Customer Reviews

So You Want to Be a Screenwriter: How to Face the Fears and Take the Risks

5 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really enjoyed this book because it takes a slant on screenwriting that's different from the (numerous) other books I've read on the subject. Instead of focusing on craft-like issues such as 3-act structure, which many other books have already done, "So You Want to be a Screenwriter" concentrates on the emotional and psychological issues of screenwriting. If you've ever experienced writer's block (and who hasn't?), if you've wondered things like what it would be like to collaborate with someone else on a script, or if you're trying to create more memorable characters in your scripts, this is the book for you.

Don't think though that because I've used the word "psychological," that this book reads like a college text - it doesn't. Also, it includes many interesting interviews with Hollywood insiders.

"So You Want to be a Screenwriter" would make a great addition to any writer's bookshelf.

... then this is your book.

One of the authors' experience is primarily in corporate video and teleconferences. The other is a marriage and family therapist. Some of the screenwriting authorities they quote are Donna Flint (huh), Tony Bui (?) and Sharon Y. Cobb (another huh). They cite the screenwriter and director of The Green Mile as Frank Tattersall (Darabont) and condemn both Green Mile and War of the Roses as "movies that have lost their believability" (Green Mile was a Stephen King supernatural fantasy and War of the Roses was a black comedy - neither of these genres pretend to be believable). They serve up new-agey advice such as "reaffirming what your own creative voice really sounds like will be a lifelong process" and "it is not until we decide to claim our destiny that we are faced with the true meaning of taking risks."

While this book doesn't pretend to provide anything other than motivation, it didn't succeed even in this regard. A screenwriter needs determination, resiliance and talent (along with some luck) to succeed in the biz, not half-baked, touchy-feely "there, there" strokes and condolences.

Sorry, gotta give this one a pass. I did give it two stars instead of one simply because they got Harold Ramis to contribute.