I am often asked if, other than my own books, I recommend any others for readers interested in writing.
Yes! is my happy answer.
I love books on writing, and I’m always inspired by them. And I’ve used many in my own career to get a better grasp on my work.
Of course, there is the master, Syd Field, and his classic, Screenplay. Where would any of us be without this brilliant insight into structure and story? Syd Field is the godfather of screenwriting methodology. And a close second is John Truby whose long awaited book, The Anatomy of Story, encapsulates his theories.
I also love Viki King’s book How To Write a Movie in 21 Days — and used it to write and sell a script in the titular time frame. My other favorites include David Trottier’s Screenwriter’s Bible and any book by Karl Iglesias (either 101 Habits of Successful Screenwriter or Writing for Emotional Impact — both big favs!)
For theory, there is nothing better than a couple you may have heard of, and ones that are on my shelf at the ready: The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Breitleheim and The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri are ones I often read just for fun — and to get inspired about how fairy tales and folk tales still inform us.
And as far as books about the business are concerned, I still reference both Hello, He Lied by Lynda Obst, Breakfast with Sharks by Michael Lent, and the classic Memo by David O. Selznick (which shows how the more things change the more they stay the same). These are insider looks at Hollywood, all fun reads.
Recently there is a whole new batch of future classics. Tops on my list is my buddy Will Akers’ book, called bluntly, Your Screenplay Sucks! Will’s wonderful treatise is chalk full of things I’ve always wanted to point out to writers about their scripts, and covers everything from unclear thinking to bonehead mistakes we screenwriters make that scream out: Don’t buy my script! Yes, I’m prejudiced, but Will’s book is great.
I also really like Cinematic Storytelling by Jennifer Van Sijll. These latter two books are both found in my current publisher’s stable. Michael Wiese Publishing has really cornered the market on the best books out there for entertainment, on every subject from script to directing and producing to post-production.
This goes for my other Michael Wiese favorite author, Michael Hauge, whose most recent MWP book, Selling Your Story in Sixty Seconds is absolutely fantastic, and a great companion to Michael’s classic Writing Screenplays That Sell. Also in the MWP family now is Linda Seger, whose new book is And The Best Screenplay Goes To… which covers five award-winning screenplays, and how they got that way.
And of course for pure inspiration, I always pick up On Writing by Stephen King, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, and, believe it or not, the poetry of T.S. Elliot, William Butler Yeats, The Bible (King James edition), and any novel by Vladimir Nabokov, F. Scott Fitzgerald, or Charles Bukowski. For some reason, the joyful use of language — juicy, lip-smacking words on a page — make me want to run to the word processor.
I hope this list is inspiring. What inspires you? That’s the question here in August! Inspire me and I will write great, lovely stories and screenplays, and build them into an empire of word pictures that stand…
… forever!
Blake Snyder
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Great list, Blake! I’ve read many on your list, and have found little gems in all of them. Tool in the toolbox, as they say.
When people ask me about great books on formatting (how do you write a scene where we see someone’s POV but we don’t want the audience to know who it is, and other tricky situations) I recommend “The Complete Screenwriter’s Manual” (ISBN 0321397932) as the bets book I’ve ever seen. Cole/ Haag and David Trottier’s book are great too, but this is the best I’ve ever seen.
I also remember Lew Hunter’s “Screenwriting 434” being helpful to me in the early days, and I just picked up “Writing The Romantic Comedy” by Billy Mernit which is also quite good.
Of course, nothing inspires me more than the reason I started writing screenplays in the first place. Woody Allen. A viewing of “Annie Hall” or “Manhattan” or “Hannah and Her Sisters” really gets the juices flowing!
Thanks Woody.
It’s probably best to have at least some interests outside of movies, so I wouldn’t say it’s strange at all to reach for Nabokov or Fitzgerald for inspiration. I think the main problem with Quentin Tarantino (who I admire in many ways) is that he makes movies about movies–he doesn’t seem to have any non-cinematic influences.
I’ve had hours of fun reading through Pauline Kael’s old movie-review collections (not hard to find in used bookshops). Delightfully opinionated lady she was. She once wrote that Glenda Jackson’s performance in A TOUCH OF CLASS was so bad it would probably win an Oscar (it did).
