Now Write! Screenwriting: Screenwriting Exercises from Today's Best Writers and Teachers (Now Write! Writing Guide Series) - Softcover

Ellis, Sherry; Lamson, Laurie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1585428515 ISBN 13: 9781585428519

Publisher: Tarcher, 2011

Synopsis

An essential handbook featuring never-before-published writing exercises from the acclaimed screenwriters of Raging Bull, Ali, Terminator 2, Fame, Groundhog Day, Cape Fear, "Lost", "True Blood", "The Shield", and many other hit films and television shows.

Now Write! Screenwriting-the latest addition to the Now Write! writing guide series-brings together the acclaimed screenwriters of films like the Oscar-winning Raging Bull, Oscar- nominated Ali, era-defining blockbuster Terminator 2, musical classic Fame, hit series "Lost" "True Blood" and "The Shield," Groundhog Day, Cape Fear, Chicken Run, Reversal of Fortune, Before Sunrise, Mystic Pizza, Indecent Proposal, and many more, to teach the art of the story.

*Learn about why it is sometimes best to write what you don't know from Christina Kim ('Lost')

*Find out how Stephen Rivele (Ali, Nixon) reduces his screenplay ideas down to their most basic elements, and uses that as a writing guide

*Learn why you should focus on your character, not your plot, when digging yourself out of a plot home from Danny Rubin (Groundhog Day)

*Take tips from Karey Kirkpatrick (Chicken Run, The Spiderwick Chronicles) on how to give an inanimate object intense emotional significance

*Let Kim Krizan (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset) teach you how to stop your internal critic dead in his tracks

This lively and easy-to-read guide will motivate both aspiring and experienced screenwriters. No other screenwriting book offers advice and exercises from this many writers of successful, iconic films.

About this title

About the Author

Sherry Ellis is the editor of NOW WRITE! Fiction Writing Exercises from Today's Best Writers and Teachers and NOW WRITE! NONFICTION, as well as a personal writing coach. Her author interviews have appeared in the Kenyon Review, The Writer’s Chronicle, Glimmer Train, and AGNI, as well as other literary and arts magazines. She lives in Massachusetts.

Reviews

Editors Ellis and Lamson, whose Now Write! series has previously tackled fiction and nonfiction, delve into the world of screenwriting in a how-to packed with advice and exercises from working movie and television writers and other experts in the business. The concise, pointed essays, averaging three-to-four pages, offer tips on getting started, tackling structure, building characters, and what to do with the script when it’s done, followed by exercises intended to jump-start the writing process. Lost scribe Christina Kim urges writers to go beyond what they know through firsthand research. German film writer Beth Serlin shows readers how to pump up the action through verb choice. Legendary screenwriting guru Syd Field offers advice on how to make characters well rounded. Script consultant Bill Lundy breaks down the all-important log line to show writers how to summarize their screenplays in one sentence. Packed with invaluable knowledge and tips, this volume is essential reading for any aspiring screenwriter. --Kristine Huntley

Edition details

• Publisher: Tarcher
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1585428515
• ISBN 13: 9781585428519
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 368