Books on screenwriting
November 2, 2015 6:19 AM Subscribe
I like books where accomplished creative people tell the secrets of their trade, how they think it's done best, or how they do it. Stephen Kings "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft", Jeff Vandermeers "Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction" and Ed Catmulls (Co-founder of Pixar) "Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration" are books I greatly enjoyed.
Now I wanted to read something about the art of screenwriting and got "The Foundations of Screenwriting" by Syd Field. But although he seems to be considered a screenwriting guru, upon checking him out on IMDb he apparently didn't write a single movie script (he is listed as having written something for a short, an documentary and three episodes for a TV series)?
There exists a list on Wikipedia about "screenwriting gurus" but after looking them all up the only person who actually wrote successful scripts is William Goldman who won Oscars for "All the President's Men" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". I'll have a look at his book, but do you know any other good books about screenwriting from successful screenwriters?
They can be mixed with biography, instructional, personal ...
There exists a list on Wikipedia about "screenwriting gurus" but after looking them all up the only person who actually wrote successful scripts is William Goldman who won Oscars for "All the President's Men" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". I'll have a look at his book, but do you know any other good books about screenwriting from successful screenwriters?
They can be mixed with biography, instructional, personal ...
I really enjoyed "How to write Groundhog Day," by Danny Rubin. He was the original screenwriter and really goes into detail about his work process. The original script is also included.
posted by tooloudinhere at 6:40 AM on November 2, 2015
posted by tooloudinhere at 6:40 AM on November 2, 2015
The one I recommend most is Save the Cat. It's straightforward, and I really like the advice it gives.
posted by xingcat at 6:45 AM on November 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by xingcat at 6:45 AM on November 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Yeah, it's a weird situation. Save the Cat contains everything you need to know about the basic shape of a screenplay, and everything else you need to know can be learned from reading screenplays.
But I would personally say the best material on screenwriting right now is the podcast Scriptnotes, by John August and Craig Mazin (whose films you will actually recognize). I suspect someone somewhere has compiled a list of their most information-packed episodes, you may have to pay for some of the older ones (or you can buy their first 200 episodes on a flash drive), but they are worth it. Of additional value is that both of them are very involved in the Writer's Guild.
Second best material is a combo of The Black List and Go Into The Story.
The industry, and the very fickle tastes and trends of the industry, moves too fast for a book. Even the formatting rules are different from production to production (and anymore there are admin teams that will apply the final house format, so you really don't have to do anything other than follow the most basic tab/caps conventions for readability and know how to give someone a copy of your file).
All that aside, I keep hard and soft copies of Dan Harmon's Story Structure 101 on or near me at all times for all kinds of writing. It's the quickie introduction to his Conrad-based Hero's Journey formula and even if you don't use it in its recognizable format, it's damn handy to cross-check against.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:05 AM on November 2, 2015 [7 favorites]
But I would personally say the best material on screenwriting right now is the podcast Scriptnotes, by John August and Craig Mazin (whose films you will actually recognize). I suspect someone somewhere has compiled a list of their most information-packed episodes, you may have to pay for some of the older ones (or you can buy their first 200 episodes on a flash drive), but they are worth it. Of additional value is that both of them are very involved in the Writer's Guild.
Second best material is a combo of The Black List and Go Into The Story.
The industry, and the very fickle tastes and trends of the industry, moves too fast for a book. Even the formatting rules are different from production to production (and anymore there are admin teams that will apply the final house format, so you really don't have to do anything other than follow the most basic tab/caps conventions for readability and know how to give someone a copy of your file).