For inspiration, lots of nonfiction. Sometimes I stumble onto ideas just by reading about subjects that interest me–just some random fact or anecdote in a book will trigger a sudden flash. Ideas can come from the oddest places…
If you have not read The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp — do so. It is fantastic with applications for anyone who aspires to be creative. For example, in order to think outside of the box, you must first have a box. Or figuring out what the spine of a piece is. Or about scratching around for ideas. Or the need for rituals.
I love and adore Robert McKee’s Story as well as Donald Swain’s techniques of the Selling Writer. And I often go back to Donald Maass’s Writing the Break Out Novel and its companion workbook. But then I write romance novels and not screenplays…
Wow, that’s a pretty solid list. One that hasn’t been mentioned, but I find to be worth its weight in gold is:
Christopher Vogler’s THE WRITER’S JOURNEY.
When I zipped over to Amazon to order from Blake’s list, I came across some inspiring writing quotes:
The challenge of screenwriting is to say much in little and then take half of that little out and still preserve an effect of leisure and natural movement. Raymond Chandler
All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath. F. Scott Fitzgerald
The first draft of everything is s***. Ernest Hemingway
No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader. Robert Frost
How can you write if you can’t cry? Ring Lardner
Write a screenplay that will change your life. If you don’t sell it, at least it will have changed your life. John Truby
Although I’m not a screenwriter, I’ve been a fan for a while of Save The Cat both for mapping movies as I’m watching, and as input into storytelling.
I realised that I’m reading three writing books currently:
~ Writing Tools – Roy Peter Clark
Crystal clear tools for editing prose.
~ Writing Begins With Breath – Laraine Herring
Useful thoughts about staying in your body as you write.
~ How to Become a Famous Writer Before You’re Dead: Your Words in Print and Your Name in Lights – Ariel Gore
Fantastic DIY punk guerrilla get-your-writing-out-there manifesto.
***
And, of course, Natalie Goldberg, the original writer to help you find your voice.
Thanks for the tips on the other titles – I can feel an book order coming on…
Will Aker’s book “Your Screenplay Sucks! 100 Ways To Make It Great” is a great book to help keep you on track when you’re writing and find yourself saying “Doh! I totally forgot that!” I find it works in great harmony with the “Save The Cat!” books and adds an excellent touch to a solidly structured script. I’m currently using it as I’m work on scenes (via “The Board”) and it’s upped my confidence in the process. What’s great is that I take my Mac, my STC! books and Will’s book and virtually every question is answered as I write. Can’t wait for the added dimension of “STC Strikes Back!”
I’ve also been employing some of the theories from the “Anatomy Of Story” book by John Truby. It’s deep stuff and I’ve grabbed some invaluable insight on a few things that are helping deepen my understanding of character and story that I can plug right into my writing; and it’s also easily used within the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet.
Thanks for the recommendations. You’re a classy guy to recommend works written by “competitors.”
I read The Anatomy of Story by Truby this summer, and it was worth the price (full retail).
Based on your recommendation, I am moving The Uses of Enchantment to the top of my “to-buy” list.
And, I agree whole-heartedly with your next-to-last paragraph.
Thanks again for sharing.
Forgot to mention . . . I also read Writing for Emotional Impact, by Karl Iglesias. I love it because it’s loaded with examples from lots of well-known movies. In other words, Iglesias makes it easier to have those “Oh, I see!” moments. :)
I just ordered The Uses of Enchantment. I’m looking forward to it.
Wow, I am definately picking up all of these books!
Thank you Blake!
And thank you everyone for recomending Screenwriting books! =]
I received a Barnes and Noble gift card for my birthday. As I sauntered about the aisles, I don’t know if it was the Megaphone, The Title, or The Little Voice in My Head, but “your screenplay SUCKS!” was screaming at me to buy it and I did. I am half way through it and what a great supplement to STC. It’s clear and concise, and filled with examples that clarify those things that may not be so clear and concise to those of us (me)who have not been learned so well.
But Blake, what I really want to know is– when will your book on REWRITING be available?
From my experience as a director/writer, I don’t feel enough screenwriters know enough about the industry or the film making process. I see it workshops and writers groups, when I’m always asking the question “well, how in the hell would you be shoot that?”
