The Screenwriter's Roadmap: 21 Ways to Jumpstart Your Story
About
The screenwriter's GPS for writing a great screenplay. Avoid the wrong turns, dead ends, gaping p(l)otholes, and other obstacles commonly encountered when writing a screenplay.
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Neil Landau, Professor & Lecturer, MFA Screenwriting & Producing Programs at UCLA School of Theater, Film, Television & Digital Media.
Market: Aspiring screenwriters; indie filmmakers
Key Features: * The ideal tool to perfect your screenplay, with cutting insight from a 20+ year Hollywood screenwriting veteran on what it takes to write a successful screenplay * Revealing interviews with Hollywood screenwriting and directing heavyweights sprinkled throughout * The book also includes end of chapter exercises and examples from the latest Hollywood hits, providing practical and inspirational confidence The screenwriter's GPS for writing a great screenplay! Avoid the wrong turns, dead ends, gaping p(l)otholes, and other obstacles commonly encountered when writing a screenplay. The Screenwriter's Roadmap: 21 Ways to Jumpstart Your Story keeps you on route and helps you reach your final destination: a completed screenplay that's full of surprises, emotionally resonant, and ready for the marketplace. Neil Landau, an established Hollywood screenwriter and script doctor, provides 21 questions for you to ask yourself as you write, to help you nail down your screenplay's story structure, deepen its character arcs, bolster stakes, heighten suspense, and diagnose and repair its potential weaknesses. These 21 vital questions have been field-tested and utilized in the creation of some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters and critically acclaimed films. Each chapter is augmented by end of chapter "homework" assignments, examples from recent blockbusters and timeless classic films, as well as interviews with some of Hollywood's most successful screenwriters including Scott Z. Burns (Contagion), Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Legacy), Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island), David Koepp (Spider Man), Jeff Nathanson (Catch Me If You Can), Eric Roth (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close), David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight Rises), Billy Ray (The Hunger Games), Melissa Rosenberg (the Twilight trilogy), Sheldon Turner (Up in the Air), and many others.
Contents:
Guide
Post 1: Clarify the Central Conflict of Your Premise Guide
Post 2: Think of Setting and Time Period as Another Character Guide
Post 3: Create an Iconic Protagonist with a Core Contradiction Guide
Post 4: Give Your Protagonist Something to Win and Something to Lose Guide
Post 5: Determine Your Protagonist's Most Significant Weakness and how they'll overcome it Guide
Post 6: Drafting the Architectural Foundation Guide
Post 7: Hook Your Audience into the Plight of Your Protagonist by
Page 10 Guide
Post 8: Inject a Potent Antagonistic Force to Obstruct the Goals of Your Protagonist Guide
Post 9: Plunge Your Protagonist into Crisis at the End of Act One (no later than page 25) Guide
Post 10: Fuelling and Consistently Stoking the Dramatic Fire Guide
Post 11: Infuse Your Story with a Central Mystery Guide
Post 12: The Center Can Hold: Ratcheting up the Stakes at the Midpoint of
Act 2 Guide
Post 13: Thicken the Plot with a Pivotal Character Guide
Post 14: Compel your Protagonist into Epiphany in
Act 3 Guide
Post 15: Situate Your Protagonist at a Crossroads at the End of
Act 2 Guide
Post 16: Set the Clock Ticking Guide
Post 17: Heighten the Climax Guidepost 18: Pay-off the Setups Guide
Post 19: Crafting the Inevitable Conclusion Guide
Post 20: Illuminate the Central Thematic Question Guide
Post 21: Rewrites: Reconnecting to the Emotional Core of Your Screenplay
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