Customer Reviews

How Not to Write a Screenplay: 101 Common Mistakes Most Screenwriters Make

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Anyone who reads screenplays for a living knows that ninety-nine out of every 100 are absolutely horrible. And not just because the stories are weak, the characters are bland and the dialogue is inane. No, most scripts are painful to read because they're painful to read. Description is confusing, overwritten, or just plain obtuse. UPPERCASE words POP up OFTEN enough to cause MOTION SICKNESS, or the script is rydled with mispellings and grammaticle errs. Author, screenwriter and story analyst Denny Martin Flinn has written a masterful, must-read book for anyone hoping to get a spec screenplay past production company readers and into the Hollywood pipeline. Since no one can teach talent or originality, he instead tells readers the traps to avoid when assembling their cinematic opuses, ranging from formatting eroors to descriptive gaffs to thematic omissions. Illustrating his points with both horrid and well-written screen passages--all genuine-- Flinn has created a book that is smart, insightful and often painfully funny. Allen B. Ury, Fade In Magazine

... and I've read almost all of them. Flinn starts his book with the admission that he has never written any great movies... and then states blatently that he didn't write this book because he can write screenplays, but rather because he has had to read a ton of them.

Well thank god he did, because he distills horribly written screenplays into crystal clear examples of why they are poorly written. This information is wonderful, and I found myself delighting in his revealing why I too am unsatisfied with the screenplays I have written.

The book is broken into two primary sections with a third "final thought section." The first is devoted to form, and he cuts to the chase providing examples of "good writing" and, even more importantly, examples of "bad writing". He examples are very accessible, and will illustrate to any writer, producer, or director why it is that they want to cut their wrists when reading some screenplays, and can't put others down.

The second half of the book is devoted to content. This is not as strong as the first half, but is certainly on par or slightly better than most books on how to write your story. He even quotes from all of the guru's of screenwriting, and shows that they are all ultimately trying to say the same thing.

I am absolutely serious when I say it is the best book on screenwriting I have ever read. I think it should be manditory reading for anyone that ever thinks of giving their screenplay to another individual to read. Happy writing!!!

Compared to other screenwriting books I have read, this is decent, but falls short in two important respects.

First, the cynical attitude is no doubt honestly acquired, but the book makes for a very bad read for someone who is still struggling with their screenplay. The best how-to books both explain and inspire, this does not.

Second, the liberal use of actual (or slightly altered) bad screenplays (sometimes multiple pages of unbroken screenplay examples) make for (often) difficult (if not confusing) reading of the (sometimes) useful prose. The book feels like 1/3 advice, 2/3 filler. Some of the examples are needed to display the problem being discussed, most are either a trivia contest (how quickly can you spot which movie the example is from?) or dreck which adds nothing to the explanation given.

I recommend that you read the book, or something like it, before you send your screenplay out into the world. There is good advice here for rewriting, format and polishing. However, I recommend that you read THIS book only after you've written your screenplay, unless you're looking for an excuse to quit.

I inhaled this book in one reading. The next day I read it again. The third day, I started taking notes. How can you resist a book that opens with: "The first thing you really want to know when you're buying a book about screenwriting is...who is this guy? Has he won an Oscar?" (I'm not going to tell you the answer.) I know nothing about screenwriting, but by dumb luck and reading the reviews, I selected this as my first book on the subject. I learn faster from my mistakes and Mr. Flinn kindly offered up a platter full of them for me to consume and learn from. Very, very comfortable, practical reading from a man who is a professional reader of screenplays. He tells you the most basic information like what margins and tab settings to use, the preferred length of movie scripts, all the way through to character development, structure, conflict and story pacing. I have since skimmed two other books on the topic, but I would recommend reading this one first. I'm glad it's getting 5 star reviews. It is an excellent book for beginners! But to get the most out of it, read it several times so his overall message will REALLY sink in: pacing, pacing, pacing...make your story move like greased lightening and keep the reader interested!!

Flinn knows his stuff. This is an exhaustive catalogue, if you will, of all danger signs and bear traps posted along the path of writing in the illusive art of screenplay. Presented in a slight tongue-in-cheek tone, Flinn is a able to reduce this complicated world into a fun-to-read and easy to understand format. By referencing well known works which have already made it to the big screen, this book makes those, sometimes vague, concepts all the more relevant and meaningful--a problem I find with many of these "how to write screenplay" books. Besides, Flinn has a writing credit on a movie already (Star Trek 6), something I find many of the authors to these books are lacking. It makes this read all the more authoritative.