I think it would give many screenwriters an edge if they understood the medium they want to work in, and “From Reel to Deal” by Dov S-S Simens, is a great way to start! It outlines a step by step process on how to produce and sell independent films. Plus, it illuminates how movies are made, bought and sold in the industry. And, while the subject matter is geared more toward directors & producers, or the all around filmmaker a la Robert Rodriguez, it is A MUST read for any beginning screenwriter to gain an insight to the entire process.
On the writing side, I found Ellen Sandler’s “The TV Writer’s Workbook,” provides a great set of tools that translate nicely to screenwriting.
plus, two books by his eminence — William Goldman; I’m surprised you didn’t mention these Blake, “Which Lie did I tell?” and “Adventures in the Screen Trade,” provide a wonderful look at his process and interesting journey through the business.
Naomi said: “But Blake, what I really want to know is– when will your book on REWRITING be available?”
That like saying, “I read the Bible to see how to live; now give me a book on redemption!” ;)
Rewrite? Re-read STC! (not a paid advertisement)
Blake:
Your post and all the above comments are about READING about WRITING. But there’s another step in between reading about a nifty writing technique and then applying it to your own crafting of stories.
That’s HOMEWORK. For screenwriters, that’s watching movies — each one more than once.
I did some homework today that hit me with one of those AHA! moments. I would attribute that AHA to SAVE THE CAT GOES TO THE MOVIES and your blog here about SPIDERMAN, but you are correct that the other books you’ve named form the foundation for STC!
As I said in my review of STC!, it really is the LAST book on screenwriting you ever will need. But it definitely is not the first or the only. I’ve read most all of those books you named — but only in doing the STCGTTM! homework did I get this particular AHA!
What was it?
Well, years and years ago I was watching THE MARY TYLER MOORE show and finally understood Comedy — where it comes from inside the writer, and how that place inside the writer connects to the audience, and why MTM was sooooo popular! I just saw it on a non-verbal level. I don’t know why growing up on I LOVE LUCY didn’t teach me that.
Today I was re-watching SPIDERMAN 2 with your blog comments on SPIDERMAN in mind, and STCGTTM, beating it out despite commercials.
And I finally understood what COMIC BOOKS and SUPERHERO stories really are. I “got it” finally, on the non-verbal level, the way I “got” Comedy. But this is ever so much more vivid I think I can verbalize it for my writing students. I don’t know how long it’ll take me to find a way to express it that conveys my insight, but now I KNOW what this whole thing is about and it’s STUPENDOUS. (just as you said in your SPIDERMAN rave — this is bigger than big!).
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://www.simegen.com/jl/
Books I’ve been digging the past 6 months:
Inside Story by Dara Marks
Emotional Structure: Creating the Story Beneath the Plot by Peter Dunne
The Anatomy of Story by John Truby
Just to balance out the bias towards step-by-step screenwriting manuals in the above recommendations, I’d like to add SCREEN LANGUAGE by Cherry Potter to this impressive list of must-have tomes.
Her approach is to view films at the sequence level, which is absolutely a refreshing and valuable addition to the plot point view.
Another great book is WRITE AND SELL THE HOT SCREENPLAY by Raindance’s Elliot Grove. His eponymous weekend workshop is also well worth a visit for those of you in the UK. This book is worth getting even just for Grove’s approach to building scenes and understanding their function within the context of the entire screenplay!
And as always, there’s no substitute for reading screenplays! There are plenty of sites where you can download screenplays for free. If you prefer authorized shooting scripts, go to The Script Shack where they always have a great selection of discounted scripts to choose from.
Happy writing,
Dave Herman
http://ravingdaveherman.blogspot.com/
http://greatscreenwriting.blogspot.com/
When it comes to the secrets of screenplay formatting, I always recommend Christopher Riley’s The Hollywood Standard. Chris used to work for Warners, and learned this from the old hands who used to have to work on typewriters! The thing that he does that others don’t is tell you why things are formatted as they are in screenplays — like the proper order of elements in the slugline. Basically, he reminds writers that the screenplay is the blueprint for the production, not just in the story, but in the way you present the information. The closer you get it to the standard, the closer it is to an actual shooting script. My reaction to it translates as “Don’t give them ANY excuse to muck with your script!”
As for other books — soon, soon, I’ll have a totally new one to spring on you, Blake! ;) The Scribbler’s Guide to the Land of Myth is almost ready to be available (it’s in the last stages of processing with BookSurge). Another couple of weeks, I think. Having to proof the galleys got me all jazzed on it again.