Your screenplay sucks! (book)

Randall_Oelerich

Randall_Oelerich

Veteran
Just got a copy of Your Screenplay Sucks! 100 Ways to Make it Great by william akers (who has had 3 feature films screenplays produced). Read the first 25 checklist points this morning. Seems like a really good read thus far. Anybody else read this book and have comments on it?
 
Read it in March 2009. Liked it overall.

Has a lot of good information--buckets and buckets--and can be used as a giant checklist to better your script. Much of it you know already but it's nice to have it all in one place.
 
Sigh... looks like I'm about to lose more cash to that insatiable beast known as Amazon...

I'm finally reading Vogler's The Writer's Journey now, and I'll put this one on my short list.
 
Not that I doubt you, but why should I buy a book from someone that has sold only 3 SP's, and over how long? Are Indies and shorts being counted? If so, hell, a lot of writers here have that credit. I could write shorts all day and sell them dirt cheap, then have the same "clout".

Look, I learned long ago, that just because you see their book in a book store, it doesn't mean sh*@. I could write a book tomorrow, and if the editors like it (which is where it really needs to be sold) it is published and pushed on the market. A bit more info is needed if you are endorsing the book. Did he write three award-winning SP's? Or SP's of note? That makes things different. Tell us why the book is good, what makes it different from other books. That is what I want to hear.

Let's hear from more readers of the book. If it is as good as stated by those have read it, I will find/buy. But so far only two other endorsements, one just an "overall" good. I am not slamming the author, far from it, I just want more info as to why it is good from you and others. If you are going to endorse it, tell me why and what really made you buy it.
 
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I just finished the book last week and while it's fantastic, I wouldn't really recommend it until you've either written an actual screenplay or read a book about proper screenwriting formatting, etc.

It does end on a downer, but I think it has a subliminal message to not give up.

Plus some of the information is outdated. Akers (the author) mentions that Madeline Stowe tried to get a directing gig for her script and failed, but now she's finally directing it.
 
As far as film writing is concerned, the "Writer's Bootcamp" was the last type of book I will ever need to get a story started.

I found so many books just padded with the same information over and over again. "Writer's Bootcamp" gave me those last components I needed and was even able to pitch to a CAA talent agent off the cuff because I knew how to spit out a premise line.
 
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I'm in the process of reading this right now. I like it a lot. Author's credits and clout aside, I find it a valuable resource.

Akers deconstructs script components as objectively as any one person can. Notwithstanding that every writer -- and reader for that matter -- has different idiosyncrasies and styles, Akers "100 ways" are questions you should ask yourself about your work when you're editing. i.e. Am I doing this? If I made a change, would the character / action / dialog / plot / whatever improve?

I think you'll all agree that no book will -- in and of itself -- ensure you produce salable work but Akers does a tremendous job of offering tools that -- if you utilize them -- allow you to produce better work.
 
Read it a few months back. One of the better screenwriting books no doubt. I enjoyed seeing the corrections on the class papers and his own.
 
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