Screenwriting techniques Books

"I was a writer before I knew what a writer was." -Joseph DoughertyJoseph Dougherty has been a successful playwright and television writer, producer, and director for more than thirty years. He's written for breakthrough series that have changed the way...

Writing and Selling Romantic Comedy Screenplays offers a fresh approach to creating narratives for this ever-changing genre. Moving away from rigid and limited definitions that have evolved out of mainstream genre films, the book embraces a...

**Winner, Screen Research Network Outstanding Monograph Award, 2022**Telling a story is simple, right? You take a 'hero' and send them on a 'journey'. There's a beginning, middle and an end.But what if your story doesn't fit into that basic...

Nora Ephron was one of the most popular, accomplished, and beloved writers in American journalism and film.Nora Ephron: A Biographyis the first comprehensive portrait of the Manhattan-born girlwho forged a path of her own, earning accolades and adoration...

A Sense of Dread features three main sections. 1) A detailed examination of the biological, psychological, and cultural bases of fear. What fears do we share with animals? What fears are uniquely human? What fears have we learned from our culture? From...

Through a "Crazy" approach in writing the feature screenplay, the first half of the book guides the reader in how to create and develop: Story Idea, Characters, One Page Step Outline, and the solid script. In the second half, the book covers professional...

This groundbreaking guide describes six seemingly different popular movies and genres (Skyfall, The Avengers, The Hangover, A Beautiful Mind, The Conjuring, Gone Girl) and shows screenwriters how they all follow the exact same 120 Universal Story Beats...

Master of the Cinematic Universe is a guide to the future of trans-media storytelling. Content creators of every flavor are constantly needing to expand the mediums they can work in. This volume serves as a resource for using the timeless truths of story...

Learn to turn a simple screenplay into a visual masterpiece! Top production designers share their real-life experiences to explain the aesthetic, narrative, and technical aspects of the craft. Step by step, aspiring filmmakers will discover sound...

A story is a living thing. And you don't work on a living thing, you work with it. This is the way of the screenwriter, and it is something that writer and director Amnon Buchbinder believes all masterful screenwriters understand intuitively: learning...

While other books give you tips on how to "write funny," this book offers a paradigm shift in understanding the mechanics and art of comedy, and the proven, practical tools that help writers translate that understanding into successful, commercial...

Dying is easy, comedy is hard. So keep your comedy blockbuster alive and well and buy this book. Comedy has always been the backbone of the film business. In an age of sequels and brand-name movies based on established properties, the original comedy...