10 Screenwriting Books That Inspired Me
September 13th, 2010 | Posted by in Featured Posts | Screenwriting
Over the years, I’ve read a lot of books on screenwriting. When I sat down in front of my bookshelf to decide which 10 mattered most to me, I had a lot of trouble.
There are so many books out there that are valuable resources to the aspiring screenwriter.
So I decided to base my list on the books that truly inspired me to write. (Much like I did with my 10 yearly favorites post)
I’ve read many of these several times and I highly recommend them all to anyone out there looking for great books on screenwriting.
Here they are in no particular order:
Screenwriting From The Soul by Richard Krevolin
Instead of teaching fundamentals, formatting or proper structure, Krevolin creates a conversation between student and mentor based on WHY we write screenplays. I wrote him an email when I finished his book and he wrote me back. That was pretty cool too.
Real Screenwriting by Ron Suppa
An amazing Book. Check out my review here.
How NOT To Write A Screenplay by Denny Martin Flinn
I recommend this book to anyone who has just completed a first draft. There are so many tips (101 to be exact) that many tend to overlook. Myself included.
Save The Cat by Blake Snyder
A fantastic book. The only one in the series I’ve read so far. The others are on my list.
Power Screenwriting by Michael Chase Walker
When I was in University, I was writing a basketball story called Behind Max. I had just completed the first draft when I got this book from the library. When I was done, I began a page one rewrite of the script to apply what I had learned.
Alone In A Room by John Scott Lewinski
Another subway book I read recently. Eventually, I only read on the ride home so I could actually write instead of having to wait.
Crafty Screenwriting by Alex Epstein
I probably read this book the fastest out of all of them. Reading this book back to back with Power Screenwriting is an excellent double dose of screenwriting awesomeness.
Screenwriting From The Heart by James Ryan
James Ryan’s book is definitely up there with the best I’ve ever read.
Psychology For Screenwriters by William Indick, Ph. D.
This one is pretty much a psychology text book. I happen to be very interested in psychology so I regularly refer to these pages for guidance while I’m writing.
More to come…
There are notable absences from my list such as Story by Robert Mckee or books by Syd Field or Tom Lazarus. I could go on and on.
Any books I’m missing? I’m always looking for new ones. It’s gotten to the point where there are few I haven’t read.
Comment if necessary.
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It’s amazing to me how many of those I have never heard of. Then again the last screenwriting book I purchased was “Save The Cat”, and that was from my Mom three years ago. I’m not sure whether reading more books will help me in my endeavor. Each one says the same thing but slightly different. Right now I need to find a way to stop procrastinating and write. If I get hooked on reading a couple of the books from your list (which I am sorely tempted to do) I will then push back another opportunity to work on a screenplay. I think when I finish the first draft of my softball movie I will check out the two you said went perfectly together!
I definitely recommend those two. Some of the books aren’t the same though. Screenwriting From The Soul for example spends very little time talking about HOW to write for the screen. The entire book is broken up into a series of letters between a teacher and a willing student. Most of the first few pages have the teacher trying to convince the student to quit. Of course it doesn’t work and the letters continue. I’m more of a fan of personal accounts rather than how-to books. It’s the reason books like Robert McKee’s Story didn’t make my list. You can only learn so much. I agree with you completely because after a while, you have to have a screenplay to show for it.
There are times when I feel terribly guilty about procrastinating. Reading books or screenplays in general helps me get excited about writing again. It’s the same with movies. I try to surround myself with resources that essentially force me to think about writing. Whether or not that leads to pages depends on the day but at least my brain is working.
I think I’m going to read Save The Cat again. It’s the only one on the list that I’ve only read once.