My favourite is 'Writer's Journey' by Christopher Vogler, a simplified, modern take on Joseph Campbell's 'The Hero With a Thousand Faces.'
I don't know why people are put off by reading the McKee book, it's actually quite entertaning. Totally f**king useless as a writing tool, mind you. Pointlessly complex.
Quote: john lucas 101 @ October 20 2008, 2:10 PM BSTMy favourite is 'Writer's Journey' by Christopher Vogler, a simplified, modern take on Joseph Campbell's 'The Hero With a Thousand Faces.'
I'll second that. Found this really useful.
Didn't Simon Pegg go to a few Robert McKee lectures before writing Shaun of the Dead. I seem to remember him talking about it in an interview.
Quote: chipolata @ October 22 2008, 11:51 AM BSTDidn't Simon Pegg go to a few Robert McKee lectures before writing Shaun of the Dead. I seem to remember him talking about it in an interview.
*Griff crams copy of Story into woodchipper*
Don't Buscemi it!
Don't you like Shaun?
Quote: zooo @ October 22 2008, 3:34 PM BSTDon't Buscemi it!
Don't you like Shaun?
I think Griff's one of these irrational Simon Pegg haters. And where is he anyway?
Quote: David Bussell @ October 22 2008, 11:09 AM BSTI'll second that. Found this really useful.
Yeah that was a book I listed as well. Its good that it has examples of movies I like too (Pulp Fiction, Lion King (?))
No books from me, but here are a couple of really inspiring websites:
http://www.wordplayer.com/ - Good guy Terry Rossio (Pirates of the carribean, Shrek etc) writes a bunch of articles about what a silly place Hollywood is and how directors are jerks blah blah but also some really neat advice. I especially like the article where he warns you against the 'crap +1' mentality, which you see people falling prey to all the time.
http://www.janeespenson.com/ - Food metaphor fixated TV writer writes little snippets of advice, good advice. Mostly about writing spec scripts for pre-existing American shows but a lot of it can be applied to general writing/submitting. She also talks about what she had for lunch, the woman is obsessed...
There's also http://johnaugust.com/ but...um...
Has that guy ever actually written a great film? I mean, I know he's hardly incompetant but... ehhhhh... I just don't like his stuff, is all. And the techniques in his articles don't seem right for me...
Anyway, after reading all of these websites the amount of scripts I've sold still stands at 0. But that's my fault, not theirs.
Quote: Blue Bottle @ October 22 2008, 5:59 PM BSTI know you can get it cheaper but the cover price is £30.00
Well, it is a big, fat hard back; but I got mine new for fifteen quid off Amazon.
I've got a "how to" screenwriting book somewhere that I got off ebay, but I only got that to see how the formatting of scripts were done.
BUT....
In my humble opinion....
All the writing books in the world won't make someone a good writer.
If they're not a good writer in the first place, a book won't make you one.
Sure, you may pick up some grammar or format hints and tips, but you've got to have a talent of storytelling/writing in the first place.
No point in reading a "how to write comedy" book, because a talented writer will already KNOW how to do that if that's the avenue they want to head up.
You're absolutely right Mikey, but personally, reading those kinds of books (and I've read a LOT of them), did help me build up a basic knowledge that's become invaluable.
I think it's important to read as many writing books, websites and blogs as possible, because each one is likely to give you something the previous one didn't. Take from them what you need and don't drive yourself crazy with the technicalities of writing.
As ALL writing books will tell you, the only way to become a writer is to keep writing. THIS is where you learn about technical things like pacing and structure, for example. Books can teach you so much... the rest comes from years of bloody hard work.
Read everything you can!
I would still rather read 5 screenplays rather than 1 book about screenplays though.
Quote: zooo @ October 22 2008, 8:52 PM BSTRead everything you can!
I haven't heard of it.
Yeah, fair enough, Rustle. Books CAN give you some tips, but, I agree with Zooo: I like to read actual scripts/screenplays to see how they're written.
