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Alone in a Room

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No other career draws more moths to the flame than that of screenwriting. Everyone believes they can make a "better" movie, and many do try. Many fail. Writer and journalist John Scott Lewinski serves up a hot platter of truth in "ALONE IN A ROOM: Secrets of Successful Screenwriters," and for those bold enough to read on, the secrets that are revealed will either inspire you to embrace the flame, or send you running for the safer shores of a regular job and a steady paycheck.

No stranger to the Hollywood game, the author states up front the biggest truth of all; that screenwriting is just that...a game. He then proceeds to give the reader all the necessary tools, tips, strategies, and game pieces in order to play that game, and do it with professionalism, commitment and a real love of both movies and the movie business. A telling quote from the introduction sums up the power and promise of this book. Lewinski states, "I believe the difference between those doing the work and those longing for the jobs is the ability to accept the realities of the business and be able to perform effectively within those realities."

If you are willing to accept Lewinski's beliefs about the realities of screenwriting success, then read on, for he has much wisdom to offer, as well as much wisdom from some of the most successful writers, agents, managers and movers and shakers in Hollywood, who give their own insider viewpoints throughout the book. These interviews, most notably those of the writers themselves, shed light upon the dark corners of both getting down to the creative hard work of writing as well as being able to function well as a salesperson once the writing is done. Without these inside views and perceptions, many writers would flounder. Guidance, even in a cut-throat place like Hollywood, is golden.

"ALONE IN A ROOM" is not a how-to-write-a-script book, rather it is a field guide to navigating the system of being a working writer in the business, from coming up with marketable ideas, to writing alone in a room on spec before the terrifying specter of the blank page, to accepting writing assignments and collaborating with others, to overcoming the challenges of adapting someone else's work for the screen. We also get inside glimpses into the realities of writing as part of a team or staff, the art of comedic writing, dealing with those dreaded "notes" and how to best utilize constructive criticism, dramatic writing for TV, being professional in meetings and making a good impression, getting your work out there to the people who can say yes or no, and how to deal with rejection as well as acceptance and, hopefully, success. As "they" say ("they" being those elusive experts at everything that we all quote from time to time!), sometimes success is more frightening than failure.

Reading this book, as an aspiring screenwriter myself, I felt as though the author cared not just about my fate, but about the fate of all writers, and that personal respect and shared understanding makes this book inspiring and motivating. Many screenwriting books are written by jaded writing professors or wanna-be's who couldn't quite make it big, and want to make sure you don't surpass their mediocrity, but this book gave me none of that negativity, condescension or arrogance. "ALONE IN A ROOM" is honest to be sure, but in a way that will make your path as a screenwriter all the more easy to walk, having now been awakened to many of the obstacles you may encounter.

Knowledge is power, and we all know that when it comes to the movie business, power is everything. "ALONE IN A ROOM" is like a flashlight that you, the writer, can shine on the shadowy corners of a game based upon the power of creativity to sell tickets and make a lot of people rich and famous. By learning the rules and realities of the game, you can not only partake in all the fun and excitement...but maybe even score big and win. At the very least you'll have a great time playing.

A play entitled City of Angels co-written by David Zippel and Larry Gelbart (whom Mr. Lewinski interviews here) details the story of a novelist who longs to see his books made into films. Said novelist sees his creations altered and the producer taking as much credit for the story as the actual writer. Welcome to Hollywood.

Mr. Lewinski paints an excellent picture of what it is like to be both a struggling and successful screenwriter in the industry by combining personal accounts as well of those interviewed. Basically, he tells it like it is whereas other authors sugarcoat the long, arduous journey from creative inspiration to final product.

What I admired about the book is that it's not a "how to"; rather it is a "how it is" insiders look at the pitfalls, successes and stagnations of various writing careers. The interviewees range from those just starting out to established vets...from those whose names you might never recognize to Oscar nominees. He adroitly interweaves the tales and tribulations of these people with advice on making it in the business.

What I admire is that Mr. Lewinski always looks at it as a business and rightly so. As an aspiring writer, I sometimes fail to remember that films are a mass market product and while you long to see your vision up on screen as that novelist in City of Angels, remember that you will have to swallow your pride, alter your vision and sometimes you will get to make your dreams come true.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone with fantastic (or realistic)illusions of writing the great american screenplay as it really puts things in perspective.

Everyone is working on a screenplay, it seems, but who is actually FINISHING them? Lewinski's book looks into the day-to-day life of actual, working and earning screenwriters and gives those of us who are still striving some sound advice on getting the job done. Recommended!

Despite being well written this book did not deliver on the title. For a broad overview of how the industry works it is ok, but I failed to find one insight into professional writing secrets or much on the craft or approach to writing.

I haven't read it all in sequence just the chapters that appealed and like the curate's egg it's good in parts. It's filled with insider information and I get the feeling they are only telling us the bits they want to tell us, it's all a bit partial. There is very little uesable information in it.It was a fascinating if unhelpful read. You learn what certain people think about the business and how they started but a lot of it is irrelevant as it is too personal. There is very little you can take away and apply to yourself. It's an interesting but, strangely, uninformative read.

