What are some good books on screenwriting?
Screenwriting Books Utilize Unique Approaches to Screenwriting
The screenwriting world is subjective. Go to any screenwriting book. You will find each book has its unique approach to writing screenplays. Just like discussing a movie with someone after both of you’ve seen it, varying opinions about the movie will emerge. While you may have loved the main character, your date, or wife, or friend, might feel that the main character was awful, and thus, didn’t like the movie. There is no solution to this argument, other than agreeing that movies are subjective. What one likes, another might not like.
Screenwriting Books Part of the Whole
Screenwriting requires that you take what you read as part of the whole. In other words, what Vicki King’s book, "How to Write a Movie in 21 Days", subjectively shows, is how to write a character-driven screenplay. She takes you from how to write the first minute of the screenplay through to how to get an agent. Meanwhile, Lajos Egri’s "The Art of Dramatic Writing" establishes the basis for which to write a screenplay.
Screenwriting Books Are Multi-faceted
Aristotle’s, "The Protagonist’s Journey", is an adventure for you. Here, you can see how your hero should act and react during their time in the story. Where one book focus entirely on characterization like Ms. King’s book, Robert McKee’s book, "Story", shows how to write your story in the screenplay. This powerful book parallels what Hollywood seeks, story, story, story. In other words, Hollywoodites will always ask you, "What is your story about?"
Screenwriting Books Stress Screenwriting As a Craft
The more screenwriting books you read, the better screenwriter you will become. Of course, you have to sort your way through each book, juxtapose the elements of each book into a screenwriting style that fits your writing. Syd Field’s books, "Screenplay" and "The Screenwriter’s Handbook", show you how to write screenplays with a 101 approach. I have said that these books are books that Hollywood favors. The reason for this is that genre movies make money. The screenwriter follows a template they can create from the kind of movies they like. They, then, can utilize this template, by filling it in with words that are called formulaic. In other words, the craft of screenwriting exists in the screenwriter’s creativity. Otherwise, the screenwriter must follow a formula based on the genre they’re writing.
Viki King’s, "How To Write a Movie in 21 Days", not only shows you how to write characterization, but takes you beyond this. She shows you how to get inside of your main character’s head. And you utilize this to take your character through a series of activites that occur at certain moments/pages in the screenplay. King’s approach to screenwriting allows the screenwriter to hone their craft.
Screenwriting Books Cover a Variety of Screenplay Elements
Screenwriting is rewriting. LInda Seger’s book, "Making a Good Script Great", shows you how to tweak a screenplay that you’ve already written. William Martell’s, "The Secrets of Action Screenwriting", shows you how to write the action genre. Lew Hunter’s, "Screenwriting 434", takes you by the hand and leads you through the forest of screenwriting. Michael Hague’s, "Writing Screenplays That Sell", guides you on writing a screenplay with a special focus on selling your screenplay. This translates to mean that, while he is showing you how to write a screenplay, he is incorporating methods that show you how to screenwrite so that readers will help you take your screenplay into the market.
Epilogue on Screenwriting Books
Keep in mind that if you are seeking screenwriting books to help you learn the craft of screenwriting, be prepared to read all of the screenwriting books you can get your hands on. In the end, this approach will help you establish your screenwriting style, which will be unique to every book on screenwriting that you have read.
