Customer Reviews

The Screenwriter Within: How to Turn the Movie in Your Head into a Salable Screenplay

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a professional writer in Hollywood, I have read all the screenwriting books, taken all the courses, and spoken with all the agents, and this is the book to read. The Screenwriter Within is an excellent informative (and entertaining) sourcebook on three-act structure, filled with examples from the author's own life, quick reference tips, and humor. If you ever wanted to write a screenplay, but didn't know how to get it on the page, this is the book to read. Highly recommended.

I've written two screenplays so far and had trouble with the structure, primarily when it came to the third act. I seemed to run out of steam creatively. I've read Aristotle's Poetics and Joseph Campbell and four other screenwriting manuals that pretty much all said the same thing. The Screenwriter Within says it differently. Gilles makes structuring a story and building a plot easy to understand and, I guess more importantly, easier to undertake. I looked at both of my previous scripts and applied some of the tips that Gilles suggests and realized that the reason my third acts crashed and burned was because my first acts took too long to get started. Instead of feeling happy or at least pleased when I finished my two scripts, I felt defeated. But this book inspired me and motivated me to try and fix one of the scripts. Gilles ends his book with a neat quote that also made me feel writing a good screenplay and even selling it is possible. Highly recommended.

This book is not like Field's, McKee's or any of the zillion others that take you through the basics of screenwriting. It assumes you know most of the basics and concentrates, instead, on polishing and professionalizing your script and does so with a sense of humor that's wonderfully refreshing.

I was exceedingly fortunate to have had DB serve as a consultant on one of my screenplays. He was insightful, encouraging, down-to-earth and funny as hell. His book is written in the same style he uses when consulting and teaching. It will forever have a place on my shelf near my computer and the rest of my important research/reference materials.

Thanks, DB. Hurry up and write the next one!

A big thumbs up on this one! I finally found a book on screenwriting that is funny, easy to follow and not bogged down in academic jargon. I just read this in one sitting. D.B. Gilles's simple approach to writing takes the fear out of facing a project, and believe me, I've read plenty of these books. If I sell a screenplay NOW, I'll know who to thank.

I thought this was an excellent book. I've written some screenplays and read other screenwriting books, and this is the best I've read by far. It was fun to read, but it also delivered the goods. It really tells you how to come up with great stories and craft them into a professional screenplay. Most screenwriting books are dull as dirt, and that's why I liked this one so much. I laughed a lot (hey, it was more entertaining than a lot of movies I've seen), but I was also inspired. It's filled with all the important inside information you need to know. Great book!

When I bought this book for D.B.'s class, I was all, "Oh great, another professor making me buy his book for his class!" I figured I would read the one chapter he required us to read and then return it to the bookstore as soon as possible.

But then, after I read that one required chapter, and I decided to keep the book after all.

For another film course I was forced to buy Syd Field's book "Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting" and read it over a weekend. Even though Syd's book is a supposed "industry standard" screenwriting book, I wouldn't recommend buying it. After all, any good screenwriting professor will tell you that all screenplay books tell you basically the same thing. You only have to buy one book to learn formatting, the three-act structure, etc. I recommend D.B. Gilles' "The Screenwriter Within" because it gives you the same information you'll find anywhere else, with the added bonus of a sense of humor.

Granted, Syd Field's book is funny, but it is because his examples are outdated, and the screenplay he uses for an example is about speedboats. Syd Field is succeeding at being funny without trying, whereas D.B. is trying to be funny and succeeding. Therefore, I recommend the latter.

Hopeful screenwriters cannot go wrong with "The Screenwriter Within." DB's book attacks writing a screenplay on two levels: first, he provides the reader with the fundementals of the craft needed to develop an engaging story; secondly, DB helps the first time writer gain the confidence needed to complete a full-length script. When you finish reading "The Screenwriter Within," you'll be well equipped to tackle the first draft of that movie you've been knocking around in the back of your mind. A must have for any aspiring screenwriter!

After reading about every known screenwriting book that is still in print, and having gotten nothing from them but rigid formulations for hackneyed plots and tips on serving up warmed-over dialogue cliches, what a joy it was to crack open "The Screenwriter Within" and get a tour through the playful mind of Mr. D.B. Gilles. His tone is easy-going and conversational, and his ideas about structure hit you like undeniable common sense. His tone is perfect: down-to-earth and unpretentious, yet always going to bat for quality and high standards. He still believes in the power of commercial Hollywood cinema to tell inspiring and thrill-packed stories, and I must admit, his enthusiasm is contagious.
If you're serious about screenwriting---and if you intend to make any kind of a mark in the business, you had better be---then start your education with this book.

It's so easy for books like this - filled with information and practical tips -- to be hard to swallow. It can be like taking notes in a lecture hall. But The Screenwriter Within is actually enjoyable reading -- I sat down with it, and found that I'd ripped through the whole book in just a few hours -- and I'd learned (and been reminded of) a lot in the process. Gilles makes his points (and there are many of them) in a fast and funny fashion. I'd recommend the book to anyone starting out as a screenwriter, or anyone (like myself) who's already done some of it, but always needs a good refresher course.

Act One: It grabbed my attention right away; I was inspired. Act Two: It maintained my interest and guided me though challenges and complications with wit and wisdom and great examples. Act Three: I am equipped to travel with my screenplay from beginning to end; by the by, my journey has begun! .....and, you get nuggets!