Customer Reviews

Screenwriting is Storytelling: Creating an A-List Screenplay that Sells!

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

 

 

The first advice I read is - in order to have a career as a screenwriter you have to learn to be a storyteller. With that in mind I bought books, took out books at the library and read all the positive and negative articles on the internet that made me want to give up before I started.

I took out Ms. Wright's book from the library and after having so many "aha" moments as I read it, I returned the book to the library after ordering a copy for myself on Amazon. I knew I had to own this book.

Ms. Wright breaks down the process of writing into simple terms and chapters. Through the book I saw that successful storytelling involves all the characters perspectives.

I highly recommend this book to the inexperienced storyteller, for it's simplicity and to experienced storytellers as a reminder of what a screenplay needs to be a hit.

I'm teaching a class at UCLA in screenwriting and I recently dipped back into the "how to" literature and found this gem. It's now on my "highly recommended" list. Kate Wright is an experienced professional who has worked both sides of the desk, as I have, (as a writer and editor) and offers many extremely helpful, and clearly written suggestions which will strengthen and clarify the writer's approach to storytelling. Unlike other masters - McKee who is encyclopedic in his treatment of the subject, and Field, who is highly structural, Wright offers a concise but integrated approach that really examines the "why" of each choice in a way that makes you want to jumpstart your writing. I loved this book and will recommend it to my students.

Screenwriting Is Storytelling by Kate Wright knocked my socks off.

Though I've been a professional writer for two decades, I have avoided books that outline the theories of creative storytelling as I feared such books would be intrusive rather than helpful. I assumed most writers learned to write by writing. This book turns that idea on its head.

In her effort to break down the script writing process, Kate Wright digs deeper than plot, character, and theme. She investigates the connection between great storytelling and the sources of it's subsconscious affect on the audience. She scrutinizes several vastly popular movies in detail, movies that have drawn audiences from all generations, all countries, all ethnic backgrounds. This effort leads her to find the one key ingredient these great movies have in common -- a spiritual connection with the audience. Spiritual connection? Surely, this must be the most "secret" ingredient in the Hollywood formula. Wright bravely explores this spiritual connection through the ethical or moral (if you must) dilemnas of the protagonists and antagonists in these popular movies. This fearless approach has forever changed my way of experiencing motion pictures.

I recommend this book to movie lovers everywhere, it will enhance their enjoyment of motion pictures. I also recommend it to screenwriters who have already internalized the technical aspects of script writing and are searching for something more -- the source of that special connection that can exist storyteller and audience. The author of this book serves as a wonderful guide on that exciting and worthwhile journey.


Georgia Ocean (New York), writer and movie lover

I am new to screen writing and was enthralled with Ms. Wright's book. For starters, it's highly infomative, fun, and easy to read. She walks us through step-by-step what it really takes to write a great script, and what it should include. Not only that, but she made us feel confident that we all can write a great script!

Secondly, I enjoyed learning about what it really takes to sell a great movie, along with her thorough analysis of several movies. This is what sets this book apart from others that may be limited as technical "how-tos", hence not as unique. Her knowledge, not only of screen writing, but the movie business and how to succeed, was apparent and impressive.

Having been a literature major in college, I was also interested in learning about the differences between screen plays, literature, and movies, something she described very well.

I believe this book is a classic for all script writers and for all of us who are striving to be.

Grace McGarry

Screenwriting is Storytelling hits the bullseye. The chapter on "Spine" distinguishes this book from all others, and elevates the approach of this book to the "A-List" of screenwriting. The author establishes the fundamentals first, then integrates form, substance, and style. It's masterful in presentation; featuring the layers of the complex process.

This book is loaded with examples (Titanic, The Fugitive, and Tootsie) of how to establish character-driven structure and sequences. At heart, however, it is written for those who are interested in with creating depth as a storyteller. The chapter on "moral dilemma" is classic. While post-modernists might miss the point of Titanic, this author understands Jack as an epic hero who sacrifices his life for others, especially Rose, who lives to tell his story.

This is an A+ book for those who are willing to strive to create A+ work.

I've read every book on screenwriting and I'd rate this book in the top five.
Kate Wright focuses first on story then explains how to integrate it into the screenplay paradigm.
Kate is an accomplished writer but more importantly, an effective teacher.
If you're an aspiring screenwriter, I highly recommend adding this book to your library.

Ms. Wright believes that the most compelling stories always have a moral center, with complex characters struggling over moral decisions. Some contemporary screenwriters may find that a little difficult to accept. But if you look back on your favorite movies, you will find that it is mostly true. There's a reason why classic stories have the greatest staying power, and Ms. Wright tries to get at the root of the problem.

Granted, some people without a classical education might find this book a little rough-going. But everyone can glean something of value.

This book give you the tools you need to write the piece that will finally make you believe you are a writer. Plot is great, but Character is king and Ms. Wright shows(not tells) how you can improve your writing to make a great screenplay. Her book also has tips for any fictional writing...how do you make the readers care about your charter/characters?

This is not only an enjoyable and profound read, but it packs a wallop with instruction to those who have the ideas, but need direction and much help!

The singular best lesson of this book is that it taught me not to make a recommendation prior to reading the whole thing!

The first chapter or so made some good sense in terms of the dramatic structure of movies/screenplays. Briefly, each act of a movie is composed of dramatic sequences (which, in turn, are comprised of a series of scenes) which themselves have beginnings, middles and ends. Each sequence is like a mini-movie in which the protag is different at the end of the sequence that he was at the beginning. The main difference is that the sequence ends with a question or something that leads into the next sequence. This is all fine and good.

What was awful was when the author started describing what was supposed to happen in each sequence as the sequences progressed to the finale of the movie. The verbiage used in the sequence descriptions was baffling to say the least. I've been writing SPs for 6 years and I couldn't figure out what she was trying to say. Adding confusion to bafflement, the examples she used (sequences from The Fugitive, Titanic and Tootsie), in most instance, didn't agree with her sequence description.

I know this all sounds confusing but let me give you the best example I can think of to illustrate what a mess this book is. The author contends that Titanic is actually a story about Jack (the protagonist) and his discovery that by sacrificing his life to help the steerage passengers escape the ship and by letting Rose float on the door, he was giving himself an opportunity to be with his love in the afterlife. HUH? Titanic was Rose's story about overcoming the expectations of a controlling mother and an arrogant fiance to find happiness with a person of a different social standing than her own.

The sequence approach is a little difficult to understand and a lot difficult to implement. There are two books that are much better instructors: Sequence Approach (Paul Joseph Gulino) and Tools of Screenwriting (David Howard). Gulino's book was new last year. Howard's was written about 13 years ago but it's still a valuable reference.

I publicly apologize to anyone/everyone to whom I recommended "Screenwriting is Storytelling."

p.s. In the author's resume (which she includes on the last few pages), one of her highlighted jobs is as a REAL ESTATE AGENT. If I were trying to convince people that I was qualified to help them with SP writing, I think I might omit this fact but, hey, that's just me.

I was hooked by the book's title. No script or movie is good if it doesn't tell a story well. But Wright's book at times seems to say that a good story depends on arithmetic. She gives several formulas that break down the screenplay, act by act, and within acts, giving you some form of long division to execute your script. The book reads a lot like a text book, just rehatching movie plots and lightly touching on character, motivation, premise, theme, if at all, and it feels like it relies heavily on Wright's critique and film theory of finished films and not the spec script. What's worse is that I found typos in some of the chapters and she gets her characters and movies mixed up. Do copy editors still exist? Pass on this book.