Successful Scriptwriting [Paperback]

Jurgen Wolff (Author), Kerry Cox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1991

A comprehensive guide offering practical, down-to-earth advice and an instructionally sound step-by-step approach to TV and film scriptwriting.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Successful Script Writing is an excellent and ambitious crash course in all aspects of script writing. Beginning script writers can use this guide as a blueprint for approaching their craft, and experienced writers will find it a useful reference work and also a kind of "letter from the front;" it is full of real world examples from the authors' own experiences as script writers, plus interviews with other writers, directors and producers. The script writer's shelves, of course, are already filled with some excellent books, notably: William Goldman's Adventures in the Screen Trade:A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting,, John Brady's Tbe Craft of the Screenwriter, the many works by the prolific Syd Field, including Screenplay: The Foundations of Screen Writing, and Carl Sautter's How to Sell Your Screenplay.- 7-be Real Rules of Film and Television. All these draw on a wealth of personal experience in the business and are highly recommended. The strength of Successful Script Writing is ease of format and interviews "from the pros." The authors divide the book in three sections: Learning the Craft, Applying the Craft, and Turning the Craft into a Business.In the first section, there's a checklist for honing in on your idea/story's salability, followed by chapters on plot structure, creating three-dimensional characters, writing outlines and treatments, and writing feature film scripts.In any book of this size some subjects are bound to be short-changed. So look on this section as a useful introductory course to the actual business of writing; you will need to search further for in-depth information on each particular element of script writing. Interviews with writers Stirling Silliphant, Alvin Sargent, Colin Higgins and Larry Gelbart provide informative glances at differing working methods. The second section focuses on writing for different genres: how to write movies of the week, hour-long series scripts, situation comedies, soaps, animation, variety shows, and how to create a new series. This section is strong on practicality, with valuable tips about which kinds of writing are the best starting places for new writers, which are the most difficult (creating a new series, as you've probably guessed), and which pay the best. There are also excellent interviews with pros such as Steven Bochco on his experiences with Hill St. Blues, William Bickley on how outside writers can sell scripts to a running sitcom, and Robert J. Shaw on the qualities needed to be a good soap writer. The third section tackles the business-end of writing. This includes the pros and cons of collaboration; protecting your work; an excellent chapter on pitching; finding an agent; and projecting a professional image (it's amazing how often the subject of sloppiness comes up: from writers looking for a job on soaps who've never watched the show to badlytyped scripts without SASE's). It winds up with a chapter on "How To Maintain the Craft and Discipline of Writing," highlighted by a wonderful interview with Stephen Cannell, and a resources chapter. -- From Independent Publisher

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (February 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898794498
• ISBN-13: 978-0898794496
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,415,333 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect guide for creative scriptwriting!, November 11, 2000

By 

Michael Fahrbach (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Successful Scriptwriting (Paperback)

"Successful Scriptwriting" is an excellent source of information and practical help for beginners as well as experienced scriptwriters, and it is also entertaining and well-organized. Mr. Wolff and Mr. Cox have been there, and they kindly give us the benefit of thier experience. This book is a must-have for aspiring scriptwriters!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I am already writing, April 16, 2002

By 

Steve (Del Mar, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Successful Scriptwriting (Paperback)

I originally purchased Syd Field's book years ago and found that book boring and unhelpful. I am a begining script writer and I went to college for finance not writing so I wanted something that would help to get me going. I don't know if I would recommend this book for begining writers because it seems to treat the reader as if they already know something. But this book did have some good ideas that I incorporated.

Bottom line is it wouldn't hurt to have this in your collection, if you can only get one book on script writing, I would compare this book with Keane's book at your local bookstore, that one seemed to get a lot of positive reviews. I haven't read it, but the reviews are prompting me to buy that to supplement my education.

On a final note, I purchased Movie Magic 2000 software and that was a big help on formating.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative, December 30, 2003

By 

Debbie Lee Wesselmann (the Lehigh Valley, PA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Successful Scriptwriting (Hardcover)

This how-to book will not make you into a screen writer, but it will help you understand how to get there. The authors cover basic writing topics such as plot structuring and characterization, and then move onto more advanced topics such as treatments, pitching, and the legal/business issues screen writers face. You'll find a chapters on specific cinematic genres - feature films, animation, daytime serials, made-for-TV movies, sit-coms, and hour-long television shows. The authors also include informative interviews with professionals about their craft. What you won't find is mechanical advice - how to format a script and the devices, such as the capitalization of character names, specific to screen writing. You'll need to study professional scripts and other books on screen writing to get those details.

Like most how-to books on writing, this volume makes the path to becoming a professional seem much easier than it is. Still, it is a good book for the aspiring screen writer.