Screenwriting for Dummies

Rating:
Summary: Very Thorough
Review: Laura Schellhardt, author of the book, spells it all out. I am always daunted when I set out to write a screenplay, but this book allowed me to break down that process into managable tasks. This book covers it all from the pre-writing phases of research, character development, outlines and plot structure to the writing phase of screenplay format, scene development and overall layout and ends with suggestions on how to further develop and revise your work when it is finished and eventually sell it. I recommend this book to anyone, as it covers topics that will make any screenwriter's work (whether beginner or pro) fuller and richer and the process all the more simpler.

Rating:
Summary: Very Thorough
Review: Laura Schellhardt, author of the book, spells it all out. I am always daunted when I set out to write a screenplay, but this book allowed me to break down that process into managable tasks. This book covers it all from the pre-writing phases of research, character development, outlines and plot structure to the writing phase of screenplay format, scene development and overall layout and ends with suggestions on how to further develop and revise your work when it is finished and eventually sell it. I recommend this book to anyone, as it covers topics that will make any screenwriter's work (whether beginner or pro) fuller and richer and the process all the more simpler.

Rating:
Summary: Schellhardt provides clear analysis of structure
Review: Screenwriting for Dummies provides comprehensive information about how to construct a screenplay, from concept to pitch, but its most valuable aspect is Schellhardt's coverage of film structure. She shows the bones of a good screenplay in a manner that doesn't seem so much formulaic as archetypal: a movie starts with its status quo, hits an inciting incident; its protagonist forms a plan of action at plot point one, hits the high or low of his story at the midpoint, renews his efforts at plot point two, and earns his reward, or tragedy, in the conclusion. Schellhardt clued me in to the pattern, and now, when I sense a movie petering out or losing its focus, I have a notion why it happened.

Schellhardt also covers outline writing in detail and takes a couple of pages to discuss the purpose and interleaving of subplot, as well as the usual stuff about formatting and marketing. This has not only become my favorite book on screenwriting, but has proven useful in my evolving understanding of plot in fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Schellhardt provides clear analysis of structure
Review: Screenwriting for Dummies provides comprehensive information about how to construct a screenplay, from concept to pitch, but its most valuable aspect is Schellhardt's coverage of film structure. She shows the bones of a good screenplay in a manner that doesn't seem so much formulaic as archetypal: a movie starts with its status quo, hits an inciting incident; its protagonist forms a plan of action at plot point one, hits the high or low of his story at the midpoint, renews his efforts at plot point two, and earns his reward, or tragedy, in the conclusion. Schellhardt clued me in to the pattern, and now, when I sense a movie petering out or losing its focus, I have a notion why it happened.

Schellhardt also covers outline writing in detail and takes a couple of pages to discuss the purpose and interleaving of subplot, as well as the usual stuff about formatting and marketing. This has not only become my favorite book on screenwriting, but has proven useful in my evolving understanding of plot in fiction.