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 Read more

Reviews (142)

By far the best book on the subject
I don't have much to add to what has been written about this remarkable book, except to say that McKee has more brains and more common sense than any writer I've seen on the subject.He spells out principles rather than rules, shows how they apply equally to a Hollywood blockbuster and a Bergman film, and most remarkably explains how things that appear to be exceptions to these principles are in fact, not.Start your reading on the subject here; everything else is just a footnote.

Robert McKee is Truly a Master of His Craft
'Story' has helped me immensely. This book is to all writers what Stephen King's book ("On Writing") is to novelists.
Great book on screenwriting, great presentation
I am a writer, not a screenwriter but found this book, that was recommended by a friend, to be outstanding for writers as well. The author takes you step by step, in incredible, logical detail, through the process of communicating and screenwriting. The concepts he uses, the style, it is all very easy to understand and while it takes a will to read it, an interest in the craft but it is well worth the read if you're interested in the topic. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    3. Film & Video - Screenwriting    4. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    5. Motion picture authorship    6. Motion picture plays    7. Performing Arts    8. Screenwriting    9. Technique    10. Creative writing guides    11. Performing Arts / Film / Screenwriting   

Editorial Review

At the beginning of Read more

Reviews (75)

terrific book
This is a terrific book - I read the original memo years ago thatVogler then went on to base the book on. I require my beginning writing students to read it!
Fantastic summary
I loved this book!
Telling a story
I learn over and over that writing fiction is mostly about telling a story. Fortunately for us, some really smart people have put a lot of thought into what makes a story "good." I highly recommend this book. It's worth the time and money you will put into it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - General    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    3. Creative writing    4. Film & Video - Screenwriting    5. Language    6. Language Arts & Disciplines    7. Motion picture authorship    8. Myth in literature    9. Mythology in literature    10. Narration (Rhetoric)    11. Reference    12. Writing Skills    13. Approved List/Classroom Adoption    14. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing    15. Performing Arts/Film & Video - Screenwriting    16. Reference / Writing Skills    17. Reference/Writing Skills    18. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (10)

. . . and Hamlet too.
I agreee wholeheartedly with those below. But Mr Ball is not merely a theorist, he supplies a chapter in which he takes us on a brief journey backward through Hamlet for a distance, and through this method shows how single and specific Hamlet's action is. I can't approach a script now without setting up my dominoes and charting it backward. It seemes foolish not to.

Required reading for anyone working on the stage!!
I had a conversation yesterday in which the other theatre artist asked what approach this book advocated to script analysis:
Valuable advice
The scope of BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS is narrow, but its ambition is important.This is a book about how to read a play.More specifically, it's about how to read a play whose production you are planning.There are 96 pages in this book and many of them are only partially filled.Some of them are blank.So in very few pages, author David Ball gives some valuable and(I would say, essential) advice.So many bad productions are bad simply because of a basic misreading of the script.Ball tells prospective directors what's important and how to recognize what's important.His advice is very straightforward and concise.He does not pad the book by going off on tangents or use long anecdotes to illustrate a point.He makes a point and then moves on to the next one.I think this book should be compulsory reading for the director, but it is also valuable to the playwright, the actor and the designer.This book is basic.There is a great need to get back to basics.David Ball has done the theatre a great service by writing this valuable book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    2. Drama    3. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    4. Oral Interpretation    5. Performing Arts    6. Performing Arts/Dance    7. Production and direction    8. Shakespeare, William,    9. Technique    10. Theater    11. Theater - Direction & Production    12. Acting techniques    13. Hamlet    14. Plays & playwrights    15. Shakespeare, William   

Reviews (14)

Good deal
The book has been delivered brand new, in time. The contents of the book are above expectations and live upto to the reviews.
there are better books on characterization
Unlike her book, Making a Good Script Great, this book is disappointing.Creating characters involves: "getting the first idea..., creating the first broad strokes, finding the core of the character...finding the paradoxes within the character..., adding emotions, attitudes, and values, adding details to make the character specific and unique" (p.23).These steps are then elaborated in separate chapters (although the elaboration consists mostly of extended examples of films most people--those who actually saw the films--would consider to be mixed bags at best, long series of autobiographical paragraphs, and extended quotes from screenwriters ruminating about their experiences in writing this or that character).Seldom is information actually added to that already given on page 23.
Finally, Good Characters
Before I read this book, I have to admit - my characters were all pretty lame. Then, hey, I read this book, and boom! Ok, so they still need work, but this book made me understand how to keep characters exotic, good, and believable.
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Subjects:  1. Characters and characteristics    2. Characters and characteristics in literature    3. Composition & Creative Writing - Fiction    4. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    5. Drama    6. Fiction    7. General    8. Motion picture plays    9. Reference    10. Technique    11. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (15)

