Screenwriting Books
I’ve read a lot of screenwriting books. I don’t recommend you do the same, since as you go through the list they get very redundant very quickly (and some of them are just plain bad). But since many aspiring screenwriters out there are enticed by these books when they come across them, here is a round-up of most of the ones I’ve read, with brief commentary. I can’t say I enthusiastically recommend any of them (except the books of Goldman and Chayefsky scripts), but there are some which you simply have to read because other people will always cite them, and others that are above average in terms of quality. More important than this list, however, is my general advice about how to use screenwriting books:
- Do as I say, not as I do. Don’t read more than a couple of the “how to” structure / formula type books. They’re all saying basically the same things, so just try to actually understand the one or two that seemed most appealing to you from the get-go before trying another one.
- Anyone who says that following their pet structure formula is a necessary condition for success is lying.
- When you read (or, for that matter, are taught by a mentor) that you’re always supposed to do (or not do) something, come to deeply understand the reason for it rather than taking it as axiomatic. Once you have that understanding, then you’ll be able to figure out when you can actually get away with not doing it (or doing it).
- Some advice and technique that other people swear by, you’ll absolutely hate. And vice-versa. It’s all a matter of what works for you, and what doesn’t.
- There’s no substitute for actually writing. You’re not really going to learn all that much about screenwriting by reading about it. Frankly, you won’t even know what mistakes you need to get advice about how to avoid until you make them.
With all that in mind, here is my screenwriting book round-up (click continue reading below, or the headline above, to get to the full post from the front page):
Everyone in the business has read Robert McKee’s Story book, and many have taken the class as well. Like a lot of folks on the screenwriting lecture circuit, McKee has a formula, and he wants you to follow it. Whether or not you actually enjoy McKee’s book and follow his formula, you need to read it anyway in order to speak the same story language as everyone else you’ll ever be in a meeting with.
Chris Vogler’s book is another one that many people have read. It is based on Joseph Campbell’s theories about myth, which are claimed to the be the secret to the success of the original Star Wars films. It’s a relatively interesting book, especially for a screenwriting book, and even if you don’t use the mythic structure directly when outlining and writing, it’s not a bad thing to know about.
Syd Field’s book is considered the “classic” screenwriting book, so much so that it’s falling out of vogue. But like with McKee’s book, everyone in the business has read this, and that means you should too.
Russin and Downs do in one book what a number of other screenwriting pedagogues do over several smaller books — present a complete course on screenwriting that includes format, structure, narrative, dialogue, and so on. The authors do not have a pet theory of screenplay structure they’re peddling (the structure chapter covers several, and then suggests that whether you use any of them or not to organize your writing that you still need to make sure that something interesting happens in every scene, or else why bother having the scene). Since it doesn’t offer a magical formula for screenplay success, this book isn’t very popular, but I think it’s one of the best screenwriting books out there.
Like McKee, Blake Snyder has a formula and he insists that you follow it or success will elude you. However, unlike McKee’s book, Snyder’s isn’t dense. It’s conveys real ideas about writing structure, but does so with a humorous tone — it’s outright funny in places. And if your mind works in such a way that this kind of categorization and structuring scheme appeals to you, and helps you write, Snyder at least makes his theory accessible and easy to understand. Save The Cat is the most populist and approachable of the “follow my structure or perish” type of books and classes. While targeted at writers aspiring to create high-concept blockbusters, Snyder is careful not to to denigrate other styles of filmmaking and explain how his techniques may apply to other kinds of scripts. Going into it I honestly didn’t expect to like this book, but I actually did (though I don’t agree that any particular formula is the key to screenwriting success).
This is an attempt to distill Lew Hunters’ well regarded UCLA Screenwriting 434 course into a book. It isn’t as successful as McKee’s at packing the totality of the course into the book, and a fair percentage of it is taken up by an unproduced script presented as a learning tool. Like with most classes, the in-person experience is more valuable. One of Lew’s writing retreats would be a lot more fun.
Another highly regarded book. It’s well organized and readable, and could be worth your time, especially if Field’s or McKee’s styles don’t really excite you.
Another book by the well-regarded author of Making A Good Script Great, Linda Seger. This book is not as successful in my opinion. It’s got some interesting interviews with other writers in it, but it’s really more a scattered collection of thoughts, observations, and experiences than a coherent look at the topic of characterization.
A book about individual scenes is a great idea, but this one doesn’t fully deliver. It has some good ideas in it about how to structure and categorize individual scenes, and if that’s your thing, you might like this book. But it’s not as readable as it ought to be, considering part of what it should be teaching is how to make writing for scenes really flow.
