I’ve known people who spend so much time trying to learn how to write, when the best thing they could do for themselves is to simply to dive into that first draft (or outline, or treatment, or scriptment). There are times when you’ve got to put down those screenwriting books and just WRITE.
But in summer, when we may be lying on a beach or traveling through the air, there’s probably time to read and it’s good to find a new perspective, an inspiring story, or a piece of advice that switches on a lightbulb.
Here are a few books that might make a good summer read. I’ve listed them in order of “lightness.”
Inside Story: The Power of the Transformational Arc
by Dara Marks
ISBN-10: 0978812905
ISBN-13: 978-0978812904
Dara Marks has a PhD in mythology and teaches writing workshops on the “feminine heroic” (as opposed to the hero’s journey). I took her week long intensive last year and really enjoyed the primal and intuitive aspect of the work. This isn’t about writing chick flicks, it’s deeper than that. It’s about discovering the profound relationship between plot and character arc (transformation). We all draw from the male/female sides of ourselves every day. And the book hits so close to the bone – we’re talking about human-ness, things that connect us all that make us root for the protagonist – because it relates to life as much as it does to art.
Her book is that powerful, but also amazingly practical. She connects character flaw to thematic resonance, which is something many screenwriters gloss over, because it’s hard to find a way to embody theme in story without getting cliche. Her techniques connect her insights and provide a method by which writers can work.
If you’re looking for something a little lighter and enjoy “interviews” as much as I do, check out:
Fast, Cheap, and Written that Way
John Gaspard
ISBN-10: 1449585868
ISBN-13: 978-1449585860
Gaspard started with a book called Fast, Cheap, and Under Control, which was about making low-budget films. I haven’t finished that one, but so far I like it as much as this one and have heard great thing about it.
This book contains interviews with 23 screenwriters (some of them directors) of some great low-budget films of varying genres (award-winning to horror), for the edification of budding writer/directors. This is vital to any emerging screenwriter as everyone is looking for good low and micro-budget stories. It’s a great way in the door.
The writers talk about their struggles, their strokes of luck, timing, creative financing, etc. on the way to production. It ends with a chapter called “Thirty (Highly Subjective) Lessons” Gaspard learned via the interviews. I found it humourous, informative, and inspiring.
And the fluffiest book, but completely enjoyable:
The First Time I Got Paid For It: Writers Tales from the Hollywood Trenches
Peter Lefcourt and Laura J. Shapiro
ISBN-10: 0306810972
ISBN-13: 978-0306810978
This book is another interview book of sorts, but told in the form of personal essays from screenwriters about how they made that first Hollywood buck (although a few rebels told the story they wanted to tell). My favourite story was by Marilyn Suzanne Miller about writing for the early, early days of SNL. Some of the essays fall a little flat, but in general, it’s a fun romp through writer-land. The only thing you’ll really learn is that there’s no one sure way into this business. Everyone’s story is different, and that’s the point. You just have to try every which way and keep on truckin’. It’s entertaining and ironic, rather than practical and full of step-by-steps.