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Screenwriting For Dummies
 
 
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Screenwriting For Dummies [Paperback]

Laura Schellhardt (Author), John Logan (Foreword)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)

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Book Description

June 30, 2008
Write a great script and get it into the hands of the Hollywood players!

So you want to be a screenwriter? Whether you want to write a feature film or a TV script or adapt your favorite book, this friendly guide gives you expert advice in everything from creating your story and developing memorable characters to formatting your script and selling it to the studios. You get savvy industry tips and strategies for getting your screenplay noticed!

  • The screenwriting process from A to Z -- from developing a concept and thinking visually to plotline, conflicts, pacing, and the conclusion
  • Craft living, breathing characters -- from creating the backstory to letting your characters speak to balancing dialogue with action
  • Turn your story into a script -- from developing an outline and getting over writer's block to formatting your screenplay and handling rewrites
  • Prepare for Hollywood -- from understanding the players and setting your expectations to polishing your copy and protecting your work
  • Sell your script to the industry -- from preparing your pitch and finding an agent to meeting with executives and making a deal

Open the book and find:

  • The latest on the biz, from entertainment blogs to top agents to box office jargon
  • New story examples from recently released films
  • Tips on character development, a story's time clock, dramatic structure, and dialogue
  • New details on developing the nontraditional screenplay -- from musicals to animation to high dramatic style
  • Expanded information on adaptation and collaboration, with examples from successful screenwriting duos

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Filmmaking For Dummies $14.59

Screenwriting For Dummies + Filmmaking For Dummies
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Ideal for general readers, the book uses everyday examples and addresses social issues such as sweatshops and fair trade." Moneywise June 2008 "A guide for absolute beginners, it will take you through the whole process".Writers Forum June 2008

From the Back Cover

Write a great script and get it into the hands of the Hollywood players!

So you want to be a screenwriter? Whether you want to write a feature film or a TV script or adapt your favorite book, this friendly guide gives you expert advice in everything from creating your story and developing memorable characters to formatting your script and selling it to the studios. You get savvy industry tips and strategies for getting your screenplay noticed!

  • The screenwriting process from A to Z — from developing a concept and thinking visually to plotline, conflicts, pacing, and the conclusion

  • Craft living, breathing characters — from creating the backstory to letting your characters speak to balancing dialogue with action

  • Turn your story into a script — from developing an outline and getting over writer's block to formatting your screenplay and handling rewrites

  • Prepare for Hollywood — from understanding the players and setting your expectations to polishing your copy and protecting your work

  • Sell your script to the industry — from preparing your pitch and finding an agent to meeting with executives and making a deal

Open the book and find:

  • The latest on the biz, from entertainment blogs to top agents to box office jargon

  • New story examples from recently released films

  • Tips on character development, a story's time clock, dramatic structure, and dialogue

  • New details on developing the nontraditional screenplay — from musicals to animation to high dramatic style

  • Expanded information on adaptation and collaboration, with examples from successful screenwriting duos


Product Details

  • Paperback: 360 pages
  • Publisher: For Dummies; 2 edition (June 30, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0470345403
  • ISBN-13: 978-0470345405
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

28 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (28 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Schellhardt provides clear analysis of structure, February 20, 2004
By 
CASSANDRE LEE (ROSEDALE, MD United States) - See all my reviews
Screenwriting for Dummies provides comprehensive information about how to construct a screenplay, from concept to pitch, but its most valuable aspect is Schellhardt's coverage of film structure. She shows the bones of a good screenplay in a manner that doesn't seem so much formulaic as archetypal: a movie starts with its status quo, hits an inciting incident; its protagonist forms a plan of action at plot point one, hits the high or low of his story at the midpoint, renews his efforts at plot point two, and earns his reward, or tragedy, in the conclusion. Schellhardt clued me in to the pattern, and now, when I sense a movie petering out or losing its focus, I have a notion why it happened.

Schellhardt also covers outline writing in detail and takes a couple of pages to discuss the purpose and interleaving of subplot, as well as the usual stuff about formatting and marketing. This has not only become my favorite book on screenwriting, but has proven useful in my evolving understanding of plot in fiction.

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26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Thorough, January 5, 2004
By 
Laura Schellhardt, author of the book, spells it all out. I am always daunted when I set out to write a screenplay, but this book allowed me to break down that process into managable tasks. This book covers it all from the pre-writing phases of research, character development, outlines and plot structure to the writing phase of screenplay format, scene development and overall layout and ends with suggestions on how to further develop and revise your work when it is finished and eventually sell it. I recommend this book to anyone, as it covers topics that will make any screenwriter's work (whether beginner or pro) fuller and richer and the process all the more simpler.
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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A good start but not the only resource, August 30, 2008
I have never written a script before so the "For Dummies" title, I thought, applied to me. However, as much as the book offers a lot on formulating a story, I was looking more for actual tips on structure and acceptable formatting of the physical script. There is very little of that in this book. The majority of the book deals with how to come up with a character, conflict, plot and all the other components of a story (something that I already have). If you are in the same boat as me, I suggest Christopher Keane's book, How to Write a Selling Screenplay.
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