Your Screenplay Sucks!: 100 Ways to Make It Great [Paperback]

William M Akers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2008

A lifetime member of the Writer's Guild of America who has had three feature films produced from his screenplays, Akers offers beginning writers the tools they need to get their screenplay noticed.

Product Details

• Paperback: 287 pages
• Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions (August 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932907459
• ISBN-13: 978-1932907452
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,591 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book on the Basics of Screenwriting, July 29, 2008

By 

Matthew Terry (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Your Screenplay Sucks!: 100 Ways to Make It Great (Paperback)

Okay, I'm starting this review to note that I'm jealous. Why? I could have written this book but, sadly, I didn't. For the sake of screenwriters out there, though, I'm glad SOMEONE did. It's about time.

In all my years of teaching screenwriting and reading and critiquing scripts I've come across all the items that Mr. Akers talks about in this book and then some. I'm extremely happy that it is all right there, in print.

How does the book help? Well, it lays it all right out there for you. Basic. To the point. Mr. Akers takes you from the idea stage to the "Hollywood is going to LOVE ME" stage in 100 easy steps. Okay, maybe "easy" isn't the best word. Anything worth working on, and working towards, isn't usually easy and that is one of the reasons why this book works so well. It's not a quick fix to screenwriting but a process: a well defined deconstruction of the process.

Every quarter I get a writer in my class who assumes that screenwriting is "easy." Sure it's not writing "War and Peace" but it's also not "easy." But in the 8 sessions of my class - it's difficult to define what makes screenwriting so difficult. What I like about Mr. Akers book so much is that he takes the difficult and gives you ideas on how to make it easy. When I critique screenplays I always hope that I will provide the writer with a: "Ooooh, THAT'S what you're talking about!" moment. Mr. Akers' book is full of them.

Another reason why I like this book so much is that Mr. Akers is honest with the reader. Especially in the section about Hollywood. Every quarter I struggle mightily against what I refer to as the "Lotto Mentality" when it comes to screenwriting. Those in the class who think that all they need to do is churn out that script about their mother's hysterectomy and Hollywood will come calling and money will fall like manna from heaven. Honesty is a good thing, especially when you are starting out - and too often there are too many books that just say what they think the reader wants to hear.

As for my issues with the book... Well, there are a few things that Mr. Akers did not touch on that I think are very important and I'll send those to him for the hoped for sequel to the book. Plus I would have loved more examples of what he was talking about and referring to. And, lastly, it would have been nice to have some sort of "coding" system as to what is EXTREMELY important and what is only VERY important. Certainly all 100 of these references are important but I think there were probably some that rise to a different level. Trust me, if you have typos and bad structure - just toss your script into a shredder now because it's not going to go anywhere. Where as, yeah having two characters named Jim and Tim isn't ideal and it MAY get your script tossed - it won't be tossed as quickly if you've misspelled ten words on the first page of your script.

Bottom line: Will Akers takes a straight-forward no-nonsense approach to the process of writing and fixing your screenplay. He cuts through the crap and gets right to the heart of what is wrong and simply tells you how to fix it. Fantastic book.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ever Wonder Why Your Script Sucks?, August 17, 2009

By 

Gary W. Allison (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Your Screenplay Sucks!: 100 Ways to Make It Great (Paperback)

I have! I don't know about you, but when I finish a screenplay, I am in absolute despair. I'm in despair, because I know that when I start the rewriting process, I am going to see some of the most god-awful writing to date. I hate my first drafts and I was starting to fear that I hate writing, making me even more depressing to be around. That is until I read Your Screenplay Sucks!

Within the first chapter, I realized that it wasn't my first drafts that I hated. It was that I couldn't pin point exactly what bothered me about my efforts. I understand plot, structure, and grabbing your audience within the first ten pages, but there had always been something gnawing at me about my work. This book was a shiny light in my eyes. I was mesmerized by its glow, but much like a deer caught in the headlights, it revealed one thing... I'm an idiot. Thank God I'm not a talentless idiot, though.

This book has great advice on how to tighten up your writing, how to choose the right character (huge!), the importance of "place", how to improve dialogue, getting to the point, choosing the right words, ending with the right words, words, etc.

I used to recommend the Screenwriter's Bible to people who want to learn about screenwriting. From now on, I suggest Your Screenplay Sucks!

Great job.

40 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Like Your Truth Neat, Drink This Book, July 27, 2008

By 

Richard Beban "poet, filmmaker" (Playa del Rey, CA; Paris, FR) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Your Screenplay Sucks!: 100 Ways to Make It Great (Paperback)

Length:: 1:54 Mins

A small clip underscoring why you need this plain-spoken, truthful take on the the movie biz, and why it needs better screenplays than most of us have been capable of (before reading this book, of course). Your Screenplay Sucks!: 100 Ways to Make It Great