What's Wrong With Easy Answers?
We tend to make esoteric things harder than they are. But the art of writing is really very Zen-like: You get to a point where you realize you were making things needlessly difficult.
An okay read but nothing great
Has some useful information in it, but most of it seemed like commonsense.
The best
The most profound book I've ever read on writing. This idea that writing is all about evoking emotions gets to the heart of the matter. Once you get past basic grammar and things like that, the real craft is how to put together your stories in a purposeful way to evoke a given set of emotions. Absolutely outstanding in every way. Not just for screenwriting even though that's his area. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    2. Composition & Creative Writing - General    3. Emotions    4. Film & Video - Screenwriting    5. Language    6. Language Arts & Disciplines    7. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    8. Motion picture authorship    9. Psychology-Emotions   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (56)

Entertaining overview of the things most new screenwriters do wrong
Flinn has a sense of humor. That is the first thing one notices while reading his book, and that's the one thing that makes it stand out.
Excellent workbook
So happy I purchased this before starting my screenplay so I didn't have to do endless edits.
Okay, Okay
This is a book that could have been a long article, or two. But those article would have been interesting. I found the book getting very repetitive in the last half, when we started getting the same material over and over again. But the notions is good: that you need short scenes, with a whammy.
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Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    2. Film & Video - Screenwriting    3. General    4. Motion picture authorship    5. Motion picture plays    6. Performing Arts    7. Performing Arts/Dance    8. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    9. Screenwriting    10. Technique    11. Television authorship    12. Television plays    13. Creative writing guides    14. Films, cinema    15. Rhetoric   

Reviews (60)

Polish Your Hollywood Star
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.
Helpful
This book offers some good insight. This 'is' about "Making a Good Script Great" as the title says, so it's not for someone looking for a starting guide. For those people, I would reccomend "Lew Hunters Screenwriting 101."
the publisher doesn't want to deal with you
The book is good, but the publisher is a horror for educators to deal with.(ex: requests for desk copies are met with a reply that amounts to 'buzz off') ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    2. Film & Video - Screenwriting    3. Motion picture authorship    4. Performing Arts    5. Performing Arts/Dance    6. Reference    7. Screenwriting    8. Television - Screenwriting    9. Rhetoric    10. Writing & editing guides   

Editorial Review

Christopher Vogler has served as a studio folklore specialist, and here comes up with a book that is, in one regard, much like the screenplays it seeks to strengthen: it's derived from other sources! An acknowledged distillation of, and meditation on, the work of Joseph Campbell, Read more

Reviews (14)

Great Book!
This book's a bit controversial among established writers, and I know wonderful and successful writers on both sides of this fence. It seems you either "get" this book and can use it, or you don't. Personally, I love it. But then, I love movies and plotting and dissecting stories to figure out why they work or don't work. You have to decide for yourself.

A Journey Worth Taking
Christopher Vogler's "The Writer's Journey" is an open corridor to superb characterization. In preparing to write either your novel or screenplay, Vogler's vivid descriptions of the most common archetypes are truly indispensable and useful. Every fiction writer owes it to him or herself to be mindful of the qualities that each archetype possesses. My mind has been opened by studying the different characteristics of the Hero, the Shadow, the Mentor, the Threshold Guardian, the Herald, the Shapeshifter and the Trickster. Vogler describes each one's dramatic function as well as their psychological function. After teaching us the merits and peculiarity of the character, Vogler exhibits his own unique dramatization of Joseph Campbell's work. The Writer's Journey gives the writer a chance to develop a story to its fullest potential. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have started to employ its direction in my own fiction writing. It will not only change the way we view our characters' and their prospective journeys but it will also help us to see some of their characteristics in our own lives. This is a great book. Every novelist and screenwriter must have The Writer's Journey. Kudos!!

Bases on the work of Joseph Campbell
This is Christopher Vogler's interpretation of Mystic Structures for Storytellers & Screenwriters.Read more

Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Cinema/Film: Book    3. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    4. Creative writing    5. Film - Screenwriting    6. Motion picture authorship    7. Myth in literature    8. Narration (Rhetoric)    9. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    10. Screenwriting    11. Writing & editing guides   

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. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Perhaps a bit simplistic- but if it helps you, "Good Luck"
I bought and read this book at the time I thought I might be interested in writing screenplays. I still have not written one.
good book
I had to use this book in a screen writing class I took! Simply put it gives one a very good formular to making a script! If it's a good script or not reflects on your characters, etc etc. However, if you follow there recipe then 70% of the work is already completed!

