How to Write: A Screenplay

There are hundreds of books on the market, all trying to teach you how to write a screenplay. Several of them are excellent and useful books. But never - until now - has there been a screenwriting manual written in the form of a screenplay. Our hero, the aspiring screenwriter Danny, is hopelessly in love with Bebe: a hot young starlet. But Bebe won't sleep with Danny until he proves that he can write a brilliant screenplay for her. Helped along the way by a mysterious guide (Virgil) with seemingly magical powers, Danny travels to Screenwriting Hell to see what happens to writers who never make the grade. Virgil teaches him the tricks of the trade, the fundamental techniques that all screenwriters have to master, no matter how great their ideas. But there's something a little strange about Virgil, and Danny is never sure whether to trust him or not...As well as the screenplay itself, the book includes a foreword explaining how to get the most out of the screenplay; the log line; the synopsis; character bios, and the treatment.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; The Log Line; The Synopsis; Character Bios; The Treatment; The Screenplay; Index

About the Author :
Mark Evan Schwartz is Assistant Professor of Screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University in California. He's a former Head of Story Development for Nelson Entertainment, Story Analyst for the David Geffen Company, and Production Assistant to Francis Ford Coppola.

Review :
"An interesting and worthwhile experiment. A fast and informative read... A fun way to learn how to write a script!" Screenwriting magazine "Schwartz delivers a wonderfully unique concept...a great idea and the most entertaining way of learning the process." -Script Magazine Adult/High School-This is one of the best books available for aspiring screenwriters. What makes it so useful for novices is that it follows the cardinal rule Show, Don't Tell. Instead of explaining how to write a script, the book is one. The characters illustrate the craft through an action-adventure story in which Danny, a young writer, is trying to score a tryst with a sexy actress. Bebe La Rue denies him any action until he writes a hot script for her to star in. Enter Virgil, mystery man and screenwriting guru, who takes Danny to the netherworld, where they encounter ghouls, zombies, and giant slugs while exploring concepts like story structure and dramatic conflict. The book makes it clear that writing movie scripts is much harder, and takes much more strategy and expertise, than most people think. Students with dreams of winning the next Project Greenlight contest will leap ahead of the competition by learning the concepts presented in this volume. If their goal is to sell to Hollywood, this book shows them other items frequently requested by producers and agents during the pitching process: the script logline, synposis, and treatment. There's also information about how to copyright and register finished work."-Lois Kirkpatrick, Fairfax County Public Library, VA" --, "School Library Journal "