The reason for this is that the final product is designed for very expensive publications...with potentially very lucrative returns. As such, movie-making is a high-stakes game that demands the very best writing that can be bought. Anyone can write a novel, format it digitally, and load it up to Amazon to be read on Kindles, but not everyone can hammer out a screenplay that will work on film.
To ensure success, I studied.
I read a mountain of books, blogs, and forums on the subject over the months I was putting this together. Much of it was either redundant information, bad advice, or too lofty for my needs (I AM making a slasher flick, after all!). Others, though, were really valuable and I thought I’d share those here.
1. Save The Cat by Blake Snyder. This book gets poo-pooed by most screenwriters for teaching a formula, a magic bullet, that ends up making boring, formulaic movies. And there’s probably some truth to that. However, there is no other book on the market that covers as much information, as well, and as quickly, for a newbie sitting down before a computer. Save The Cat is a great place to start. Its explanation of how to write a log-line—the single sentence you need to develop to pitch the whole movie in a breath—is the best that I found in all my studies. Most of its advice about organizing the story itself and writing was cribbed directly from...
2. Story by Robert McKee. This is the best book I found about how to plot and write a movie. If you are going to have but one field guide to get your through, I would recommend this one. McKee’s note-card method works. The problem, you see, is that a movie is short: 90 minutes, 110 minutes... You simply don’t have the time that you enjoy with a novel (or comic book or whatever). You can’t run long...or short. You have to tell the story in the time it takes to watch a movie...and this is a potent restriction. McKee teaches you how to organize a plot so that it fits in that timeframe well, while building scenes with tension.
3. The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller by John Truby. The last two books rely on a 3-act structure under a classic Hollywood formula, but getting the characters to really engage in Act 2 is famously troubling. I was stumped until I found this book. It teaches a method of writing whereby one starts by defining the characters—in a very thorough, methodized, and detailed way—before the plotting part begins. The notions are very deep and lead, necessarily, to the deeper versions of your story’s potential.
4. Tough Love Screenwriting: The Real Deal From A Twenty-Year Pro by John Jarrell. This was the most inspirational book I found. In it, Jarrell shares a number of anecdotes about his time in the trenches as a Hollywood writer...the uncertainty of the industry...the hope. It’s fabulous. It details a number of important writing strategies, but the most valuable parts are about HOW to dedicate yourself to writing and how to behave like a professional. Furthermore, it was the only text that outlined how screenwriting credit and arbitration work. Excellent.
5. Make Movies that Make Money by Philip R Cable. I’ve bought three copies of this book already. It talks only a little about screenwriting (it’s a book about producing, really). However, its advice—specific, detailed—on all matters is unique. The screenwriting advice centers around how to write a script that has the right scope and budget demands to meet your technique and budget. Great book.
These are my five favorite resources that I found while studying to make this story. I was fond of some others for sure, but these were the standouts, the wisest investments I think.
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