Screenwriting Books

The Screenwriter's Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script

David Trottier

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 107 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

How does a spec script differ from a shooting script? What kind of fasteners should one use to bind a script? How did the term MOS come to mean without sound? You'll find the answers to these pressing questions and much more in David Trottier's eminently usable Screenwriter's Bible. The avuncular Trottier--a writer-producer, script consultant, and seminar leader--has written a friendly guide through the Hollywood morass. He touts it as six books in one: it's "a screenwriting primer, a screenwriting workbook, a formatting guide, a spec writing guide, a sales and marketing guide, [and] a resource guide."

Much of Trottier's advice is common sense: "Don't write anything that cannot appear on the screen"; to keep casting options open, don't make your physical descriptions too specific; "don't say Ron Howard is looking at the project if he is not." But there are things to know about Hollywood that are, well, quirkier. Don't write the title of your script on the front cover or side binding; present action sequences using the "stacking action" style; in query letters and scripts alike, avoid "big blocks of black ink." Trottier's guidance--from character development and revision to queries and pitches--is invaluable. Getting in the door can seem impossible, but it's not, necessarily. "If you write a script that features a character who has a clear and specific goal," says Trottier, "where there is strong opposition to that goal leading to a crisis and an emotionally satisfying ending, your script will automatically find itself in the upper five percent."

(By the way, MOS is said to have "originated with German director Eric von Stroheim, who would tell his crew, 'Ve'll shoot dis mid out sound'"). --Jane Steinberg

Character Animation Crash Course!

Eric Goldberg

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Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Yeah, Get This One Too 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Animation is an insanely broad topic. Far too huge to ever cover in one book. Listening to master animators on "The Animation Podcast" and else reveals that everyone's approach to this artform is different. And yet most animation books cover the same content.

For many years, Richard Williams' The Animator's Survival Kit has been the gold standard of animation books, and rightfully so. Lucky for us, fellow animation guru Eric Goldberg's "Character Animation Crash Course" isn't just overlap from Williams' work and teaches us different aspects of animation that other books haven't covered.

Goldberg covers aspects of animation far less academically than Williams and rather focuses on things from a character standpoint, how you could apply a technique to a specific character. He also list several classic cartoons (most if not all of which are on DVD) for examples of each particular technique.

He also covers how control the overall shape volume of what's moving, even for flat, graphic characters, and goes in depth on animation "gimmicks" like smear drawings, zip lines, staggers etc... that are often mentioned, but never properly explained.

Probably the most informative part of the book for me was the section on character construction, covering many of the ins and outs of designing an animatable character that I haven't seen in other books.

"Character Animation Crash Course" also has the one big thing "Animator's Survival Kit" doesn't: A CD-ROM of the animations shown that you can watch and frame through to better understand the lessons in the book.

Hopefully someday other master animators will do what Eric Goldberg's done with "Character Animation Crash Course." Write an animation book that has unique outlook on the artform and that imparts some new pearls of knowledge on the subject. Until then, you have to at least add this book to your shelf. Right next to The Animator's Survival Kit of course.

Editorial Review:

Character Animation Crash Course! is a veritable Genie's lamp stuffed with everything the aspiring animator could wish for! Renowned animator Eric Goldberg's detailed text and drawings illuminate how to conceive characters "from the inside out" to create strong personalities. Classic animation techniques are analyzed and brought to life through this unique book and its accompanying CD that offers readers animated movie examples that show, in real time or frame-by-frame, the author's principles at work. Add to this Goldberg's discussions of classic cartoons and his witty, informative observations based on the wealth of knowledge he's gained during his 30-plus years in professional animation, and you have a tour-de-force guide to character animation with the classic touch.

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

Karl Iglesias

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

Cynthia Whitcomb

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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.

Making a Good Script Great

Linda Seger

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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.

Emotional Structure: Creating the Story Beneath the Plot: A Guide for Screenwriters

Peter Dunne

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

buy it. It's good. 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 12 people found this review helpful.

I should have posted this months ago. I bought this book, full price at the bookstore because I'd never seen anything like it. I still haven't. This guy is concise, thorough and easy to understand, using small words when small words are appropriate--instead of ten dollar words to show off his knowledge. I love it, have worn it out, and will buy anything else he does. Everyone else has talked about how good this book is. What I'll say is this--thank you for NOT using the sterotypical "archtype" babble, or mythic journey, or GMC, or any of the other overused cliches. This guy spent time thinking. It shows in his writing. Way to go, Dunne.

