Advanced Screenwriting: Taking Your Writing to the Academy Award Level [Paperback]

Linda Seger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003

This book is written by one of today's most active and respected screenwriting gurus and is a collection of meditations for fine-tuning the script. Among the many subjects it discusses: working with non-traditional forms; maintaining a consistent and ongoing storyline; developing a personal cinematic style; finding a script's audience; keeping an audience's attention; developing subtexts; utilising psychology and philosophy; creating realism; polishing scenes; creating memorable dialogue.

Editorial Reviews

Review

" . . . Seger, an experienced professional script consultant, examines selected Academy Award-winning and -nominated screenwriters to determine what made them great." -- LIBRARY JOURNAL, January 2004

Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Silman-James Press (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879505738
• ISBN-13: 978-1879505735
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #140,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I have an unusual background - since my degrees are in both drama and theology. I've combined the two through my work in the film industry since 1981, writing books on screenwriting, but have also been giving speeches about theology for the last ten years. My most recent book is called JESUS RODE A DONKEY, and is about Christian values from the perspective of the Democratic Party. That will be published in August, 2006.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad..., October 5, 2004

By 

L. Leon (Van Nuys, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Advanced Screenwriting: Taking Your Writing to the Academy Award Level (Paperback)

I'm not familiar with Linda Seger's other books, but she does go on quite a bit about previous material she has written in "Advanced Screenwriting". It turns me off a bit when authors want to plug themselves to death in their other books - I mean, why can't we separate from what we've already written or else sell both books as a package - but I'm almost at the end of this, and I have to say I did find it quite insightful. I'm attempting a draft of a screenplay I'm really excited about writing and I really wanted to raise my game this time around, but while I feel I do have the fundamentals down pat, I still don't think I feel confident enough to attempt it based on just this book. She offers quite a lot of advice and tips, which are great, but in the end I feel like... wow, where to start? I do like the topics covered and I like that she uses recent films versus older films as reference, but I feel like she dwells too much on her other book "Making a Good Script Great" (which I don't have).

Ah well. Still good. Also, FAR too many typos to be believed in this book. It distracted somewhat after awhile. I really was taken aback. I want to ask her editor... "What's up with that??"

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tremendous, Useful, and Personal, September 29, 2004

By 

D. A. Lewis (Palmdale, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Advanced Screenwriting: Taking Your Writing to the Academy Award Level (Paperback)

Advanced screenwriting is a tremendous tool for any experienced screenwriter. It's true that the book does not pay heed some of the basic advice given in many beginning books. As a matter of fact the author doesn't even pay heed to much of her advice from her earlier works. But that does not detract from the material she presents to us the reader in this work. For example many beginning books talk about the 3-act structure and the number of scenes that should be present in each act. Seger knows we know that already and gives us a glorious chapter on the wide diversity of scenes, we the writer can create. Like the Love scene, the Pay-off scene or the Reflection scene. She goes into over 15 different types of scenes. This is not lip service to the 3-act structure this is fully building on it. This book is filled with material that builds on our prior knowledge. And even though this book is not meant as a primer on how to start a screen play, I found her advice extremely helpful in crafting a (hopefully) sound treatment. Basically, after reading this book it made me envious I wasn't in a position to hand my scripts over to her for a go over.

One thing that may be off putting to some is that this work seemed very personal. And some of her asides may detract from the material presented, for some readers. I, on the other hand enjoyed her personal insights and felt it added a lot to the book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Linda Seger does it again., September 12, 2007

By 

Kieth W. Merrill (Shingle Springs, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Advanced Screenwriting: Taking Your Writing to the Academy Award Level (Paperback)

Linda Seger is unquestionably one of the brightest and most precise screenwriting consultants and teachers in the business. ADVANCED SCREENWRITING fine-tunes the practically perfect path so carefully defined and so well marked by Linda in her other essential books on screenwriting, MAKING A GOOD SCRIPT GREAT, THE ART OF ADAPTATION and CREATING UNFORGETABLE CHARACTERS... leading us even deeper into the enchanted forest of excellent screenwriting. Seasoned screenwriters will do well to be reminded of those almost mystical elements that inhabit well-crafted films and beginners will find it a finishing course--though having been a big fan, student, and professional who has benefited by Linda's script consultation on more than one major film I urge newcomers to get the entire Seger Screenwriting Library to insure they get the most from ADVANCED SCREENWRITING. When writers submit material to our production company we ask whether they've read Linda Seger. If they say "no" we urge them to, "go back, read her books, re-write their script and then resubmit." That way we know we won't be wasting our time reading a script that needs more work and structural discipline and the writer can be confident that they are giving us their absulut best shot.