I have a new library of screenwriting books- what order should I read them In?

K

KOHR

Well-known member
Instead of using my paycheck to buy another piece of fancy equipment or film making gadget, I decided to spend the money where it would help me the most-- in improving my story crafting abilities. I recently invested in a decent collection of educational screen writing books, because I found that if there is any part of film making I am seriously lacking in, it is in story and screenplay. While I know that simply reading through these books won't automatically make me some sort of professional screenwriter, I do hope to learn some valuable tips and info from each one. Anyway, heres the list of books I've recently purchased...

Save the Cat!
Story
Screenplay
A Hero with a Thousand Faces
How Not to Write a Screenplay
(yeah I basically bought every book I've heard mentioned)

Now, my only question left is-- Which order should I read them in? I've heard many people say that you should start with Screenplay or Save the Cat! and finish with Story... why is this? I want to get the most out of these books and I'd like to approach this large amount of text with some sort of order. I figure that it would be a good idea to start with the most basic one, and then finish with How Not to Write a Screenplay, as to remind myself of any issues before I actually start my next feature script. Thanks! :thumbup:
 
Of those, I'd put Screenplay first, because it's the most mechanical and simplistic of the bunch. I also think it's the one with the least real-world applicability, but -- you've got to walk before you can run, and Screenplay can be quite an eye-opener into the underlying structure of the traditional feature film. It's just that the other books can improve substantially on the initial steps that Syd Field lays out.

Next I'd go into Hero with a Thousand Faces, which lays out a lot of the psychological underpinnings of mythic story structure and why it holds such fascination for us. Whether you fully agree with it or not, it sure is interesting.

I'd then finish up with McKee's Story. Story is huge, and it really tries to bring the other two together. Learn the mechanics of basic story structure from Field, the spiritual/psychological elements of the how and why of mythic story structure from Campbell, and then put it all together to learn how to write a powerful story from McKee.

I've got Save the Cat and haven't read it yet. Don't have a recommendation on How Not to Write a Screenplay.
 
Barry_Green said:
Of those, I'd put Screenplay first, because it's the most mechanical and simplistic of the bunch. I also think it's the one with the least real-world applicability, but -- you've got to walk before you can run, and Screenplay can be quite an eye-opener into the underlying structure of the traditional feature film. It's just that the other books can improve substantially on the initial steps that Syd Field lays out.

Next I'd go into Hero with a Thousand Faces, which lays out a lot of the psychological underpinnings of mythic story structure and why it holds such fascination for us. Whether you fully agree with it or not, it sure is interesting.

I'd then finish up with McKee's Story. Story is huge, and it really tries to bring the other two together. Learn the mechanics of basic story structure from Field, the spiritual/psychological elements of the how and why of mythic story structure from Campbell, and then put it all together to learn how to write a powerful story from McKee.

I've got Save the Cat and haven't read it yet. Don't have a recommendation on How Not to Write a Screenplay.
Click to expand...

Great! Thanks for the advice. Thats exactly what I needed to know. I can't wait to get to story, despite the fact that I always hear how dense it is-- I just know that I'm going to learn so much from it. Thanks again :)
 
It depends where you are as a writer and what are you looking to get out of these types of books. Are you looking for an education on structure, or nuts-and-bolts writing, premise, etc? And what level are you at?

EJ
 
Story, why = basic structure
Save the cat, why = how to bring the structure to life
Story, = the inner workings
Hero w/1000 faces = the mythic side
etc...

The best book is The Screenwriters Bible by Trottier, you could just read this and it'd cover the others fairly well and get your formatting chops in place aswell.
 
I am reading the link.

Besides that...Does anyone have any hands on experience with "Dramatica" pros & cons of it? Care to share?



Dogday.
 
Last edited:
After you've read about story structure, creating compelling stories, characters etc. I would suggest "The Hollywood Standard" by Christopher Riley. It breaks down all the nuts and bolts of how to really format your screenplay.

The proper format for scene headings, when and what to capitilize, transitions, dialogue etc.

Then when you're ready to write, enter a DVXuser scriptfest. You'll get a lot of valuable feedback from members.

Read a lot of screenplays!!

heres a link to screenplays you can read online,

http://www.simplyscripts.com/genre/
 
Last edited:
DogDay said:
I am reading the link.

Besides that...Does anyone have any hands on experience with "Dramatica" pros & cons of it? Care to share?



Dogday.
Click to expand...

I'll sell you and old copy....

Could be me... but I just sit down and write.... make it up as I go along...

Kinda like this style after reading Viki King's "How to Write a Movie in 21 Days". forgot to post that earlier...

First draft write with your heart... second draft... write with your head and fix all the holes... then draft after draft of more heart and fixes....

But who knows maybe that's why I only work as a producer... :laugh:

or does a sold but unproduced script count as a writing credit... most say it has to be produced...
 
I don't own Dramatica so the only bit of info I have on it is in that article. I simply asked Chris (he wrote the article and developed Dramatica) if I could post his article on my site.

Reading scripts is a great way to learn as mentioned earlier.

www.script-o-rama.com is also a great source of scripts.
 
I hate to throw a monkey wrench into your plan, but while I've read all the books on your list and I'd recommend them, I'd suggest you start with a different one: "The Screenwriter's Bible" by David Trottier.

Then I'd read:

Story
Screenplay
Hero
Save The Cat

'Bible' comes first because it's the most well constructed "all in one" book of the lot. You'll find similar material in all of them, but as others have said (notably Dov Simens), if you're only going to read one, read 'Bible'.

While you're at it, I'd give Dara Marks' "Inside Story" my highest recommendation too. Along with 'Story' I think it's the best of the non basic-nuts-and-bolts screenwriting books I've ever read, and it covers theme and character arc, two enormously important considerations, better than any but "Hero", which is not really a screenwriting book at all.

I'm about to read Marks' book for a second time. It's the only one that I've ever felt so strongly about to do that.
 
not to throw another wrench into the works but i suggest you read "screenplay" and "man with a thousand faces", forgo the rest and just read a daily regiment of screenplays dissecting them as you go along.

when i was first starting out. i read all the how-to books. maybe two dozen in all. certainly all the ones mentioned here. and what i found is that they're all saying pretty much the same things. if you're lucky they'll say them in different ways. the whole thing gets redundant fast if you've been paying any attention.
 
Read them all in whatever order you want. In the end you will find yourself going to read that one book that means most to you. I would implore you to hook up with a screenwriter in the beginning and see how they put things together, maybe help you write a short film Start small.
 
I would read Screenplay first, Story second... and then I would take McKees Story Seminar. If you want to read the rest after that feel free... but those are the only 2 I would say are must reads.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top