Customer Reviews

500 Ways to Beat the Hollywood Script Reader: Writing the Screenplay the Reader Will Recommend

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I happened upon this book the other day and it caught my eye because, as a reader for a major Hollywood agency, I get annoyed seeing too many writers making the same mistakes over and over. Many of the screenwriting manuals out there (and I've read a lot of them) are either too patronizing or simply too unrealistic in their approach, but "500 Ways" is a refreshing, no-nonsense guide that offers succinct, practical advice, especially for those writers who are still trying to get their nascent careers going. And since even more experienced authors often fall into the same traps, why not have an easy reference book that gives you the basics? After all, you've gotta write "I Want To Hold Your Hand" before you can make "Abbey Road," so get this book, read it carefully, keep it within easy reach, refer back to it from time to time, rest assured that you've got your screenwriting foundations in order, and THEN go write your masterpiece. Is it a cure-all for an ailing script? No, but none of the screenwriting books on the market are. If anything, it's a great writing supplement that, at the very least, will help you avoid some of the more obvious land mines that readers like us are just waiting for you to step on. Remember, you've gotta get past the likes of Ms. Lerch before you can get to an agent - and as a Hollywood reader myself, I can *guarantee* it's not as easy as you think.

As a story editor for a major production company in Hollywood, I would recommend this book highly to budding screenwriters. Ms. Lerch has encapsulated over ten years of experience into under 200 easy-to-understand pages, that impart VERY PRACTICAL advice on getting a reader's recommendation. After reading "500 Ways" you will know to avoid the common mistakes that prejudice a reader before page 10. More advanced writers will still find it a helpful reminder on how to keep each page fresh and engaging. I have not seen any other book that so focusses it's attention on how your script will be read - and judged - at this first critical step on it's ambitious pilgrimage toward the screen.

This shouldn't be the first, or even the third, book you buy on screenwriting--there are better ones on the storytelling craft--but, as someone who's read scripts, I have to admit some of the author's points on packaging, for want of a better word, are on-target--particularly when she stresses how crucial the first pages and the length of the script are. Most scripts are much too long, far too similar, and don't move fast and with a momentum that grabs that reader's attention. A script the author may have slaved for months over often just becomes the one on the top of the pile to a beleagured and bored script reader, so a writer confident enough to just get to the point and get to the story has a huge advantage. Screenwriting is far from as cut-and-dried or formulaic as this book's author makes it sound, and there's a couple of 100 of the 500 points that are just common sense, but her snappy advice is a refreshing change, or addition, to the host of more studious tomes on the topic.

Lerch has written an enormously useful book worth far more than its cost, but only to a certain set of apprentice screenwriters.

In contrast to a reviewer who said this book would be most helpful for beginners, I think the book is most helpful for non-beginners. Indeed, I think the negative reviews on the book owe to the fact that the book takes for granted the reader is knowledgable about the nature of "story." Not just the story of screenplays, but the nature of general story, whether in the form of short stories, novels, plays, or even song.

For someone not terribly familiar with the nature of story, this book will seem like a waste of their time, or, worse, a theft of their money. For it is not written in narrative. It is an enumeration of 500 "ways" that Lerch offers on the craft of screenwriting. A beginner will definitely be disappointed.

However, for someone knowledgable about story who is interested in learning about screenwriting (or even more fitting, someone, such as myself, who is a fiction writer aiming to convert to screenwriter), I haven't seen a better book on the shelves, and I have been looking.

When I read it, I used a third of a notebook taking notes. Some points she makes could quite literally save someone's entire dreams of screenwriting. For instance, did you know when a Hollywood reader receives a script with an address outside L.A. the script is essentially dismissed as the work of an amateur? (Out-of-staters have to rent an L.A. P.O. Box.) Cruel? Perhaps. But important to know for the apprentice screenwriter? Without doubt. Just that point alone for someone outside L.A. would be worth the $12.

The book abounds in points of equally great importance, whether they be on character, on formatting, or on the nature of "The Biz."

One final comment. Perhaps the most impressive part of the book is Lerch's authority. As the book states, she's been a reader in Hollywood for more than ten years, eight of them at William Morris. For those who don't know, in Hollywood, William Morris is just about the Holy Grail. Stories are legion of movie moguls beginning their careers in the William Morris mail room. (David Geffin began his career there.)

Thus, if you're an apprentice screenwriter knowledgable about story and want to learn the ins and outs of the craft of screenwriting, I doubt you'll find a more useful or authoritative book. If you're a beginner, this isn't the book for you.

Because I've found this book singularly helpful, if anyone has anyone questions about the book, I'd be happy to offer my thoughts. Or you can e-mail the author herself, as she gives out her e-mail address in the book. I wrote her with a question and she promptly responded with an answer.

Good luck and good writing all.

I am an optioned screenwriter and disagree with the negative posts of this book.

If you have written only a screenplay or two, this book will add to your formatting and structure knowledge. If you're just starting out, it will be a valuable reference.