The First 10 Pages, the Sequel
Most of the discussion about Syd Field's books on screenwriting focus on his paradigm.Some people swear by it.Some people swear at it.
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Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    2. General    3. Motion picture authorship    4. Motion picture plays    5. Performing Arts    6. Reference    7. Technique    8. Writing Skills    9. Reference / Writing Skills    10. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (3)

A Collection Of 48 Important Plays
This book remains first and foremost the most comprehensive anthology available: a collection of 48 important plays that have shaped dramatic literature from the time of the early Greek dramatists to the present.
Not quite good enough
The Bedford Introduction To Drama, in its Fourth edition, has a number of virtues.Much of the selection is good, the illustrations are good and often helpful, and the introductions to each period and to individual plays are often very good. Of course, some of them are predictable: it would be nice to see some exciting Strindberg for a change;Miss Julie is really getting weary. However, it is when when we reach the second half of the Twentieth century that the quality breaks down.We find the same tired list of plays chosen for their political correctness: something on race, something for feminists, etc, etc, with very litte convincing attention paid to what has actually happened in the theatre, viewed either from the point of view of box officee appeal (which was a good enough criterion for Shakespeare), or what is likely to be historically influential. A major exception is Mamet's OLEANNA, guaranteed to stir disagreement and excitement in the classroom as it does in the theatre. Each reader will find other exceptions, but the predictability and tedium of the modern selection is disappointing. This text is widely used in classrooms, incuding my own, because there is no satisfactory alternative, but as a text for modern theatre it's a failure, and it's VERY expensive for a student's budget.

Excellent Anthology For Theatre Students
The Bedford Drama book and The third edition are wonderful additions to classroom settings in teaching theatre.Covering all major genre and many of the "important" dramitist, anyone can find a play in this book to teach or enjoy. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthologies (multiple authors)    2. Collections    3. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    4. Drama    5. History and criticism    6. Plays    7. Plays / Drama    8. Drama / Anthologies (multiple authors)   

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: Read more

Reviews (20)

The truth you need to hear before pursuing your dreams
I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Iglesias at the Screenwriting Expo. He knows his craft, he loves the business. And he's brutally honest in conveying the realistic odds of breaking into Hollywood. While no one ever says it's easy, he can tell you just how hard. This book is a must read for any aspiring screenwriter. Interviewing some of the greatest screenwriters, they all are forthcoming in telling their own tales of struggle, achievement, success, and most of them, frustration.
Yes, I am tired of reading old reviews on Screenwriting Books too.
I always find it frustrating when I go to Amazon and look at the reviews that are posted and find that they are at least 2 to 3 years old. So I decided to at least make a more up-to-date review.
A Must Have For Aspriring Screenwriters
This is one of thost books that you absolutely must read if you are an aspiring screenwriter.It's a goldmine of quality information to help you go from being a decent or lousy writer to a great one.Fourteen of Hollywood's most successful screenwriters share their secrets and tips to writing and selling your scripts to Hollywood.It's like getting private lessons from the pro's.Don't pass this book up, it will make a big difference in your writing career. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    2. Film & Video - Screenwriting    3. Interviews    4. Motion picture authorship    5. Performing Arts    6. Performing Arts/Dance    7. Reference    8. Screenwriters    9. Television - Screenwriting    10. United States    11. Biography: film, television & music    12. Creative writing guides    13. Films, cinema    14. Reference works    15. Television   

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. ... Read more

Reviews (34)

Useful book if you're seeking the discipline to get your script finished
Following the steps outlined in King's book won't guarantee you'll end up with a ready-to-sell script in 21 days, but it will give you a shot at finding the discipline to get your idea on paper and the tools to develop it into something worthwhile.
How to Write a ROUGH DRAFT of a Movie in 21 Days
I've used this book not only to write screenplays (one of which I sold for a very nice sum) but also to write a novel.This book contains a lot of information, and you honestly don't need to (and shouldn't) follow all of it.But, if you need something to get you started and to at least get you to that point where you have a rough, tangible manuscipt in your hands, this is a good book to get you there.
Don't read the beginning or the end.
This author actually believes that she can tell you all about your life just by what age you are and she can predict what kind of story you will write, just by knowing your age.Wrong!There is also an entire section telling to basically quit your job, ignore your loved ones and devote yourself fully to becoming a millionare writing in Hollywood (which in reality, most of you will never make a penny doing).This book is entirely unrealistic, but not because of the premise of the title.
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Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    3. General    4. Motion picture authorship    5. Motion picture plays    6. Psychological aspects    7. Reference    8. Technique    9. Performing Arts / Film / Screenwriting    10. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (10)

