Alternative Scriptwriting: Successfully Breaking the Rules

Going beyond the conventional three act structure and exploring more inventive approaches, Alternative Scriptwriting challenges readers to take creative risks with genre, tone, character, and structure. It explores mainstream, personal, and experimental narrative forms, surveying both American and international films. In a field where novelty often equals commercial success, scriptwriters frequently strive to create screenplays that are innovative and exceptional.

Alternative Scriptwriting links scriptwriting to other forms of storytelling, and discusses issues including the three act structure, working with and against genre, character identification, and the implications of screenplay form. Key issues, examples, and case studies demonstrate what works, what doesn't, and why. Exercises encourage writers to explore new ways of viewing their work and to test the limits of their skills.


Additions to the third edition include:
* a comparative study of how two very different filmmakers handle different types of film.
* a look at ways in which narrative tension, story structure, and perspective can be used when writing for the digital film
* a study of adapting contemporary literature for film


*Examines a wider variety of genres than ever before, including extreme forms such as the melodrama and the thriller

*Includes a discussion of alternative film in the context of DVD technology

*Features a new study of adaptation from contemporary literature

Ken Dancyger is the author of numerous books on screenwriting, editing, and production. He conducts screenwriting forums and workshops in North America, Europe, and Asia. A past chair of Undergraduate studies in the Department of Film and Television at NYU, he is currently Professor of Film and Television at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.

Jeff Rush is an associate professor at Temple University's Department of Film & Media Arts. He has served as director of the MFA program and as Department Chair in Film & Media Arts. He received an MFA in Screenwriting and Directing from the American Film Institute and an MFA in Fiction Writing from the University of Iowa's Writer's Workshop. In addition to teaching, Jeff has worked as a freelance screenwriter and has published numerous articles and books.