Customer Reviews

The Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay: How to Write Great Screenplays for Movies and Television

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an easy to read introduction to screen writing by someone who has successfully written scripts and has taught at UCLA Film School.

The author, Cynthia Whitcomb, provides a detailed, step-by-step method to turn your story ideas into a screenplay. The book quickly gives you an overview of the process that she teaches in classes and seminars and then spends a chapter on each topic she considers important to developing your script.

For example, in Chapter 1, the author has you running your story idea against a 16 point checklist to make sure it is a likely to be accepted and produced.

In Chapter 2, she's giving you hints on how to do your research. Her thoughts on "lunch interviews" were very interesting. In Chapter 3, she reviews the 3 act structure weaving in examples from the movie Erin Brockvitch. Then in Chapter 4, she has you filling out 3x5 cards for the scenes in your story.

Although the use of 3x5 scene cards is not new, she proposes some unique ways to develop and go through the cards as you develop your story. After that, in Chapter 5 she provides very clear material involving sub-plots, and how to integrate those with your 3x5 cards.

Chapter 6 was quite interesting to me and covered the topic of characterization and how to analyze and develop the character's transformation. From this point forward, the book continues on to other important topics - one chapter for each. Some are: the ticking clock, keeping scenes tight, set-ups in order to prepare your audience for logical and big emotion events (pay-offs).

She provides many references and a great list of videos to watch at home if you are going to analzye the various aspects of screen writing.

The book is aimed at the introduction through the intermediate level. The author works hard to present an orderly process for you to follow in screen writing.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX

I've been a working television writer-producer for nearly a decade, and have taught screenwriting through UCLA Extension. So I've probably read most if not all of the screenwriting books out there, and tried to teach from more than a few. Cynthia Whitcomb's is by far the best one I've ever seen. I recently moved to Portland, Oregon, and met the author, but I'd been using her "Writers Digest" columns in my classes for some time, simply because they contained the best advice I could find for my students. I'm thrilled that her good sense and honest advice are now in a book -- if I were teaching this quarter, it would be required. Why? Several reasons.

First, she knows what she's talking about. This is no "those who can't do, teach" author. Her credits include the Emmy-nominated "I Know My Name is Steven" as well as the adaptation of "Buffalo Girls" and an uncredited but substantial rewrite on the "Sinatra" bio mini-series, and numerous movies of the week. Compare her credits to other screenwriting book authors, and you'll see why what she's giving you is so much more useful. This is someone who has been, and continues to be, there, and it shows.

Second, her own students have written very successful features, including "Face Off." What she says is not only useful (and correct), it's also explained well.

Third, the lists of scenes available on videotape or DVD for study are worth the price of the book all by themselves. The hardest part about writing scripts is getting a feel for what they look like on the screen, understanding why something does or doesn't work, and being able to translate that into your own script. Instead of simply asking you to read script pages (although she does that, too), Ms. Whitcomb leads you to the filmed scenes and sequences that will show you exactly what works.

So if you're serious about writing scripts, this is the book you'll want to pick up, study, and rely on.

Ask me my candidates for the desert-island scenario, and I'd tell you Robert McKee's "Story" and Cynthia Whitcomb's "Writing Your Screenplay." No others. OK: Shakespeare and the Bible. Unique in this volume are Cynthia's levels of evolution in character transformation, her clear-sighted personal knowledge of what keeps Hollywood readers submerged in your story, and illustrative excerpts from her own screenplays. Of all the publications in my screenwriting library, this is the one I most frequently revisit in support of my own work when I want to widen choices of character action, invent an unexpected direction, strengthen a subplot. Cynthia creates seeds I mentally plant for the gigantic orchid fireworks that make screenwriting an experience Hollywood has yet to duplicate.

I recently purchased Cynthia's book and am about two-thirds done reading it. What an informative and helpful book. Cynthia does a fantastic job of presenting the methodologies she has incorporated in her successful career, and balancing them with very practical, real-world examples. (ie. Equally balanced protagonist/antagonist like in the movie "Face-Off")

As a rookie in the screenwriting world, I have found page after page of helpful hints and can already see a ton of ways I can improve a script I had previously written.

For purchasers of this book living in the NW, Cynthia also teaches a screenwriting class through Portland State University [...] I begin these classes in just over a week and can hardly wait to tap into this wonderful resource.

If my plan continues and you see me winning an award for Best Original Screenplay in the next few years, just know that after God and my wife/family the next person on my list to thank will definitely be Cynthia Whitcomb!!

Enjoy the book and good luck with your screenwriting!

Ms. Whitcomb is a pro all the way. Not only are her credentials long and impressive as a screenwriter, it's clear from this book that she's a marvelous teacher. She takes a complicated process and breaks it down in ways that are easy to understand and remember. The concepts flow logically for a first reading and at the same time the material is organized in such a way that you can use the book as a checklist repeatedly throughout your writing process. I wouldn't attempt a screenplay without it sitting close at hand. As a bonus, it's fun reading. Full of personality and entertaining in its own right.

"A Brief History of Time" for scriptwriters.

Compressing novel-length stories into an interesting 90-120 minutes, is a big part of the art.

Whitcomb puts a huge quantity of important information into very few pages.

She writes with simple words in short sentences, yet the content is astonishingly information rich.

And spot on.

A rare talent seen only in the very gifted.

There are books on scriptwriting that run to 500+ pages that are quite good. J. Michael Straczynski's works come immediately to mind.

However you can re-read this book 5 times in fewer minutes than it takes to read any of those longer books once. With repetition, you'll surely retain much more of what you read.

Recommended. Highly.

Whenever I am about to buy a 'how to write' book, I first look at the bio to see what the writer has actually done. Just about every 'how-to' is written by a 'haven't-done-much.' Cynthia Whitcomb's professional experience is far and away the most.

Not to say other books don't have sound advice, but I sensed a depth here that was lacking elsewhere. I attribute that to her experience.

BTW, I'm a published prose writer, and I recommend this book for prose writers, since a lot of what she says translates over to the written page. It wouldn't hurt novelists to structure plots and develop scenes with as much craft and skill as screenwriters do.

As an old writer who is new to the field of screemwriting, I have found the industry full of mystery when attempting to write a screenplay. Cynthia's book takes away a lot of the confusion and worry by succinctly explaining terms, giving multiple clear-cut examples, and laying out the entire process so that rookies can learn the basics, and experienced writers can get a quick review from an entertaining source. I am sincerely hoping Cynthia plans to write a similar book in the future with regards to publishing hints!

Top of the line. Easy to read and pleasant-toned in layman's terms. Organized and simple. Demonstrates the usefulness of 3x5 index cards for story-plotting. Tells you how to make good characters, scenes, dialogue, plot, etc. by demonstrating good and bad examples in movies that we are very familiar with. Simplifies the Three Act Movie formula by telling you how many minutes in the movie you should be starting your act and the significance of each act.

Additionally, the book demonstrates correct formatting for a screenplay, explains screenwriting terminology, explains the "& vs and" in writing credits. Explains certain dos and dont's with your script when presenting to a agent/producer. Whitcomb also tells how she started off as a preacher's daughter who was not allowed to watch TV and ended up becoming a successful screenwriter. She's a prime example of starting from square zero and proves you don't need to know someone in hollywood in order to make it big.

For all beginners--read this book first!

Written in Cynthia's personable tone, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the craft of screenwriting. Its straight-forward content simplifies the screenwriting structure and process for the beginner. It is also a wonderful reference and companion for the more experienced writer. "Writing Your Screenplay" is a great tool to own.