Ackerman is another highly regarded UCLA professor. I feel he did a better job than Hunter at coalescing ideas developed over years of teaching into a book. In terms of getting the UCLA experience from a book: actually doing so is impossible, and this book is no substitute for actually taking a UCLA class (they offer them online, and some of the online professors are quite good — especially Tim Albaugh and Paul Chitlik). It’s not a bad screenwriting book (I basically liked it), but it’s also not particularly innovative.
Across town at USC there’s Richard Walter, another highly regarded writing professor. I’ve never attended a USC class, so I can’t comment on how successful this is at distilling one into a book. Like Ackerman’s book, it’s decent but with no particularly great insights if you’ve already read other screenwriting books.
Epstein’s book is one of the more readable “dos and don’ts” type of screenwriting advice books. It’s overtly targeted at a particular type of writing (high-concept blockbuster type scripts), but if that’s your bag, this book has some advice and is not too dry about delivering it.
This book is particularly interesting because it is comprised entirely of interviews with working screenwriters. Some if it is more inspirational than instructional, and just because someone is successful doesn’t mean their advice applies to you. But because this book collates advice from practicing professionals, it has “street cred” that many other writing pedagogy books lack. If you like the interview format (and I do, because as a storyteller I love anecdotes and “war stories”), this is a decent book.
Just like you’ll learn a lot about music by working through some Beethoven sheet music, you will learn a lot about screenwriting by reading great scripts. Theory is all fine and well, but you also need to learn the form by experiencing it — and watching a movie is not the same as reading the script, just like hearing music is not the same as reading it. William Goldman is one of the best screenwriters in history, and this collection of scripts is a great read. He writes in an older style that’s not currently in vogue, but you’ll still learn a great deal about the craft by studying the works of a master. The Princess Bride alone is a work of genius.
Along with the Goldman collection above, I also recommend this collection of Paddy Chayefsky scripts. For all the same reasons, including a singular work of genius in a collection that is nothing but genius: Network.
Chitlik is another UCLA professor, and a good one. His rewrite book hasn’t been quite as well received as his rewrite class, but that’s in-part because the class is considered too good to distill into a book. However, this is the only book dedicated solely to rewriting, and it contains a lot of advice about the subject. It’s not perfect, and you’re still much better off taking his class. But, if you must have a rewriting guide in book form to refer to at your desk, this is it for now.
John Truby is well known on the screenwriting pedagogy lecture circuit, and is the designer of the rather complicated Truby’s Blockbuster technique and software. This book is a presentation of his 22-step “extremely precise map of your entire plot.” The technique is not always straightforward and thus, like the software, parts of the book seem to make certain ideas more complicated than they need to be.
A standard book on plot construction, but aimed at screenwriters rather than novelists or playwrights. It’s not a bad book, but it’s not revolutionary, either. If you need help with plot, this book may have a few insights for you, but so do plenty of other books mentioned here.
Iglesias does a pretty good job of organizing and presenting the basic tenets of screenwriting, and presenting his ideas on each one. Not groundbreaking, but solid.
A typical screenwriting book from another well known script pedagogue. Nothing particularly secret about its contents, which are similar to that of most of the books here.
A typical “write sellable scripts” type of screenwriting book. Hague is yet another well known personality on the lecture circuit, and this book is pretty typical of such fare.
You may have noticed a trend amongst these books, but in case you haven’t, here’s a clue: this is another book by a well known lecturer about how to use his structural theory as a formula for screenplay success. If that kind of organizational approach appeals to you, Kitchen’s book is up there with Snyder’s in terms of being coherent and well organized (but it’s way more pedagogical in tone).
A typical screenwriting book. Nothing too exciting. It is character focused more than plot focused, as the title indicates, but otherwise this is another competent yet commonplace look at the craft of screenwriting.
Flynn’s book is a “dos and don’ts” type book that’s unique in that it’s written from the point of view of a professional script reader about how to avoid getting tossed into the reject pile. That perspective is probably worth the cost of entry, especially since it’s a relatively recent book that therefore may still be relevant in terms of “industry insider” type advice. This book is really only applicable to new screenwriters, but if you are a new screenwriter working alone without a professional mentor, it couldn’t hurt to read either this book or Trottier’s.
Cynthia Whitcomb writes TV movies, and lots of them, so at least she’s got street cred. I didn’t find this book particularly engaging, but if its style clicks with you it’s yet another option in the crowded “typical screenwriting book” field.
This is actually a book about writing plays first published in 1942, and is responsible for the current wave of character-centric views of drama. It’s also referenced in about a billion screenwriting books and courses. If you want to read it for yourself, here it is, but some modern readers may find it a slow go.
Aristotle’s Poetics is also referenced everywhere and by everyone (though I’m not convinced they’ve all read it). Aristotle emphasizes the importance of plot (this is exactly the book that Egri was writing in opposition to). Unless you’ve got an existing interest in classics you’ll probably never actually read it, either.