I've purchased dozens of screenwriting books over the last few years, and I read them all voraciously. I always seemed to come away feeling somewhat empty and lost (with the exception of anything written by William Froug.) This book, however, is worth its weight in gold. Forget all that formula stuff and write from the heart, but keep what you learn from this book close to your heart as you slave away on your masterpiece. Once you have a solid foundation of rules to follow that will at least increase your odds of not being dismissed by the pro reader for some silly technical mistake, you are truly free to tell your story in the best way... YOUR WAY. I would have saved hundreds of dollars on books if I had read this one first.

I'm another one of those people who has read dozens of books on screenwriting, still hoping to find whatever new information that hasn't already been covered twenty times before. Flinn's book is the real deal. Not only does he present information not covered in most other books, but he does so with the straightforwardness of a good friend and the expertise of a polished industry veteran. He even covers a pet peeve of mine in this kind of book: If this author knows so much about writing, why have I *never* seen a movie that he/she has written?
(I mean, come on... name one movie you've ever seen written by Syd Field.) Flinn makes it clear his experience lies in a background even more unsung and mysterious to writers, that of a studio reader. If ever the phrase "know your enemy" was more apt....

Proving that he can practice what he preaches, the author gives us a good read; smooth and descriptive from start to finish. You'll go through it as though the pages were greased. (Heck, I work five days a week and four nights a week, and I still sped through all 200+ pages in about 4 days, despite my schedule.)

Ultimately, If I were asked to suggest to an aspiring screenwriter only three things to read, they would have to be:

1) "The Screenwriter's Bible" by David Trottier,
2) Any script written by James Cameron,
3) "How Not To Write A Screenplay" by Denny Martin Flinn.

There are many titles out there that have self-proclaimed screenwriting experts instructing you as to what makes a good plot, characterization, etc... While this can be helpful, sometimes the financial basics of the movie industry are overlooked in these books written by career college types.

The author, Denny Martin Flinn, has not only written screenplays but was employed for many years by the movie studios to receive and review the thousands of screenplays that are sent in by aspiring writers. In other words, the author was the first person to review scripts and give it the -yes or no-! The author has written a book that explains to beginning screenwriters all the "do's and dont's" of format, marketing, etc. An invaluable piece of material that points out many of the first-time mistakes by beginning screenwriters.

A MUST if you are thinking of becoming a freelance movie writer with no training. Common sense advice from a business standpoint. Some of the help provided in this book can prevent your screenplay from being thrown in the trash before the reviewers get past page 2.

I found that book very helpful, and written in a great way, funny at times. I loved the idea of showing examples of bad scripts instead of the regular casablanca, pulp fiction and all the other fine scripts examples that already been discussed to death in every screenwriting book. Anywayz,I know now (hopefully) what to do so the author WON'T include part of my screenplays in his next book! Althought, I'd also hope to see examples of GOOD spec scripts in future books.

Flinn has a sense of humor. That is the first thing one notices while reading his book, and that's the one thing that makes it stand out.

"How NOT to Write a Screenplay" is a witty and entertaining tool for learning the DOs and DON'Ts of the screenwriting craft. Packed full of examples drawn from real and make-believe scripts, it can be a definite help to a writer new to the industry. Anyone who has ever read another of the many available books on script formatting will find his commentary amusing. For example:

"Don't use (CONTINUED) at the top and bottom of each page. You're wasting four lines. Anyone reading your screenplay who doesn't know he's supposed to turn the page is a numskull."

Or his comments regarding music suggestions:

"Leave the music track alone: 'THIS SHOULD BE AN UPBEAT SCENE WITH A GOOD MUSIC TRACK.' (Darn. The studio really wanted to use a bad music track.)"

The second half of the book, covering content and story development, provides similar information to that of books by more well-known authors such as Linda Seger or Syd Field, but offers that information encapsulated in smaller sections that make everything quite easy to relate to...sections such as "Suspense", "Believability", "Twists" and "Whammies".

While the book doesn't teach you how to write the perfect screenplay, it does cover many of the practical details. Its strength isn't in storycraft but rather in addressing all the little details screenwriters tend to forget or abuse. Though some of the information is repetitive, there are plenty of examples and excerpts from screenplays -- some good, most bad, and some you may even recognize. Flinn's advice coupled with the many examples can help you avoid the pitfalls so many screenwriters encounter.