The Screenwright(R) Book Nook

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Listings: Personal Reviews | SCRNWRiT | Nicholl | Other Books, Magazines, Music, Software

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[In association with Amazon.co.uk (£) and Amazon.com.] Over several years of buying and reading many screenwriting books, I've found a few worth recommending. The following titles deserve a place on any serious screenwriter's shelf, because they're the best available in their respective areas, IMHO. You may order directly from the Internet bookseller linked to the titles, or query the publisher (I simply duplicated the information printed in my personal copy of the book, so the address/price may vary). Alternatively, some of these volumes may be available for loan through your local library:

9TimeZones.com: an eMail screenplay collaboration between Hungary and L.A. (includes first draft script "The Fall In Budapest")
by Alan C. Baird with Anikó J. Bartos
US$14.40 from Xlibris Corporation, 436 Walnut St. 11th Fl., Philadelphia, PA 19106
Yes, my fingerprints are all over this one... <g> here's the back cover blurb: Imagine writing your script with a mysterious stranger who's half a world away. Brief phone calls reveal some of the puzzle, but a short-story-filled eMail exchange provides the real key. If you wanted to share this correspondence, what would you do?

Clause By Clause: The Screenwriter's Legal Guide £
by Stephen F. Breimer, Esq.
US$11.95 from Dell Readers Service, Box DR, 1540 Broadway, NY, NY 10036
When I heard, late in the summer of '95, that this was being published, I rushed over to my local bookstore and reserved a copy of the first delivery. This has been one of the few times that my anticipation about a book was entirely justified. Written by an entertainment lawyer, it provides a solid paradigm for how the "business" in "show business" works for people like us. It gave me a way of thinking about what I do that I find to be very healthy. I now know how deals are usually structured under present realities, how those have been shaped by the history of the business, how upcoming deals can be structured, and what to look for in a negotiation. I know what to give up as a lost cause, what to hold out for, and how to supervise my lawyer. When the crunch comes, I hope I'm able to fully utilize these valuable lessons!

The Complete Guide To Standard Script Formats - Part I (Screenplays) £
by Hillis R. Cole, Jr. and Judith H. Haag
US$18.95 from CMC Publishing, 11642 Otsego St., N. Hollywood, CA 91601
This title seems to pop up in screenplay formatting circles more and more these days. Written by two folks who have been running their own script typing service for years, it's an exhaustive overview of how (and why) screenplays are formatted. I found it to be fascinating reading, but then, I was designing a script formatting program at the time... They receive credits in a lot of software, and they got another one in mine.

Screenplay - The Foundations of Screenwriting £
by Syd Field
US$12.95 from Dell Publishing, 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, NY, NY 10017
You've seen ads for his seminars - now read his book, the grandpappy in the how-to area (a fine way for beginners to get their feet wet).

Adventures In The Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting £
by William Goldman
US$16.99 from Warner Books, PO Box 690, NY, NY 10019
Funny, acute observations of Hollywood and the biz by the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Maverick, Marathon Man and All the President's Men, among many others. It's required reading, if only because it includes the entire script and inside story of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Making A Good Script Great £
by Linda Seger
US$12.95 from Dodd, Mead & Company, 71 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10003
Written by a well-known script consultant, this is a guide for writing and rewriting. It's also a classic in the field of structure.

Getting Your Script Through The Hollywood Maze £
by Linda Stuart
US$14.95 from Acrobat Books, PO Box 870, Venice, CA 90294
Linda teaches/taught a course in Story Analysis at the American Film Institute, and writes from a script reader's point of view. She offers some penetrating insight from the other side of the word processor.