All that aside, I keep hard and soft copies of Dan Harmon's Story Structure 101 on or near me at all times for all kinds of writing. It's the quickie introduction to his Conrad-based Hero's Journey formula and even if you don't use it in its recognizable format, it's damn handy to cross-check against.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:05 AM on November 2, 2015 [7 favorites]
I enjoyed Teach Yourself Screenwriting but it did also ruin 95% of movies for me. It detailed structure and timing and subplots so vividly that I can now predict what's going to happen to the amazement of my friends. But for the other 5% it made me appreciate them that much more.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:33 AM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:33 AM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Writing for Fun and Profit by Robert Ben Garant & Thomas Lennon (The State, Reno 911, Night at the Museum) is actually a pretty useful book and funny too.
posted by cazoo at 7:57 AM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by cazoo at 7:57 AM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
From everything I have read, most of these authors are not people who have actually written scripts. You might be better off with youtube for that but they only offer short snippets (look at the bar along the side).
I'm reading Basics Filmmaking - Screenwriting and liking it. I don't know much about the author, though.
Into the Woods was written by John Yorke who worked for the BBC and was head of channel 4 drama if that's not too UK based for you. His book is about how we tell stories with specific detail about story structure which is relevant for screenwriters and I guess novelists too. A shit ton of screenwriters recommend it.
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 8:33 AM on November 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm reading Basics Filmmaking - Screenwriting and liking it. I don't know much about the author, though.
Into the Woods was written by John Yorke who worked for the BBC and was head of channel 4 drama if that's not too UK based for you. His book is about how we tell stories with specific detail about story structure which is relevant for screenwriters and I guess novelists too. A shit ton of screenwriters recommend it.
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 8:33 AM on November 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Robert Rodriguez' "Rebel Without a Crew"
posted by humboldt32 at 8:34 AM on November 2, 2015
posted by humboldt32 at 8:34 AM on November 2, 2015
Alexander Mackendrick's On Film-making is at least partly about writing.
posted by thetortoise at 10:41 AM on November 2, 2015
posted by thetortoise at 10:41 AM on November 2, 2015
Mark Axelrod's books on screenwriting are solid.
posted by culfinglin at 11:17 AM on November 2, 2015
posted by culfinglin at 11:17 AM on November 2, 2015
Something to remember is a lot of the best screenwriters do more work than they get credit for -- they might be hired as script doctors to fix other people's scripts, for example (say: Scarlet Johannson is really interested in a project and thus it's sure to get made, but the script isn't quite good enough. So you get a script doctor to fix it up by correcting story flaws or improving dialogue.) Depending on how much revision they do they might not actually get screen credit. They also might sell screenplays but which for some reason never actually get made into finished films.
My own favorite screenwriting book, even though it's aimed especially at comedy, is John Voorhaus's "Comic Toolbox." I had been taught a 30-point system for plots, and I liked that he managed to simplify it down to a 10-point system.
posted by Peregrine Pickle at 1:33 PM on November 2, 2015
My own favorite screenwriting book, even though it's aimed especially at comedy, is John Voorhaus's "Comic Toolbox." I had been taught a 30-point system for plots, and I liked that he managed to simplify it down to a 10-point system.
posted by Peregrine Pickle at 1:33 PM on November 2, 2015
William Goldman who won Oscars for "All the President's Men" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". I'll have a look at his book
Goldman's got two books on the topic, actually - Adventures in the Screen Trade (published 1982), and Which Lie Did I Tell? (published 2000). Both are fantastic.
You could also try John Irving's My Movie Business: A Memoir and Larry McMurtry's Hollywood: A Third Memoir.
IIRC, one interesting thing about all of these books is that in parts they examine the process and complications of the authors transforming their own previously published novels into screenplays.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:37 PM on November 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Goldman's got two books on the topic, actually - Adventures in the Screen Trade (published 1982), and Which Lie Did I Tell? (published 2000). Both are fantastic.
You could also try John Irving's My Movie Business: A Memoir and Larry McMurtry's Hollywood: A Third Memoir.
IIRC, one interesting thing about all of these books is that in parts they examine the process and complications of the authors transforming their own previously published novels into screenplays.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:37 PM on November 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
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Save the Cat by Blake Snyder is another generally well-regarded book on screenwriting.
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:38 AM on November 2, 2015