I think you’re exactly right — the larger the variety of sources one learns a trade from, the more likely he/she is to be successful at it. Screenwriting books are one of those sources… not the only one by any means, and not the best one either, but definitely worth taking a look at, if nothing else because they can help you see the same things in a different light that you already know intuitively but haven’t quite been able to put into words. For me, I think I shunned the books at the right stage of my development as writer (i.e., when I didn’t know enough for them to be useful), and am now coming back to them at the right time.

She was just saying it’s a dick move to be wrongly brutal about a movie on the writer’s blog.

How long have you been a screenwriter, exactly? I politely explained why the movie didn’t work for me; if anything, the only person I maligned was Roald Dahl (whose books I love, incidentally). If that kind of constructive criticism is too severe for you, I fear for your well-being as a writer.

P.S., the link to my blog is up there. Make sure you give me your email address so I can let you know when I sell a script and you can diss me. Looking forward to working with you!

@Anna As a clinical psychologist turned screenwriter, I can vouch for the notion that we often behave without clear motivation, but that doesn’t mean our behavior isn’t motivated. In other words, it sometimes takes some problem-solving to determine the function of our behavior–why we’re doing what we’re doing.

What I loved about “Go” was exactly this recognition: the characters were often completely unclear about why they behaved a certain way. Which is true to life. And which we don’t often see in movies with clear “wants” and “needs”. Another great example of this ambiguity was in “Y Tu Mama Tambien”.

@Nick As God is my witness, when you’ve written half a dozen or more produced scripts, I will track down your blog and malign at least one. Dude! Why would you do that? Is it just the anonymity?

Thanks for mentioning the want vs need. I’m around 70 pages into my script and “gasp” ran into a blank. I know how my script is going to end, but I need a few more scenes to get to that. However, I’m on a deadline and by posing that want vs need, I hope i can get back on track.

cool,

Mark

My advice to you is to read a lot of produced screenplays by established writers. There are hundreds of them freely available online to read and download etc. Read the screenplays, compare them to the finished films – especially if the finished film is a masterpiece. That way you’ll get an idea of what translates best to the screen. You might also be interested in the screenplays to bad films – because usually that’s not the fault of the screenwriter, and you’ll learn from those scripts too.

The “How To” screenplay textbooks are didactic garbage. They offer a template, and a template will not inspire you to write something amazing – it will inspire you to join the dots and fill the gaps.

Just write out all your ideas in any kind of random order, read lots of produced screenplays until you find a style you identify with, then try writing in a similar style. Your style will change as you go along, but it helps if you base it on another writer’s style to start with.

For god’s sake don’t get yourself tangled up in mind-numbing “theories” and “rules” of screenwriting. They only exist in the minds of the small-minded. (No offence to anyone like that here)