Laura Schellhardt - Screenwriting For Dummies

Screenwriting For Dummies, 3rd Edition

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Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2021948884

ISBN 978-1-119-83575-2 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-83576-9 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-83577-6 (ebk)

1. Chapter 4

1. Chapter 13
2. Chapter 15
3. Chapter 20
4. Appendix 1

So you want to write a movie. Where do you start? My personal advice to aspiring screenwriters is always the same: If you want to write, read. Start with Shakespeare. He will teach you everything you need to know about drama. Read everything. Read slowly and carefully. Read aloud and open yourself to emotion. Hamlet and Falstaff and Iago and Cleopatra and Rosalind will teach you about dramatizing character and conflict. Shakespeares glorious combination of prose and verse will teach you about language. King Lear teaches you tragedy. As You Like It teaches you comedy. Antony and Cleopatra and the Henry IV plays teach you both.

Then go back and read Aristotles Poetics. Then you might treat yourself to Ibsen and Chekhov. If youre feeling really madcap you might then move on to Sophocles, Euripides, Shaw, Pinter, Beckett, and ONeill.

And then read Hamlet again.

My point is you must be a dramatist, a theatrical storyteller, first and foremost. The structural concerns of the ideal three-act movie structure or perfectly timed inciting incident must be entirely secondary to your passionate desire to tell the story honestly. Be an artist first, then a technician.

My dear friend Laura Schellhardt, the author of the book you are holding, offers some valuable advice on ways to approach writing a movie. She presents any number of provocative and clever ways to understand the screenwriting process. Used wisely, this book can help you hew your way through the very dark forest of screenplay construction.

I leave a final bit of advice from my frequent colleague, director Ridley Scott. After I delivered a particularly mammoth draft of Gladiator, Ridley turned to me with a wry smile and said, John, write less words.

So, I guess that covers it. Read lots of words, and write less of them.

John Logan

John Logans film works include Gladiator, Any Given Sunday, Star Trek: Nemesis, The Time Machine, RKO 281, and The Last Samurai.

Screenwriting For Dummies? If this book wasnt part of the For Dummies series, I mightve thought twice about writing it. After all, the last thing the world needs is another dumb screenplay. But rest assured that by Dummies, I dont mean you. This book isnt for dummies quite the opposite, in fact. Writing is challenging work. You have to decide who and what to write about. You have to figure out how to expand your chosen subject into a 110120 page story. To do that, you need a newly organized daily routine. Finally, when you finish your script, you have to introduce it to Hollywood. To do that, you need some industry tips and marketing strategies. Thats a lot of work.

So I repeat, this book isnt for dummies. This book is for writers beginners, advanced, and anyone in between. This book is for both teachers and students of cinema, of theater, of life. This book is for film-lovers and filmgoers and for dreamers of all sorts. If you have an active imagination, curiosity, and a sense of adventure, welcome. This book just may be for you.

To say that I enjoy writing would be an understatement. I love writing, and I love films, and I fervently believe that screenwriting is a craft worth pursuing. I also believe that its a demanding craft with many facets to consider. Most screenwriting books cover one of those facets in detail how to write a first draft, how to find an agent, how to sell your script to the industry, and of course other topics. Theres nothing wrong with focusing on one portion of this complicated art form, but if you have the space, why not tackle it all? This book has the space. From finding an idea to spacing it on the page to marketing it in Hollywood in this book, you can find out about the screenwriting process from A to Z (or Action to Zoom in film lingo.)