Top 7 Books for Screenwriters
Check out these top picks every screenwriter needs on their bookshelf!
Writing a TV Movie: An Insider’s Guide to Launching a Screenwriting Career by Roslyn Muir
Writing a TV Movie is a screenwriting how-to book that reveals the structure and content differences between feature films and TV movies. Written by award-winning screenwriter Roslyn Muir, this book offers clear and simple advice for beginners and experts alike on how to master the unique nine-act structure of the popular TV movie thriller and rom-com genres. It gives excellent tips on how to write and pitch a TV Movie script to producers and is an exceptional resource for screenwriters, teachers in screenwriting classes and workshops, and industry professionals alike.
The Dreaded Curse: Screenplay Formatting for Film and Television by Kat Montagu
A screenwriter and story editor herself, award-winning writing instructor Kat Montagu needed a simple up-to-date format guide in the Hollywood-style; so she crafted the tale of two feisty young witches cursed by a ghost of a dead screenwriter. When he steals their car to make it to L.A., the chase is on and only the arcane knowledge of screenplay formatting – Feature Film, Multi-Cam Sitcom, Single-Cam Half-Hour, and One-Hour Drama – can help them. Demonstrating the elements of screenwriting from “inside the format” engages you in an accessible way, reminding you that story is at the heart of the form.
The Screenwriter’s Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script by
The Screenwriter’s Bible is one of the most popular, authoritative, and useful books on screenwriting. A standard by which other screenwriting books are measured, it has sold over 350,000 copies in its twenty-five-year life. Always up-to-date and reliable, it contains everything that both the budding and working screenwriter need under one cover.
The Coffee Break Screenwriter by Pilar Alessandra
Got ten minutes? Write your script. At last, leading Hollywood screenwriting instructor Pilar Alessandra shows everyone who’s ever wanted to write a screenplay how to do it – without quitting their jobs or leaving their families. Packed with over sixty 10-minute writing tools, The Coffee Break Screenwriter keeps it focused and keeps it simple. Her friendly but practical approach is useful for those working 9-to-5 jobs, or at home with kids, who have trouble finding the time to sit down and write. Now, you can make real progress on your scripts with only ten minutes of stolen time.
How to Build a Great Screenplay: A Master Class in Storytelling for Film by David Howard
Drawing on decades of practical experience and savvy, How to Build a Great Screenplay deconstructs the craft of screenwriting and carefully reveals how to build a good story from the ground up. He eschews the system offered by other books, emphasizing that a great screenplay requires dozens of unique decisions by the author. David Howard uses the analogy: “…in the first act you tie a knot, in the second act you tighten that knot, and in the third act, you untie it again.”
The Visual Mindscape of the Screenplay by Bill Boyle
A fully realized screenplay reveals itself primarily through images, making use of what author Bill Boyle calls The Visual Mindscape of the Screenplay. This allows the reader or viewer to discover elements of the story rather than being told. By being able to actively participate in the unfolding of the story makes the overall experience for the reader a more visceral and luminous experience.
Writing the Romantic Comedy: The Art of Crafting Funny Love Stories for the Screen by Billy Mernit
Writing the Romantic Comedy is an easy-to-understand guide, which teaches that making a romantic comedy work is about much more than mastering the boy-gets-loses-gets-girl formula. It shows how all the best works follow a seven-point plot structure and share elements that keep viewers watching.
Write on, screenwriters!
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