Does anyone have any recommendations on the "Short Film" form. I have a lot of these books that some of you already mentioned (Vogler, Snyder, McKee). All of these are GREAT for story and features, but I'm trying to find a good one that focuses on short film. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks!
Top 3 screenwriting books ?
- Thread starter Randall_Oelerich
- Start date
Jim Brennan
VHS Member Old Skool
Not specific to shorts, but the absolute, most practical book I have ever read is Your Screenplay Sucks. I've read dozens of books on screenwriting (including nearly all those mentioned here) and hundreds of screenplays. That's the only one that actually made a noticeable impact on my work.
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Story- Robert McKee- Some find him more useful than others.
You can get a glimpse of his style from a post last week under Robert McKee video interview in this section. Whoever posted the interview thank you.
Haven't touched any of the standard books in a very long time.
You can get a glimpse of his style from a post last week under Robert McKee video interview in this section. Whoever posted the interview thank you.
Haven't touched any of the standard books in a very long time.
Saw your post that you're working on a re-write... good luck, I look forward to reading it if the re-release breaks the sub-100 dollar range.
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Now I've only read a handful of books on film of any sort, but I'll have to disagree with the sentiment that McKee reads as insufferable, or too dense to be useful to a noob. Story was pretty much exactly the book I needed to read to get started, with a bit of confidence, on a couple short scripts. Trying to write creatively while following a textbook is probably a road bound for failure, but that doesn't necessarily mean they can't point you in the right general direction, armed with info on what the road signs mean. That's what I got out of it anyway, a kind of compass for a beginner.
Randall_Oelerich
Veteran
I just saw a few sellers of it (used) on Amazon, around $50, if anybody is interested. Bill's series of Blue Books, and audio CDs, are also very nice to have in one's arsenal, imho.
Yeah Bill, your book was great, I bought it for 80 bucks and sold it for 100
, I probably owe you 20.j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
Can we pay you directly for PDF's of the second edition? Well, when it exists...
j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
Well, the only script writing book I've seen as a product placement, is:
"Writing Screenplays That Sell", by Michael Hauge.
The train man for the LA metro soon to be enveloped in hot lava, is seen reading this book before he takes over as operator of the doomed vehicle, in "Volcano"(1997).
Ok, there may be others... but that one caught my attention...
"Writing Screenplays That Sell", by Michael Hauge.
The train man for the LA metro soon to be enveloped in hot lava, is seen reading this book before he takes over as operator of the doomed vehicle, in "Volcano"(1997).
Ok, there may be others... but that one caught my attention...
Hi, I'm new to the forum and have written my first screenplay which I just had copyrighted and although I've heard of many of the screenwriting books listed in this thread, this is the first time I'm hearing of THE HORROR GENRE. This is my fave genre and will check it out...thanks for the suggestion!
wcmartell
Well-known member
When the next edition comes out, it'll be normal priced.
And due to whatever deal I will make with the publisher, I don't think I will be able to sell pdfs... that danged Kindle thing has made electronic versions part of the publishing deal.
- Bill
lockpicture
New member
best book & best value
best book & best value
For script writers looking to submit scripts to agents/festivals/producers then
The Studio Reader, Agent, Development Producers 18 Red-Flags.
Available for download at www.scriptflags.com.
E.
best book & best value
For script writers looking to submit scripts to agents/festivals/producers then
The Studio Reader, Agent, Development Producers 18 Red-Flags.
Available for download at www.scriptflags.com.
E.
texvanwinkle
Well-known member
So Your Mama Loves It and Invisible Ink
So Your Mama Loves It and Invisible Ink
I read lots of books--Field, Seger, McKee, Campbell, and a number of others--the first few years I began writing scripts before realizing everything was starting to repeat. After that I stuck to reading scripts, interviews with actual screenwriters, and what actual screenwriters wrote on sites like wordplayer.com, artfulwriter.com, and johnaugust.com.
I found out a few years later I was wrong. Two books have come out in recent years--one is brand new--that have helped me vastly more, even after having written a number of scripts, than all the others combined.
The first isn't even available in book form anymore, only as an e-book from the author's website. The book is So Your Mama Loves It, at sheilagallien.com. Sheila worked as the personal story assistant to Bill Broyles, Jr.--the writer of Apollo 13, Cast Away, and Entrapment, among others--for several years, helping him develop those very scripts, and her experience in the trenches with him is apparent. McKee's story is a good companion to it in discussing theory and story design, but between the two, I found Sheila's more immediately helpful in actually developing a story.
The second book is strictly about story design, which I've found is actually my--and I think most striving screenwriters'--weakest link. The book is Invisible Ink by Brian McDonald, who was brought in by those oh-so-terrible story designers at PIXAR, of all places, to give them pointers on how to create a good story. Any guy who can wrangle the kind of blurb out of Andrew Stanton that McDonald has is someone I'm going to read without delay.
