Screenwriting Resources FIRST

Screenwriting Resources FIRST: read as many scripts as you can get your hands on. Period. Find them online or in your film department library. Be voracious. Pay attention to how they achieve certain effects – introducing a character with an economy of words, creating a mood, making sure characters have distinct voices, or keeping the action moving, for example. Also, see how widely people’s styles vary; note what’s common (basic formatting*) but otherwise how few “rules” matter to working writers. You will read tons of so-called gurus setting out inviolable rules (like No voiceover! and Never say, “we see!”) that most working writers have the good sense to ignore. You should ignore them, too, and do what works best to make your movie jump off the page. (*Check out scripts by the Coen brothers or Stanley Kubrick for some unusual formatting choices. That said, we’re not Stanley Kubrick, so stick to basic formatting conventions.) Scriptnotes – website and podcast John August and Craig Mazin are A-list screenwriters who do a podcast called “Scriptnotes,” that is an absolute wealth of inside knowledge about screenwriting (not in the sense of “secret codes” but “valuable info from real pros”). You can subscribe on iTunes, and back episodes can be ordered through August’s website: http://johnaugust.com/ I listen every week and always learn something; it's just helpful hearing from other people who do what you do—like having a virtual writers' group. One especially helpful recurring feature is the “Three-Page Challenge,” where they analyze submissions of three-page snippets of scripts and give feedback. You can download and read the three-page samples before you listen; then see how your responses compare to theirs. (Their tastes often differ from each other’s and from mine, but their notes on craft are always spot-on.) You’d be surprised how much you can learn in three pages. Poke around the “Explore” section on his website (in the right-hand column on my screen, might be different on mobile) for tons of blog posts about screenwriting technique. He also has a webpage devoted exclusively to screenwriting Q&A: https://screenwriting.io/ Story structure: Most film and television stories follow some variation of a three-act structure. There are exceptions, of course—but 95% of screenwriting hews to this structure, so you need to become fluent in it. There are many screenwriting instructors who teach story structure, but these four are probably most often referenced: • Syd Field wrote SCREENPLAY: THE FOUNDATIONS OF SCREENWRITING. • Robert McKee wrote STORY and does virtual and in-person seminars. (He's the story guru who plays himself in a semi-self-parody in the movie, ADAPTATION.) • Blake Snyder wrote SAVE THE CAT. (Sadly, he died young a few years ago.) • Chris Vogler wrote THE WRITER’S JOURNEY, which adapts Joseph Campbell’s “hero’s journey” analysis to movie storytelling. Here are links: http://www.sydfield.com/ https://mckeestory.com/ http://www.amazon.com/Save- Last-Book-Screenwriting-Youll/ dp/1932907009 https://www.amazon.com/Writers-Journey-Mythic-Structure-3rd/dp/193290736X Field works least for me (he’s too prescriptive about exactly what page certain plot turns must appear on), but many people love him. Read McKee's book or listen to his audio CD and/or consider taking his seminar. Blake Snyder's book can be helpful by virtue of being simplistic in places: a little oversimplification helps cut through the mental clutter and remind you of what's really important in your story. And Vogler can point you to some deeper thinking about the primal forces at work in a great story, no matter the genre. The Black List The Black List used to be an informal list of development execs’ favorite scripts that hadn’t sold over the course of the year. It has now grown into an online service where writers can post scripts (for a fee), read the work of others, get professional feedback (again, for a fee— but this is one of the few above-board critique services), and possibly get “found.” https://blcklst.com/ WGA The Writers Guild has a website with tons of useful stuff, too. http://www.wga.org/ An oldie but goodie William Goldman is one of the absolute all-time best screenwriters who wrote classics across a number of genres—All the President’s Men, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, Misery, Marathon Man, and The Princess Bride (based on his own book), just to name a few. He’s an irascible crank who wrote an incredibly entertaining book called Adventures in the Screen Trade that really digs into not just his process but also the challenges, triumphs, and indignities of being a writer in Hollywood. Originally published in 1989, it’s still absolutely current and better than anything written since. https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Screen-Trade-Hollywood- Screenwriting/dp/0446391174 .

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