Book & Product Reviews

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How To Write a Movie in 21 Days

Following the steps outlined in Viki King's book won't guarantee you'll end up with a ready-to-sell script in 21 days, but it will give you a shot at finding the discipline to get your idea on paper and the tools to develop it into something worthwhile.

The notion of turning out a completed script — even a first draft — in 21 days is unrealistic for some aspiring screenwriters, but what this book does best is get you writing. The hardest part for most new writers is finding the motivation and discipline to stick to a regular writing schedule, and King provides the perfect solution with a day-by-day program that breaks the process down into manageable steps.

This is writing by the numbers. King adheres to the "screenwriter's master chart" of locking critical story events into specific page numbers in what she calls "The 120-page Marathon." While many writers find this sort of rigid structure confining, it may be useful to new writers struggling to make the pieces fit.

King's program of daily writing assignments keeps you asking the important questions — Who is my character? What is he questing after? — and helps you come up with the answers. Although it can't promise you'll live up to the title, it can definitely point you in the right direction.

Click here to view the book on Amazon.com: How to Write a Movie in 21 Days

BOOK DETAILS:
Title: How to Write a Movie in 21 Days: The Inner Movie Method
Author: Viki King
ISBN: 0062730665
Pages: 208

How NOT to Write a Screenplay

Denny Martin Flinn has a sense of humor. That is the first thing you notice while reading his book, and that's the one thing that makes it stand out above the rest.

How NOT to Write a Screenplay is a witty and entertaining tool for learning the DOs and DON'Ts of the screenwriting craft. Packed full of examples drawn from real and make-believe scripts, it can be a definite help to a writer new to the industry.

Anyone who has ever read another of the many available books on script formatting will find his commentary amusing. For example:

"Don't use (CONTINUED) at the top and bottom of each page. You're wasting four lines. Anyone reading your screenplay who doesn't know he's supposed to turn the page is a numskull."

Or his comments regarding music suggestions:

"Leave the music track alone: ‘THIS SHOULD BE AN UPBEAT SCENE WITH A GOOD MUSIC TRACK.' (Darn. The studio really wanted to use a bad music track.)"

The second half of the book, covering content and story development, provides similar information to that of books by more well-known authors such as Linda Seger or Syd Field, but offers that information encapsulated in smaller sections that make everything quite easy to relate to...sections with quirky titles such as Suspense, Believability, Twists and Whammies.

While the book doesn't teach you how to write the perfect screenplay, it does cover many of the practical details. Its strength isn't in storycraft but rather in addressing all the little details screenwriters tend to forget or abuse. Though some of the information is repetitive, there are plenty of examples and excerpts from screenplays — some good, most bad, and some you may even recognize. Flinn's advice coupled with the many examples can help you avoid the pitfalls so many screenwriters encounter.

How NOT to Write a Screenplay is a fun ride through the ins and outs of the craft, and is definitely worth the read. Screenwriters of all levels of experience will find something valuable and worthwhile.

Click here to view the book on Amazon.com: How NOT to Write a Screenplay

BOOK DETAILS:
Title: How NOT to Write a Screenplay
Author: Denny Martin Flinn
ISBN: 1580650155
Pages: 226