I'm glad I did. His process--which is head-smacking close to something I developed for myself a couple of years ago, but just not quite far enough--jumpstarted a script I'd been struggling to rewrite for years. It is SIMPLE. Which is what is so frustrating about so many of these books on writing and story. They make it seem so damn complicated, and that's what's thrown me off too many times. I realized a few years ago that story design is as simple as "Once upon a time," and stepping through the simplest steps of the simplest story. McDonald's steps just happen to be even simpler than mine, and his explication of those steps is both funny and spot-on. You *will not* regret reading his book, or reading his blog. No, I have no relation to the guy whatsoever. I'm just that enthusiastic about his approach.
You can read the entire book FOR FREE here. (Though I'm sure he'd appreciate a donation to the website, or your buying the book through Amazon, which is what I did.)
Those two books plus Story--I like McKee's discussion of the "controlling idea" (though McDonald's makes more immediate sense)--and maybe The Art of Adaption by Seger, are all the books I think a person ought to need. Beyond that, all you really need is a bunch of great scripts, though I've found reading outside the screenwriting discipline--books on directing and acting, to get a view of the script from those points of view--has been extremely helpful as well.
So Your Mama Loves It and Invisible Ink
I read lots of books--Field, Seger, McKee, Campbell, and a number of others--the first few years I began writing scripts before realizing everything was starting to repeat. After that I stuck to reading scripts, interviews with actual screenwriters, and what actual screenwriters wrote on sites like wordplayer.com, artfulwriter.com, and johnaugust.com.
I found out a few years later I was wrong. Two books have come out in recent years--one is brand new--that have helped me vastly more, even after having written a number of scripts, than all the others combined.
The first isn't even available in book form anymore, only as an e-book from the author's website. The book is So Your Mama Loves It, at sheilagallien.com. Sheila worked as the personal story assistant to Bill Broyles, Jr.--the writer of Apollo 13, Cast Away, and Entrapment, among others--for several years, helping him develop those very scripts, and her experience in the trenches with him is apparent. McKee's story is a good companion to it in discussing theory and story design, but between the two, I found Sheila's more immediately helpful in actually developing a story.
The second book is strictly about story design, which I've found is actually my--and I think most striving screenwriters'--weakest link. The book is Invisible Ink by Brian McDonald, who was brought in by those oh-so-terrible story designers at PIXAR, of all places, to give them pointers on how to create a good story. Any guy who can wrangle the kind of blurb out of Andrew Stanton that McDonald has is someone I'm going to read without delay.
I'm glad I did. His process--which is head-smacking close to something I developed for myself a couple of years ago, but just not quite far enough--jumpstarted a script I'd been struggling to rewrite for years. It is SIMPLE. Which is what is so frustrating about so many of these books on writing and story. They make it seem so damn complicated, and that's what's thrown me off too many times. I realized a few years ago that story design is as simple as "Once upon a time," and stepping through the simplest steps of the simplest story. McDonald's steps just happen to be even simpler than mine, and his explication of those steps is both funny and spot-on. You *will not* regret reading his book, or reading his blog. No, I have no relation to the guy whatsoever. I'm just that enthusiastic about his approach.
You can read the entire book FOR FREE here. (Though I'm sure he'd appreciate a donation to the website, or your buying the book through Amazon, which is what I did.)
Those two books plus Story--I like McKee's discussion of the "controlling idea" (though McDonald's makes more immediate sense)--and maybe The Art of Adaption by Seger, are all the books I think a person ought to need. Beyond that, all you really need is a bunch of great scripts, though I've found reading outside the screenwriting discipline--books on directing and acting, to get a view of the script from those points of view--has been extremely helpful as well.
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Nektonic
Veteran
Thanks for the recommendations texvanwinkle. Both of those books sound like ones I not only want to, but need to read.
As for books on screenwriting, I just recently read one called The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters, but Karl Iglesias. If you're not familiar with Karl, he also wrote the wonderfully helpful Writing For Emotional Impact.
101 Habits is good in that it really helps give an idea of the type of methodology a pro screenwriter uses. It has really opened my eyes on how you need to not only seriously structure you story, but your writing schedule and writing life as well.
I highly recommend it, unless you are already a working writer with a successful methodology of your own.
As for books on screenwriting, I just recently read one called The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters, but Karl Iglesias. If you're not familiar with Karl, he also wrote the wonderfully helpful Writing For Emotional Impact.
101 Habits is good in that it really helps give an idea of the type of methodology a pro screenwriter uses. It has really opened my eyes on how you need to not only seriously structure you story, but your writing schedule and writing life as well.
I highly recommend it, unless you are already a working writer with a successful methodology of your own.
azharrison
Active member
Where is a good site to find screenplays? I like your method.