Read it Thrice
"A Brief History of Time" for scriptwriters.
Finally, somebody who knows what they're talking about!
Whenever I am about to buy a 'how to write' book, I first look at the bio to see what the writer has actually done.Just about every 'how-to' is written by a 'haven't-done-much.'Cynthia Whitcomb's professional experience is far and away the most.
Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay
As an old writer who is new to the field of screemwriting, I have found the industry full of mystery when attempting to write a screenplay.Cynthia's book takes away a lot of the confusion and worry by succinctly explaining terms, giving multiple clear-cut examples, and laying out the entire process so that rookies can learn the basics, and experienced writers can get a quick review from an entertaining source.I am sincerely hoping Cynthia plans to write a similar book in the future with regards to publishing hints! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    2. Film & Video - Screenwriting    3. Motion picture authorship    4. Performing Arts    5. Performing Arts/Dance    6. Reference    7. Television authorship   

Reviews (6)

Get It.Now.Now!
Like many people who aspire to be working writers, I've sunk a lot of money into books intended to make me better at my desired field.Maybe you have, too.If you have, you know there are three things no writing book will ever give you. Go for it all!
This book will teach you the proper format but it talks a lot about writing One-Act plays not feature lenghts. Hey I never wrote a play in my life and I created a feature length play that made my professor very proud.Don't let this book limit your creativity by all the talk about One-Acts;Reach out for the stars. But, this book will help you with your formattingand it will help you out with the business side of it too. A keeper forplaywrights.

A map and pathfinder through the woods
I didn't think you could learn playwriting from a book."A book is going to give rules, but I'm sodifferent I make my own," I thought. Wrong-o!Now that I finally took advice and read this book I wish I hadnot been so stubborn and wasted all that time. It's like I had beenwandering in a huge forest and then along comes this book to be guide andcompass and map and path finder.Now, finally, I see what directors meantwhen they said those early plays needed a stronger sense of theater. I'vejust had my first production and this book was a major player in getting methere.This is my first "thank you note" to its author. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    3. Do-It-Yourself    4. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    5. Performing Arts / Theater / Playwriting    6. Playwriting    7. Creative Writing    8. Theater - Playwriting   

Reviews (8)

If you're mired down in your own play, script, or novel
I checked this book out from the library, but now I must buy my own copy to keep. I've been having problems developing second act story complications without completely deconstructing my original set up and concept. The suggested techniques in this book of asking questions --somewhat like a reporter or investigator would in uncovering a life mystery-- to find the story are unique. I actually found myself with pen and paper WANTING to participate in the questions and exercises. No other manual has inspired me this way.

The Playwriting Text to Buy
Jeffrey Hatcher's book is not perfect, but that's not why I gave it five stars.Simply put, it's a good book to tell you the stuff you'll then learn on your own by trial and error. Dramaturg says:one of the best around!
I work as a literary manager in a professional theatre with a strong new play development program-- working with playwrights is my life's work.Read more

Subjects:  1. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    3. Creative writing guides    4. English    5. Reference    6. Writing Skills   

Reviews (19)

This is a great book for screenwriters!
I read this book about ten years ago when I was an aspiring screenwriter.I am now able to make a living at screenwriting and I have to say that I have used Michael Hauge's book as a guide for nearly everything I've written.It has become my Bible of Screenwriting.
Best screenwriting book ever
I have used this book to craft all of my screenplays including my latest film, The Indie Pendant.It gives anyone of any talent or experience insightful tips on writing sellable screenplays. . .because there are not many out there.This book also gave me a lot of info so I could start my own radio show, The Indie Film Hour, on World Talk Radio.com.www.vdefilms.com

The best first book on screenwriting you should read!
Michael Hauge is one of the top screenwriting consultants in Hollywood. If you're interested in becoming a screenwriter or just curious about the process professional Hollywood screenwriters go through, this is the book for you. It's considered an industry standard by many of the top film schools in New York & L.A. In clear and simple language, Hauge lays out the basic fundamentals of screenwriting. This is a great book for both the novice screenwriter as well as the working professional looking to reacquaint themselves with the fundamentals of screenwriting. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    2. Film & Video - Screenwriting    3. General    4. Motion picture authorship    5. Motion picture plays    6. Reference    7. Screenwriting    8. Technique    9. Television authorship    10. Television plays    11. Films, cinema    12. Language Arts & Disciplines / General    13. Television    14. Writing & editing guides   

Subjects:  1. Acting    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    3. Drama    4. Explication    5. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    6. Performing Arts    7. Performing Arts/Dance    8. Television - Direction & Production    9. Theater - Direction & Production    10. Theater - General    11. Performing Arts / Television / Direction & Production    12. Plays & playwrights    13. Technical & background skills    14. Theatre, drama   

Reviews (3)

If you are planning on ever working in television, read this book.
I read this book to help prepare me for what I would never know going into a writers room , or p