Screenwriting for Dummies

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 360 pages
• Published by: For Dummies
• Edition: 1st Edition January 2, 2003
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0764554867
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0764554865
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 5.8 pounds

Book Description
Includes all the essentials for writing a screenplay, from crafting dialogue to marketing a script
Packed with easy-to-understand guidelines and writing projects, Screenwriting For Dummies makes film writing accessible to novices and helps more experienced writers improve their scripts. This engaging guide walks readers through the essential elements of every good screenplay, from character development, to creating a story, to writing compelling dialogue, to adopting a screenplay from a different source. It also includes all the specific formatting details that go into writing a visual screenplay from scripting character introductions, to writing the camera into the script, to creating a cinematic collage. In addition, Screenwriting For Dummies covers the important task of selling a screenplay, including tips for getting a spec script into the proper marketing format, protecting intellectual property rights, and securing an agent.

Back Cover Copy
"Valuable advice. . . . Presents any number of provocative and clever ways to understand the screenwriting process."
-John Logan, coscreenwriter of Gladiator

Packed with fun and helpful writing projects

Find your voice, craft your story, and sell your screenplay

So you want to write for pictures? This friendly guide walks you through the essential elements of a good screenplay, from crafting the plot to character development to writing compelling dialogue. Youll discover how to write for different genres, think visually, format your screenplay, and get your script noticed by the right players in show biz.

The Dummies Way

• Explanations in plain English
• "Get in, get out" information
• Icons and other navigational aids
• Tear-out cheat sheet
• Top ten lists
• A dash of humor and fun

Reader Reviews
Screenwriting for Dummies provides comprehensive information about how to construct a screenplay, from concept to pitch, but its most valuable aspect is Schellhardt's coverage of film structure. She shows the bones of a good screenplay in a manner that doesn't seem so much formulaic as archetypal: a movie starts with its status quo, hits an inciting incident; its protagonist forms a plan of action at plot point one, hits the high or low of his story at the midpoint, renews his efforts at plot point two, and earns his reward, or tragedy, in the conclusion. Schellhardt clued me in to the pattern, and now, when I sense a movie petering out or losing its focus, I have a notion why it happened. Schellhardt also covers outline writing in detail and takes a couple of pages to discuss the purpose and interleaving of subplot, as well as the usual stuff about formatting and marketing. This has not only become my favorite book on screenwriting, but has proven useful in my evolving understanding of plot in fiction. Comment | | (Report this)