RESOURCES & TOOLS





    

      On Story & Screenplay Writing










Lisa Cron: Wired for Story                                                     - how to hook the audience from the very first                                                                                                                   sentence

Joseph Campbell: The Hero of a Thousand Faces                - the story of the hero’s journey

Madeline DiMaggio: Writing for TV                                      - on TV, video

Lajos Egri: The Art of Dramatic Writing                              - the basics of writing any story

Syd Field: Screenplay, The Foundations of Screenwriting   - the “Old Testament” of screenplay writing

Syd Field: The Screenwriters’ Workbook                              - guided workshop for beginners

William Froug: The Screenwriter Looks At The Screenwriter  - top screenwriters talk about their craft

William Goldman: Adventures In The Screentrade              - as the title says...

Michael Hauge: Writing Screenplays That Sell                     - all aspects of screenwriting

Robert McKee:  STORY: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting  - everything you                                                                                                           need to know in one volume

Linda Seger: Creating Unforgettable Characters                 - everything you  need to know about characters

Linda Seger: Making a Good Script Great                            - gives an overview of scriptwriting

Linda Seger: The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact and Fiction into Film  - on adaptation

Ronald B. Tobias: 20 Master Plots                                         - how to develop plot in fiction

Christopher Vogler: The Writer’s Journey                           - how to use mythic structure

Jürgen Wolff & Carry Cox: Successful Scriptwriting          - insights on skills, writing, treatment, pitch and                                                                                                          the realities of today's film & TV industry

Jennifer M. Lerch: 500 Ways To Beat the Hollywood Script Reader  - how to make them read your                                                                                                                                   screenplay

Chris Whener: Sccreenwriting on the Internet                      - researching and selling your script on the web

John Robert Marlow: Make Your Story A Movie                  - adapting your book or idea for Hollywood

Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay: Novelizations                 - how to adapt scripts into novels




If you feel you need to understand what story is and how it works, – read Lisa Cron’s Wired for Story.








A good place to start with if you are a beginner: – read Syd Field’s The Foundations of Screenwriting. 

(Click on the image on the right and it will download a pdf. version of the book.)








If you have some experience already or you are ready for the next level, which also sums it all up, - read Mckee’s Story. 







               You can get these books from the following places: 


Script City                  or                  Samuel French Theatre & Film Bookshop
scriptcity.com/                                     www.samuelfrench.com/                                                           
- more movie scripts                           - more books on screenwriting 


                            or order them from www.writersstore.com             







 SCREENWRITING TOOLS

  are embedded in the software you need to be able to write a professionally formatted screenplay

The 6 most used software programs are:
(Click on the pix on the left to learn more.)


MOVIE MAGIC SCREENWRITER 6

The most widely accepted film industry standard - production companies, studios and their writers use it, because Movie Magic Scheduling and MM-Budgeting software work in tandem with it to quickly break down a screenplay and create an accurate budget..




FINAL DRAFT 

Film industry standard - most writers use this. Submitting a screenplay in this format says you "must be a pro".







Celtx

Great tool for amateurs and indie professionals. Established writers may not use it, but only because they have workflows that predate Celtx's integrated approach.





FADE IN


A modern and intuitive alternative to the ubiquitous film industry standards. Excludes most of the superfluous tools that tend to gunk up other screenwriting applications.







WriterDuet SCREENCRAFT


A user-friendly screenwriting software with advanced outlining options. Any number of writers can work together at the same time.




And there is one amazing software for writers of long texts like novels, research papers or screenplays.




SCRIVENER

A word processor and project manager tool for writers, bringing together all your research and information to one place.  





If your click on SCRIPT READER PRO's logo below, 
it will take you to their comparison page to check the above 5
 main intercompatible Screenplay Writing programs out in detail:
https://www.scriptreaderpro.com/screenwriting-software/
*  *  *


You may want to check out other options for writing Screenplays:


https://fountain.io/

Fountain for Screenwriters APP - add-on to text editors 




https://storywriter.amazon.com/tutorials


 Amazon StoryWriter - online writing application






https://www.trelby.org/

 Trelby - Screenplay Writing software




     

 *  *  *

“What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.”

Anne Lamott