Never before have I read a book that uses so many words to say so little. And never before have I read a book in which the author essentially acknowledges the fact that he's focused on little more than meeting his word count - going so far as to share it with the reader: 55,000 words. 55,000 words for John Scott Lewinski to get a big, fat check. Thanks J.S., for the approximately 300 words of insight and valuable information - and the 54,700 words of fluff. So much fluff, this book is basically an inedible marshmallow.

The author actually ends nearly every section, and every chapter, by either repeating what he just wrote in the previous section (for those with weak short-term memory?), or by previewing what lies ahead in the next section. It's reminiscent of the "Coming up next" time-filler you see on reality TV shows and local news.

And when he's not reminding you of what you just read, or graciously informing you of what you will next read - he offers up invaluable advice that will certainly aid you as a writer, such as: "In the end, whether an hour of TV is filled with a drama, comedy, game show or reality product, it gets on the air through hard work - and only hard work earns a writer a shot to contribute to those shows." Insightful! Brilliant!!!

Oh, and I almost forgot about the incalculable number of misspellings in the book, although I suppose I could be wrong. Maybe the creator of Family Guy is Seth McFarland. And maybe the former Saturday Night Live cast member and star of Deuce Bigalow is Rob Snyder. Seriously? Snyder? Snyder like 4 or 5 times. Nobody edited this thing?

It would honestly shock me if this book took more than 45 minutes to write. Sure, Mr. Louinzki (who cares about names?) may have spent a few weeks interviewing writers to give him 50-60% of his 55,000 word quota, but he certainly didn't put any effort into the writing.

It's a shame that there are so many eager, uninformed, aspiring writers who crave "insider" tips and advice in hopes that they'll gain even just a slight edge over their competition. Sadly, this book preys on their hopes and dreams. Fortunately, I only paid 5 bucks for this book here on Amazon, but I lost a couple hours before I finally tossed it in the trash. I usually donate many of my books after reading them, but it would simply be cruel of me to pass on this impostor of a book.

I've probably purchased 40-50 books on Amazon but never written a review before. And I rarely spew such bitterness towards any products. After all, this is America, and capitalism allows for anyone to sell nearly anything, but I just couldn't let this go. This book is exploitative, shameful and offensive. Save your money, save your time, save your soul. Wow, how's that for dramatic?

Some of the interviews in this book are fascinating and insightful, but overall the book doesn't really hold together.

Here are my issues with the book:

1. The writing is sloppy. If you're writing a book about writing, I think you need to be held to a pretty high standard. Lewinski describes how careful he is in revising and polishing his screenplays, but he clearly didn't take the same care with his how-to book. (And no, I'm not referring to his "on-purpose-trying-to-catch-the-editors" little bit--look at the last two paragraphs on page 137 if you disagree).

2. Much of the book has nothing to do with "Alone in a Room". The title seems to refer to writing spec features, but much of the book is about writing teams and writing on staff for television. Why didn't he just use the subtitle as the title? Those who plan on staying "alone in a room" can skip about 70 of the 200 pages.

3. There's a lot of padding. Lewinski will quote a large section of interview and then explain what it meant in his own voice without adding anything or making it more clear. It's a slim volume and the padding makes it seem he struggled to get to 200 pages.

There are some nuggets of wisdom to be gained in this book, but I would put it way down the list of "books one needs to be a screenwriter." I really think Lewinski would have done better to put up a website with these interviews and continue adding to it. Borrow this one from a library or a friend.

There are hundreds of books about screenwriting filled with information about how to write a good script but they are all useless unless potential screenwriters read ALONE IN A ROOM first. Don't waste your time spending long hard hours toiling over a spec script, pet project, or screen adaptation until you've read this book. As Lewinski says "I've got no reason to lie to you" - and he doesn't. This book is chocked full of facts delivered to the reader in an easy, reader-friendly manner. Its like you sat down to have coffee with a highly respected and all-knowing Hollywood insider and he's decided to tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth....and if his wisdom isn't enough, he interviews some of the most talented and successful screenwriters of both feature films and television and they tell you the whole truth also. If you're thinking of writing a spec script, you're currently writing your second or third script, or you've already completed ten scripts - get this book. You need this information. Its not available anywhere else. Lewinski is an important Hollywood resource, himself a successful screenwriter and mentor. When he states at the end of this book that he wishes he would have had a book like this before he started knocking around Hollywood, he is echoing all of our thoughts exactly - those of us who had to find our own way. Now you don't have to go into the whole scene of being a Hollywood player blindly....ALONE IN A ROOM is there for you. Get it now. Utilize this great advice and become an extremely successful screenwriter so you don't have to remain "alone in your room."
Laurie Scheer, Media Consultant and Professor, Yale University.