Screenwriting For Dummies
by Laura Schellhardt
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Book Summary Information
Author: Laura SchellhardtForeword: John Logan
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-06-30
ISBN: 0470345403
Number of pages: 360
Publisher: For Dummies
Book Reviews of Screenwriting For Dummies
Book Review: A Decent Place to Start for Beginners... Could Have Been Better, Though
Summary: 3 Stars
This book is a fairly comprehensive guide to writing screenplays. You'll find tips on how to structure your screenplay, advice on how to craft compelling plots and deeper characters, instructions for formatting your script to industry standards, and finally a guide to marketing your script to Hollywood agents and producers. I was going to give this book 4 stars, but ultimately decided on 3 stars due to the author's unfortunate habit of using music metaphors to explain film industry techniques. There are two problems with this... 1) For a reader who has no experience as a composer or a performing orchestral musician, the author's use of one artform (music) to explain another (filmmaking) is completely useless as the analogy will not make any sense and only serve to further confuse the reader 2) In addition to being confusing for non-musicians, these analogies are infuriating to those of us who actually do understand music, because of the author's ignorance of the subject matter. This is most evident in one example (there are many others that I won't take the time to detail) where the author claims that a pause in dialogue is analogous to a grace note in music. She obviously has confused grace notes for rests. A grace note is a short note that precedes a written note, typically used to create an accent. A rest indicates one or more beats of silence. She is way off the mark here, and it makes her look more than a little foolish to those in the know. In summary, I would recommend this book as a starter for beginners, with a warning to ignore her attempts at analogy and focus in on those parts of the book where she explains things in a straight-forward and less colorful manner.
Summary of Screenwriting For Dummies
Write a great script and get it into the hands of the Hollywood players!So you want to be a screenwriter? Whether you want to write a feature film or a TV script or adapt your favorite book, this friendly guide gives you expert advice in everything from creating your story and developing memorable characters to formatting your script and selling it to the studios. You get savvy industry tips and strategies for getting your screenplay noticed!
- The screenwriting process from A to Z -- from developing a concept and thinking visually to plotline, conflicts, pacing, and the conclusion
- Craft living, breathing characters -- from creating the backstory to letting your characters speak to balancing dialogue with action
- Turn your story into a script -- from developing an outline and getting over writer's block to formatting your screenplay and handling rewrites
- Prepare for Hollywood -- from understanding the players and setting your expectations to polishing your copy and protecting your work
- Sell your script to the industry -- from preparing your pitch and finding an agent to meeting with executives and making a deal
Open the book and find:
- The latest on the biz, from entertainment blogs to top agents to box office jargon
- New story examples from recently released films
- Tips on character development, a story's time clock, dramatic structure, and dialogue
- New details on developing the nontraditional screenplay -- from musicals to animation to high dramatic style
- Expanded information on adaptation and collaboration, with examples from successful screenwriting duos
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