screenwriting book recommendations

The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egry is a very, very useful read - it's not specific to screenwriting (actually written for playwrights) but for storytelling in general it's really worth reading.
 
I loved "The Art of Dramatic Writing" by Lajos Egri. I need to read it again it was so good. Another big help to me, in seeing the big picture, is Aristotle's Poetics.
 
It's been mentioned before, I know, but I have to say ... "Screenplay: The Foundations of Screen Writing" by Syd Field is an amazing book for both beginners and experts alike.
 
Sad Max said:
The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egry is a very, very useful read - it's not specific to screenwriting (actually written for playwrights) but for storytelling in general it's really worth reading.
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for a book from the 1940s it still one of the best.
 
EJ Pennypacker said:
A great book to me was Denny Flinns HOW NOT TO WRITE A SCREENPLAY (which is must-do reading for the newbies).

EJ
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I agree, and also a great book is by Ron Suppa "Stories from the trenches, the business of screenwriting"
 
Ted Spencers list is a good list...I followed through on some of those but i have to say that I learned more about writing by doing acting and script analysis classes at a theater school...when you see the differences between most of the screenplays around and plays written by the great american playwrights, you realize just how much more there is to know...America has been blessed with an array of influential, brilliant writers whose plays are sitting there for everyone to examine if they think in terms of story...Learning from screenplay books is not bad, it's just not sufficient training to make you an artist...and there is a discipline to being an artist...unless you do not view writing as an art. I do. I believe that it is the core of the film and in fact a movie is a story...it is just told in pictures...Learn from the greats and make it your biggest investment because no amount of technical know-how can save an anemic story. Edward Albee, Lanford Wilson, John Patrick Shanley, Tenessee Williams, David Mamet, Arthur Miller...the list goes on....you cannot learn to be a concert pianist or a sculptor or any other kind of artist by reading a few books...it takes years of discipline and study and practice...with that kind of investment needed, you may as well learn from the best...

[SIZE=+0]I commend the many of you who read so many books on the subject,...I think that those books really helped me see the difference in terms of adapting stories to a screenplay ...but the best stuff I learned in theater. I just wanted to share my experience...[/SIZE]

[SIZE=+0]Best to you all,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]Stan harrington,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]www.xristosproductions.com[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]www.igfdb.com[/SIZE]
 
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I don't dispute any of this but screenplay books have their place too...


stan harrington said:
Ted Spencers list is a good list...I followed through on some of those but i have to say that I learned more about writing by doing acting and script analysis classes at a theater school...when you see the differences between most of the screenplays around and plays written by the great american playwrights, you realize just how much more there is to know...America has been blessed with an array of influential, brilliant writers whose plays are sitting there for everyone to examine if they think in terms of story...Learning from screenplay books is not bad, it's just not sufficient training to make you an artist...and there is a discipline to being an artist...unless you do not view writing as an art. I do. I believe that it is the core of the film and in fact a movie is a story...it is just told in pictures...Learn from the greats and make it your biggest investment because no amount of technical know-how can save an anemic story. Edward Albee, Lanford Wilson, John Patrick Shanley, Tenessee Williams, David Mamet, Arthur Miller...the list goes on....you cannot learn to be a concert pianist or a sculptor or any other kind of artist by reading a few books...it takes years of discipline and study and practice...with that kind of investment needed, you may as well learn from the best...

[SIZE=+0]I commend the many of you who read so many books on the subject,...I think that those books really helped me see the difference in terms of adapting stories to a screenplay ...but the best stuff I learned in theater. I just wanted to share my experience...[/SIZE]

[SIZE=+0]Best to you all,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]Stan harrington,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]www.xristosproductions.com[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]www.igfdb.com[/SIZE]
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Blaine said:
I also enjoyed The Hero's 2 Journeys, a DVD by Michael Hauge and Christopher Vogler. I don't think I'd recommend it as a starting point, but after you've got the basics it will help with character development. You might want to read Campbell's The Hero With A Thousand Faces as a prelude to the DVD, too. Hell, even if you're not going to watch The Hero's 2 Journeys you should read The Hero With A Thousand Faces.
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I would say that for the advanced writer, this is the one MUST BOOK (yes get the book at first) to own. It would be the kind of book that would have you running back into your burning home to go fetch it.

It can't press enough just how important, educational, and how you'll write the perfect mythos/fantasy story if you follow it page by page. It really should be kept a secret. IMO, thank God for Joseph Campbell and Chris Voglers re-telling.

EJ
 
EJ Pennypacker said:
It would be the kind of book that would have you running back into your burning home to go fetch it.
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I'll just buy another copy, thank you...

EJ Pennypacker said:
It can't press enough just how important, educational, and how you'll write the perfect mythos/fantasy story if you follow it page by page. It really should be kept a secret. IMO, thank God for Joseph Campbell and Chris Voglers re-telling.
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Tell George Lucas - he should be thanking Campbell nightly, that he has a career...
 
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