This book attempts to apply Aristotle’s Poetics to screenwriting. So does every book on plot-centric screenwriting, even if it does so indirectly. This book is primarily useful for those who wanted to read Aristotle, but couldn’t bring themselves to actually do it.
Trottier’s book is a classic reference book for screenwritiers. It reads like a reference book, too. Still, if you’re new to the format, structure, and jargon of the screenplay, it’s a relatively useful book.
This is a book mainly about screenplay formatting. I can’t imagine a more boring topic. It’s about the same vintage as Trottier’s book, which I felt covered more ground. You decide.
Another “dos and don’ts” type of book, along the lines of Flynn’s (but with more of an emphasis on style and structure). It’s also decent, but it’s tone is like that of a harsh schoolmaster (hence the title). You don’t need more than one (if any) of these “dos and don’ts” books, so pick the one you like the most.
As popular psychology books go, this one isn’t bad. And as a writing book, the fact that it focuses on character depth at a psychological level rather than on a plot-driven quick sale is interesting. If you’ve actually studied psychology, however, you’ll find a lot of the same territory covered here.
I thought this book would be more like Indick’s book, but it’s actually about chakras and stuff like that. I wasn’t impressed. If that’s your sort of thing, you might like this book. As a gamer, I did appreciate the fact that it’s organized sort of like a player’s manual guide to powers and abilities.
A book about premise, theme and subtext from the perspective of morality. If you haven’t understood premise, theme and subtext from other books or teachers, this is not a bad book to give a try.
An attempt to look at structural theory from the perspective of emotion, rather than plot. Really, they’re two sides of the same coin. A reasonably readable book, and while it’s not bad, there’s nothing revolutionary in here.
This is the only book out there that focuses solely on third acts. It’s a bit dry in its presentation, but definitely has its merits. It makes good points about the connection between first and third acts, and describes the third act’s internal structure. You can find (more compact) versions of the ideas in this book in most structure books, but if you’re still having third act problems after going to other sources, you may find something of value in here.
Another “how to write something really, really sellable” type of book. This one takes off from the idea of of pitching an A-List actor, but it’s a pretty standard sellable script book all the same.
Another book of anecdotes. If you like that sort of thing, you might enjoy this book. You can learn a lot from anecdotes told by working writers, but keep in mind that if their specific situations and ways of working don’t always apply to you that doesn’t mean much.
Yet another “how to write something really, really sellable” type of book. Typical advice, nothing too exciting.
More anecdotes, which I always enjoy. I found this one particularly interesting in that it tells how various films went from draft to final shooting script.
As you have already figured out, I like books of anecdotes (stories are more amusing to read than theory). But if you’re easily discouraged, don’t buy anything by William Goldman other than his screenplays. He’s much too honest about how hard this business is for the faint of heart.
The exact same advice applies to this book as to Goldman’s “Adventures in Screen Trade” above.
Like Goldman’s books, painful and valuable lessons about the business — not art — of screenwriting. Unlike Goldman, however, Michael Lent didn’t wait to become one of the most prominent screenwriters ever before writing down his experiences and advice, so this advice actually applies directly to the aspiring professional. Goldman’s books are highly enjoyable reads, but Lent’s is immediately useful at the career stage most Indieauteur.com readers are likely at.
This book is considered the only game in town about writing treatments (but a treatment is secretly just a short story). This book is basically a “sellable scripts” type of book, without the screenplay formatting and style aspects. A very legitimate complaint that is often made against this book is that there’s no example treatment. Considering that most people have no idea what a treatment looks like, and don’t know whether or not there’s a standard Hollywood format for them (I’ve been assured there isn’t, but I’d still be keen to actually see one that sold), that’s a pretty big oversight.
In a future post, I’ll do a round-up of where to get copies of actual screenplays beyond the two books mentioned in this post. You’ll ultimately learn a lot more about writing from reading examples than from reading theory. (You’ll also learn a lot more than you will from theory books by taking UCLA classes or other legitimate courses, online or in-person, and by participating a writing group that has at least one writer at or above your own experience level.)
I’m happy to add new books to this round-up, as well. If you’d like to send me a review copy of your book (or your favorite book by someone else), send it here:
Stephan Vladimir Bugaj
The Indie Auteur
P.O. Box 5041
Richmond, CA 94805
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1:46 am on July 19th, 2009
Very interesting website!!! I’ll keep coming back! Cheers, Paul Ps did you read our book? It is already a big hit in some European countries. And the new Nicholas Cage movie is written like this.
3:20 am on July 19th, 2009
Thanks for the comment. I haven’t read your book yet, but I’ll add reading it to my todo list.