Reddit reviews Writing Movies: The Practical Guide to Creating Stellar Screenplays
We found 4 Reddit comments about Writing Movies: The Practical Guide to Creating Stellar Screenplays. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
This sub gets this question about 5 times a week and I think a sidebar link should be created, kind of like the "What Software Should I Use" link in /r/VideoEditing.
Here's the one book I would suggest.
https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Movies-Practical-Creating-Screenplays/dp/159691145X
The Truby and Mckee books are popular, but....they are total bullshit.
Lots of pontificating and posturing and theorizing but very little nuts and bolts workhorse tools.
Mckee says a scene is created by "the widening gap between expectation and result".
What the fuck?
Useless.
If a screenwriting book doesn't have full complete chapters on characterization and dialogue, how can you call that a writers manual?
Replace with these I promise you you'll learn more that you can actually apply:
https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Movies-Practical-Creating-Screenplays/dp/159691145X
https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Script-Wells-Root/dp/0805002375/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520474914&sr=1-1&keywords=writing+the+script+wells+root
The Screenwriter's Bible
Writing Movies: The Practical Guide to Creating Stellar Screenplays
Naked Playwriting: The Art, the Craft, and the Life Laid Bare
And browse Simply Scripts.
I found this book, from the Gotham Writers' Workshop, to be a very helpful and comprehensive guide to story structure, formatting, character development, outlining, etc. This should serve as a good starting point. Just keep in mind that screenwriting is a visual art. You're putting together the blueprint for a film, so the writing itself should be sparse but effective. Unlike literature, screenwriting focuses more on craft than it does on turn of phrase or the "art" of writing.