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You Are Here: creation process: writing: scriptwriting books: Making a Good Script Great
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Making a Good Script Great
author:Linda Seger
price: $10.36
BUY IT ON AMAZON.COM |
For someone who is new in the world of screenwriting, this book is an excellent introduction to the structure and tricks screenwriters use to make a good script great. Linda Seger lays out each step clearly and in a fashion easily comprehendible, including excerpts from films that excel at each step. I would recommend, though, watching some of the films mentioned prior to reading the book. Unforgiven, Out Of Africa, Back To The Future, Witness, and Tootsie are a few. Out of all the screenwriting books, Linda Seger's 'Making A Good Script Great' has to be one of the easiest to read, and the best for beginners.
I am quite frankly surprised at some of the negative comments about this book. When someone in Hollywood rejects your script with a quick "Stakes aren't high enough" or "The second act sags" or any other euphenisumistic cliche for poor character development, are you really going to turn to Syd Field for help? Don't get me wrong; Syd's a great 101 book and I re-read it everytime I start to rewrite after my first draft. But if you haven't moved on to Linda Seger or Peter Brooks' "Reading For The Plot" or Lew Hunter's "Screenwriting 434" you're probably just producing well-structured clutter.
Unbelievably frustrating writing and shoddy organization keep this book from being even a moderately valuable screen-writing resource. Seger has some good ideas and some good advice, but if you respect and enjoy the English language and hate to see it roughed up by a mediocre writer, stay away from this book. A much, much better choice is Robert McKee's "Story," by far the best book about screen-writing available.
As a professional screenwriter and university screenwriting teacher, I have found this book invaluable as have many of my colleagues. There's always a moment in every script, when inspiration falters. I read a few pages of Linda's book and ideas begin to break through the barrier of my unconscious. I reccommend this and every one of her books.
Reviews excerpted from: Amazon.com |
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