Subject Guide: Screenwriting

A leading Hollywood screenwriting instructor shows how to write a screenplay 10 minutes at a time. Practical and friendly, this book is primarily aimed at those writing around other responsibilities or another job.

The much-expanded successor to Aronson's internationally acclaimed Scriptwriting Updated, this book offers a comprehensive, highly practical manual of screenwriting from the classic to the avant-garde. Whether you want to write short films, features, adaptations, genre films, ensemble films, blockbusters or art house movies, this book takes you all the way from choosing the brilliant idea to plotting, writing and rewriting.

Using a large number of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales, via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, Booker shows that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling.

This book shows what to look out for in everyday speech, and how to apply dialogue in scripts for dramatic effect.

Syd Field is the forefather of the screenwriting how-to. Here the accomplished producer, lecturer and author has updated his classic guide for a new generation of filmmakers. From concept to character, from opening scene to finished script, this book is an easily understood guide to help aspiring screenwriters hone their craft.

Film and television writing is catching up with the diversity of the world we live in. Hay's excellent guide to characterisation gives writers the tools to create three dimensional, authentic characters who exist outside the categories that protagonists (and antagonists) have typically inhabited. Whether writing about different classes, races, religions, sexualities, abilities or genders, this book will help you get it right.

User-friendly Basic Training for People who Dream of Writing for Movies and Television
This is an introduction to screenwriting aimed at students and novice screenwriters. Filled with practical advice, it covers how to choose a theme, establish a central conflict and write a story that works as drama.

Calling on his unique perspective as playwright, screenwriter, and director of critically acclaimed movies, David Mamet illuminates how a film comes to be. He looks at every aspect of directing - from script to cutting room - to show how they achieve their prime objective: presenting a story that will be understood by the audience and has the power to be both surprising and inevitable at the same time.

In this must-read text, McKee expands on the concepts he teaches in his seminars, providing readers with the most comprehensive, integrated explanation of the craft of writing for the screen.

This is a key text for anyone interested in film. It provides invaluable and fascinating insight into the way the elements of a film - image, sound and story - are put together. Cherry Potter has used her extensive experience as a writer and film school teacher to provide a combination of analysis and inspiration.

In this book Ryan has condensed his popular workshops into a thought-provoking, step-by-step guide to vital screenwriting. Topics covered include finding a story, developing a pitch, preparing an outline, free-writing and crafting a great scene. Understand the essential value of character-driven screenplays, and learn realistic ways to get a finished screenplay noticed by the right people. The book concludes with an original screenplay by the author, annotated with scene-by-scene, character-by-character commentaries.

This 'how-to' guide, written by a leading script analysis specialist, lays bare the process of analysing film scripts. It also includes a full resource section listing useful print and online publications, organisations and associations.

Noted Hollywood script consultant Linda Seger analyses various elements of screenplays and gives advice on screenwriting in this definitive guide to editing and fine-tuning a script. See also the second edition's accompanying DVD.

Partly a how-to book, partly an exploration of this important topic, Writing Subtext explores all the underlying meanings that lie beneath the words, images, and actions in film, which are also applicable to any kind of fiction writing. Replete with examples from films, as well as examples from real life, Writing Subtext helps the writer figure out how to find and write subtext.

Blake Snyder tells all in this fast, funny and candid look inside the movie business. "Save the Cat" is just one of many ironclad rules for making your ideas more marketable and your script more satisfying. This ultimate insider's guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a showbiz veteran who's proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat.

In the perfect companion piece to his first book, Snyder delivers even more insider's information gleaned from a 20-year track record as one of Hollywood's most successful spec screenwriters, giving you the clues to write your movie. Designed for screenwriters, novelists, and movie fans, this book gives readers breakdowns of 50 movies from the past 30 years and reveals how screenwriters tackle storytelling challenges.

Inspired by questions from his workshops, lectures, and emails, Blake provides new tips, tactics and techniques to solve your writing problems and create stories that resonate. Topics include the difference between structure and formula, tracking your hero's growth, how to give any story a finale finish and more.

Christopher Vogler explores the powerful relationship between mythology and storytelling. Based on the seminal work by Joseph Campbell (the theorist behind the Hero's Journey), this book is a must-read for all writers interested in developing their craft.

"One can write anything as long as with every step forward (action or dialogue), we either learn something new about the character, or the story." One of Hollywood's premier screenwriting teachers shares the secrets of writing and selling successful scripts. This updated edition integrates Walter's lectures with principles from his other texts, and includes new advice on turning a raw idea into a great movie or TV script. Walter's writing approach stands in contrast to the strict structure of many classic screenwriting bibles.

Writing for the Screen is a collection of essays and interviews exploring the business of screenwriting. This highly accessible guide to working in film and television includes perspectives from writers and industry insiders on pitching; developing and nurturing business relationships; juggling multiple projects; and more. It answers hard questions that aspiring writers often ask but other screenwriting manuals avoid.

In this exciting and wholly original book, John Yorke not only shows that there is truly a unifying shape to narrative - one that echoes the great fairytale journey into the woods, and one, like any great art, that comes from deep within - he explains why, too.