Editorial Review:

The leap from concept to final draft is great, and the task is filled with hard work and horrors. It is here that most writers struggle to get the plot right at the expense of the story's real power. The result is a script that is logical in every way, yet
unmoving. Emotional Structure, by Emmy- and Peabody-Award winning producer, writer, and teacher, Peter Dunne, is for these times, when the plot fits nicely into place like pieces in a puzzle, yet an elemental, terribly important something remains missing.

The Eight Characters of Comedy: A Guide to Sitcom Acting And Writing

Scott Sedita

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Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The EIght Character of Comedy is a Winner! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The "Eight Characters of Comedy" by Scott Sedita was absolutely fantastic! The book was incredibly informative to a writer and an actor, but also gives the audience/reader such an insight to how tv shows and film are created. It's a wonderful book. I recommend it to all!

Editorial Review:

At the core of this Hollywood howto guide is the concept of The Eight Characters of Comedy, the eight specific character archetypes used in sitcoms dating back to the advent of TV. Every actor can find a sitcom niche by identifying with one of these eight characters. Using past and current actors and sitcom personalities, Sedita describes in detail where these characters come from and how actors can play them truthfully. * who is normally cast as The Logical Smart One’ * why do we love The Lovable Loser’ * why is The Neurotic such a fun character to play’ In addition, readers learn how to break down a comedy script, how to identify different types of jokes, how to deliver them with comedic precision, sitcom auditioning techniques, and how to market themselves.

True Stories of Law & Order: The Real Crimes Behind the Best Episodes of the Hit TV Show

Kevin Dwyer, Jure Fiorillo

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The incredible real-life cases behind TV's longest-running crime drama-includes photos.

True Stories of Law & Order reveals the fascinating and shocking facts behind 25 of the hit show's most popular episodes-from the incredible account of how a woman's repressed memory leads to the solving of a 30-year-old cold case to the high-profile investigation of transvestite millionaire Robert Durst. And just like in Law & Order, the actual crime is just the beginning, as you follow these cases from the initial stages of the investigation through the trial and up to the often controversial verdicts.

Part of the reason millions of fans tune in to Law & Order is the gritty realism of its storytelling. The monumentally popular show has included many episodes inspired by actual cases ripped from the headlines-true crimes that are often stranger and more chilling than fiction.

NOTE: This book was not authorized, prepared, approved, licensed, or endorsed by any entity involved in creating or producing the Law & Order television series.

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

Ellen Sandler

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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 Seinfeld Scripts: The First and Second Seasons

Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David

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Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Jerry. George. Elaine. Kramer.

We've followed their misadventures for nearly ten years on Thursday nights. Here, finally, are the scripts of the first two seasons that will take you back to the beginning of Seinfeld.

Featuring the first 17 episodes ever aired, The Seinfeld Scripts contains all the great lines that have kept us laughing for years: the pilot episode, "The Seinfeld Chronicles," where it all began; George introduces his importer/exporter altar ego Art Vanderlay in "The Stakeout"; Kramer becomes obsessed with cantaloupe in "The Ex-Girlfriend"; Jerry and George meet Elaine's dad in "The Jacket"; is Jerry responsible for a poor Polish woman's death when he makes "The Pony Remark"?; Jerry and Elaine decide to become intimate again in "The Deal"; what will George do when he is banned from the executive bathroom in "The Revenge"?; and Jerry, George, and Elaine wait for a table in "The Chinese Restaurant."

It's all here: the award-winning writing of Seinfeld, "the defining sitcom of our age". Created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld.

Elaine: My roommate has Lyme disease.
Jerry: Lyme disease? I thought she had Epstein-Barr syndrome?
Elaine: She has this in addition to Epstein-Barr. It's like Epstein-Barr with a twist of Lyme disease.

George: She calls me up at my office she says, "We have to talk."
Jerry: The four worst words in the English language.

Kramer: What a body. Yeeaaah...that's for me.
Jerry: Yeah and you're just what she's looking for, too--a stranger, leering through a pair of binoculars ten floors up.