how to explain what makes a screenplay successful. This book is a must-read, not only after your first draft is done, but during the development of your idea. Making your idea better and stronger before you start writing is like tuning up your car before you take a long trip.

Don't chance a breakdown! Read this book and make your story work before you write your first scene.

One of the Best! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The title of this book is "Rewrite" but save yourself a lot of work and read this book BEFORE you start your next script.

Paul Chitlik is an amazing instructor at UCLA (under his tutelage, my second screenplay ever went on to win the prestigious UCLA Professional Screenwriting Contest) and he has distilled his teachings into this concise yet comprehensive book.

This book is a "must have" for any screenwriter. I have a feeling that I'll be rereading it every time I finish a rough draft.

Editorial Review:

Professional screenwriters know that the rewriting process is what separates the money-makers from the neophytes.

Backwards & Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays

David Ball

Amazon Price: $16.15 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Southern Illinois University Press Amazon Marketplace: 59 new & used starting at $7.60

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Performing Arts -> Theater -> Direction & Production
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Performing Arts -> Theater -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Performing Arts -> Theater -> Playwriting

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This guide to playreading for students and practitioners of both theater and literature complements, rather then contradicts or repeats, traditional methods of literary analysis of scripts.

Ball developed his method during his work as Literary Director at the Guthrie Theater, building his guide on the crafts playwrights of every period and style use to make their plays stageworthy. The text is full of tools for students and practitioners to use as they investigate plot, character, theme, exposition, imagery, motivation/obstacle/conflict, theatricality, and the other crucial parts of the superstructure of a play. He includes guides for discovering what the playwright considers the play’s most important elements, thus permitting interpretation based on the foundation of the play rather than its details.

Using Hamlet as illustration, Ball assures a familiar base for illustrating script-reading techniques as well as examples of the kinds of misinterpretation readers can fall prey to by ignoring the craft of the playwright. Of immense utility to those who want to put plays on the stage (actors, directors, designers, production specialists) Backwards and Forwards is also a fine playwriting manual because the structures it describes are the primary tools of the playwright.