The 101 Habits Of Highly Successful Screenwriters: Insider's Secrets from Hollywood's Top Writers (Paperback)

~ (Author) "It may seem unnecessary to include this trait, because most people know creativity is an essential part of the writer's makeup, especially in screenwriting..." (more)
Key Phrases: highly successful screenwriters, many aspiring writers, working screenwriters, Tom Schulman, Michael Schiffer, Ron Bass (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Aspiring screenwriters don't need another book on how to write a screenplay, says Karl Iglesias. What they need is a book on how to be a screenwriter. Voilà: The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters, featuring interviews with 14 screenwriters, arranged by subject. The result reads like a panel discussion, touching on such subjects as collaboration, schmoozing, discipline, Hollywood, and story pitching. The dream of winning a Hollywood jackpot has lured everyone and his gardener into the screenwriting game. Still, despite the unencouraging odds, "all you need to do is write a good script," says Scott Rosenberg (Beautiful Girls). Some of the book's best advice concerns one of the screenwriter's most formidable hurdles: getting a screenplay read. Submit it to film festivals and screenwriting competitions, or follow Tom Schulman's (Dead Poet's Society) advice and hire an entertainment attorney. After all, "most of them know a lot of agents." --Jane Steinberg

From the Author

"Winners have simply formed the habit of doing things losers don¹t like to do." -Albert Gray

Following the basic philosophy of modeling excellence--that our most important teachers are those who have succeeded, the essence of the master-apprentice relationship--this book is the next best thing to having the top screenwriters in the business be the reader's personal mentors as they guide and inspire him or her to adopt the mind-set and commitment inherent in being a professional screenwriter in Hollywood. The difference between successful writers and aspiring writers is that successful writers do all the things that aspiring writers won't do, can't do or don't know how to do. Common sense dictates why not look at what successful writers do specifically and do the same.

Designed for beginning writers as well as those more experienced who seek to jump start their career to new heights, this book focuses not on how to write a formulaic script but on what it takes to become the writer who creates a unique one. Whereas most screenwriting books attempt to teach the reader what to do, this book outlines, by studying those who are already doing it successfully, how to do it, stressing the key habits, so that the 'how' becomes second nature to the reader. Its structure offers a powerful and unique twist on the few established interview books by arranging the screenwriters' comments by topic rather than by individual interview, thereby following a more efficient model of accessing information needed by the reader. Rather than waste time reading a whole interview to pinpoint nuggets of information, the reader can refer to a specific topic and read what a group of successful writers have to say about it. Study their habits, learn from them, and mayb! e their wisdom will rub off on you and arm you with enough knowledge and self-confidence to accomplish your goals.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580625509
• ISBN-13: 978-1580625500
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,089 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #3 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Reference
  #3 in	Books > Entertainment > Television > Screenwriting
  #5 in	Books > Reference > Writing > Play & Scriptwriting

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 14 top screenwriters become your mentors, November 8, 2001

By	"hollywoodwriter" (Beverly Hills, CA) - See all my reviews

How would you like to have Ron Bass share his outlining process? or Eric Roth give you advice on how to make readers feel powerful emotions on the page? Or Nicholas Kazan reveal how he tackles the blank page? How about 14 highly successful writers all in one place? This is a gem of a book and the roster of writers Karl Iglesias has gathered for this book is impressive: Ron Bass, Eric Roth, Akiva Goldsman, Ed Solomon, Nicholas Kazan, Leslie Dixon, Scott Rosenberg, Gerald DiPego, Steven DeSouza, Tom Schulman, Michael Schiffer, Amy Holden Jones, Robin Swicord, and Jim Kouf. What's also impressive, and unique in my opinion, is that Mr. Iglesias has structured the book by topic, rather than by individual interview, which feels more like a symposium of habits, skills, invaluable advice, each outlined separately with comments from the panel of experts.

I highly recommend this book to any aspiring writer and all who are interested in the craft of writing for the screen. Having million-dollar screenwriter Ron Bass discuss his outlining process alone is worth more than the price of the book. Forget about shelling out $300 for a screenwriting seminar and go directly to the source: those who are doing it successfully and have agreed to share their wisdom with you.

50 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Helping Hand, July 5, 2004

By	T. Hooper "thdizzy" (Osaka, Japan) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Are you thinking of writing a screenplay? Then you could use the advice in this book. First of all, this is not a how-to book. It doesn't show you how to develop characters, or structure a story, or tell you how to write. What it does give you is information on the daily life and habits of professional screenwriters. One of the most important pieces of advice is to just write. Too often, a beginning screenwriter will spend years to write one script and then shop it around. This is a big mistake for several reasons. A movie producer is looking for someone who can work reliably at speed. If you've only written one script, they're going to be suspicious about your abilities. Another thing is that producers are very busy, so if you get one of them to finally read your script, it's going to be the first and last chance. Do you really want to show him your first script? It's trash to him. Would you send your first painting to an art gallery? Of course not, so you shouldn't do the same with screenwriting. You should have written 5 to 10 screenplays before you think of showing your work around. Most aspiring screenwriters don't want to put in this work, and it shows. If you write, you will get better. If you love writing, and you can apply yourself to your writing, then you can have a chance to work in Hollywood.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, I am tired of reading old reviews on Screenwriting Books too., March 5, 2006

By	Griffin Mill's Son (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

I always find it frustrating when I go to Amazon and look at the reviews that are posted and find that they are at least 2 to 3 years old. So I decided to at least make a more up-to-date review.

First and foremost, this book is NOT a `How to Write a great Script' book. This book is about screenwriters and their knowledgeable insight on the practice we all know as Screenwriting. These established screenwriters ( Akiva Goldman: A Beautiful Mind, A Time to Kill, and the up coming The Da Vinci Code Steven E. de Souza: Die Hard, 48 Hours.) reference their past experience on what works, what does not work, and what habits you need to establish to have a successful career in the shark infested waters of Hollywood. Not sure how many hours you need to write day in day out? Thinking that you are the only one with a spouse and kids, fearing that you will not have enough time to write? Arrived at Hollywood lost with no plan of action on how to get your script read? Worried that you born yesterday and began sending inquiry letters to agents and producers? Fear of rejection (it is inevitable) from everyone? All these topics are discussed and more in this book.

This book is required reading for all serious screenwriters. I also suggest Breakfast with sharks by Michael Lent, The Art of Dramatic writing by Lajos Egri, Story by Robert Mckee, Making a good script Great by Linda Seger, and The Writer Got Screwed by Brooke A. Wharton.