The succinct tips kept the book rolling and I personally think it was very much worth my time to read this book.

Screenwriters: even if you only learn one or two things you're doing wrong, they may make the difference. Don't let the burnouts posting here detour you from a good source of information.

I also suggest reading Flinn's HOW NOT TO WRITE A SCREENPLAY. I read both books in the same week and they compliment each other nicely.

Jennifer Lerch obviously knows her job, but unfortunately she appears to have some difficulty in writing about it. To a non-american reader this book is overbearing in its 'can do' attitude and is weighed down with overstatement and brashness. Much of the advice will be obvious to any budding screenwriter with an intelligent outlook, although there are certainly some interesting and thought-provoking points hidden away. The main criticism is obvious - that this book is firmly established in the 'status quo' school of writing for the screen, and many recent successful films have moved away from this concept, even ditching the three-act structure in many cases. The fact remains that a good story will always beat a mediocre one, and to suggest that presentation technique is all-important is rather misleading. Potential readers should perhaps first consider what their favourite films have been of the past few seasons, and then muse on whether they fit the formulas suggested in this book. For the more forward looking screenwriter this will probably be an inhibiting read and could well cramp their style. Studios are looking for killer new ideas, not formulaic throwbacks, and unknown inexperienced writers will not achieve much if they think otherwise.

I think I might have thought more highly of this book if I hadn't tackled it right after I read "How Not to Write a Screenplay" by Denny Martin Flinn. Flinn's guide to the most common pitfalls in screenwriting is a wonderfully funny and instructive text that every writer should own. This book, while containing some helpful nuggets, offers a lot of advice that directly contradicts Flinn's. While Ms. Lerch obviously has no obligation to align herself with Flinn's advice, her comments often seemed counter-intuitive to me. Whereas Flinn instructs us to be as clear and succinct as possible, shaving away all unnecessary and confusing descriptions (i.e., don't write what the audience can't see), Lerch would have us add all sorts of superfluous character and location description, in the hopes of catching the eye of an already-exhausted Hollywood script reader.
I just have a hard time believing that this approach would really work. I've studied screenwriting with some of the best teachers in the business, and I've got to say that their tips generally fall into the "less is more" camp.
Having said that, the book is a quick, easy read, and there are many tidbits which do make sense, especially about ratcheting up the conflict in your script. By no means, however, should this be the only book on screenwriting you buy, but it can serve as a light after-dinner mint following a hearty meal of "How Not to Write A Screenplay."

Many of the reviews I've read of this book I feel seem to be missing the point of this book. This is not the one and only book on screenwriting that anyone should read. Not even Robert McKee's "Story" or Chris Vogler's "The Writer's Journey" can claim to be that. There are books to teach you structure, books to teach you about format, and books to teach you about character and plot development. This book is none of the above.

I see this book more as a reference guide. The first 200 or so tips are for complete newbies who have never written a script in their life However, when you get to Part 2 of the book, which covers tips for Acts 1 through 3, that's the real meat of the book and the real reason to buy it.

While writing your screenplay or even while plotting your outline, read this book. It is no more and no less than a 500-point checklist of what you should and shouldn't be doing in your script.

Sure, some tips would make more sense if they were combined with others. And yes, some tips are reworded versions of previous tips, but that's what it took to reach the 500 number.

On the positive side, I have lost count of the number of times I have found a hole in my plot or realized that I could eliminate or scene or two without damaging my story thanks to one or more of the tips in this great book.

So, if you're reading it hoping it will explain the awe and mystery that is screenwriting, you'll be sorely disappointed. If you use it as a checklist, you should find it quite valuable. I know I did.

I wouldn't say that this is the only book on screenwriting you should read, but it contains some really useful tidbits not found elsewhere. The way the book presents the five hundred tips as separate bullets is consistent with the spare writing style advocated by Jennifer Lerch. While other books on scriptwriting give a more comprehensive treatment of the craft (e.g. writing outlines & treatments, marketing, script format), Lerch focuses strictly on the writing end of things. She is obviously fluent in the language of the script. Her terse, no-nonsense style not only describes, but embodies what the writer needs to learn to become a success in this very tough business.

The trouble with a book like this, as some of the negative posts unintentionally illustrate, is that experienced writers will have already been exposed to many of these ideas and may erroneously conclude that the book therefore has no value. To the contrary, all it takes is one or two useful ideas and a book like this pays for itself. Because Lerch breaks her topics down into easily-digested bits, the tips are basic but practical. The strength of the book is that Lerch covers every aspect of a screenplay in terms of character development, plot points, etc. Also I found useful her description of how to handle rejection and what changes to make in a screenplay before re-submitting it. News flash to the negative reviewers: many of her points are almost identical to those in Robert McKee's oft-touted "Story."

I'm struck by the juvenile condescension expressed by many of this book's reviewers. I wonder what Lerch has done that makes the reviewers think she deserves this treatment.