Screenwriting Books
 

Went to the Local book store today looking for a good screenwriting book.They had about thirty different books.Can anyone recommend a book that would be considered the best all around screenwriting book.

IMHO...

Screenwriting books will do nothing for you if you don't know how to write. Syd Field and Chris Keane and Viki King will tell you all about format and structure and "the biz" but nothing about writing. And don't even get me started on Robert McKee.

This, again IMHO, is why there are hundreds and hundreds of people with partially written screenplays on their computers, dozens of "great ideas for movies."

The only 2 books about any kind of writing that I recommend to people who think they might want to write professionally are Stephen King's ON WRITING and Strunk and White's The Elements of Style.

I think one can learn more from these 2 than from reading a dozen screenplay books.

I agree with that. Although you might want to read a Syd Field book just to get an idea of what goes into making a run-of-the-mill Hollywood screenplay, you shouldn't take his advice as gospel. Better to go buy the published screenplays of some movies you like and see how they are constructed.

The Robert Towne screenplays for "The Last Detail" and "Chinatown" is the best education as far as screenwriting. It's all there: technique, plotting, directions. Towne is one of the best screenwriters around.

yeah, you either can do it or you can't... but that aside, I've read a few screenplay books...

I'd advise first to just read SCREENPLAYS...they are the most helpful...

After that (and i'll get flamed) I'd recommend Robert McKee's STORY...it's intereting and easy to follow... also, not really much about technique but an interesting look at screenwriting is WHICH LIE DID I TELL by William Goldman... a great read...

MATT

For instruction on writing a story using the classic mythic structure(as most stories do), I recommend "The Writer's Journey" by Christopher Vogler. He focuses on the mythic structure in film, and uses several examples. It's based on the ideas found in Joseph Campbell's book, "Heroes With a Thousand Faces".