The Most Important Thing All Screenwriters Must Read
Most ‘how to write a screenplay‘ books exploit novice screenwriters. These books and blogs do not
One of the questions people new to screenwriting frequently ask more experienced writers is, “What books should I read to learn to write screenplays?”
It’s not a surprise that this question gets asked, given the vast numbers of books on “how to write a screenplay” that are available, all promising to do the same thing: show you how to write a blockbuster and break into one the toughest of job markets to break into.
In this post, I’ll give you the books that I recommend to anyone starting out in screenwriting, as well as websites that are useful for people starting out to become a screenwriter.
My view is that there is a handful of “how to write a screenplay” books that are useful — which I list below — the majority are published to exploit people.
Screenwriting is not an easy career, it is not a simple trade to learn, and there are many more aspects in addition to writing. However, screenwriting books don’t mention any of that. Instead, they con you into believing screenwriting is an easy job, because all you need is a good script for a Hollywood movie executive to hire you as a screenwriter. And if you read this writer’s book on writing a screenplay, you are guaranteed to write that script.
If the industry worked like that, every person who’s read a screenwriting book will have sold at least one screenplay — but it doesn’t, and they haven’t.
Disclaimers
This list is based on my opinions, not facts. Speak to other writers and they will have different views on what books you should read.
And I’m not saying every book on screenwriting outside of the ones I list below are worthless — books on writing by skilled and talented writers and filmmakers — are valuable resources, but other “how to write screenplay” books should be approached with caution.
The Most Important Thing Screenwriters Must Read
The Most Important Thing Screenwriters Must Read comes later, as for now, it is time to meet the canon…
The Screenwriting Canon
If there was an officially sanctioned canon of screenwriting books for writers working in the Western film industry, I believe it would consist of the following books.
I’m going to list these books in the order that I think they should be read. As each of book builds on theories, style and jargon of previous works, they should (with one exception) be read in order of when they were published.
As well as benefitting from the advice in these books, disagreeing with them can also help you. Being challenged by and thoughtfully critiquing these texts will strengthen your theory of what good screenwriting involves — something you may not have given much thought to before, but must if you want to develop as a writer.
Poetics by Aristotle
This book on from 350BCE is the one new screenwriters should read first. All modern books on writing can trace their ancestry to this work. And it is still relevant to today’s writers — more on that later.
Poetics is the first part of Aristotle’s theory of playwrighting. In this monograph, the philosopher breaks down what is necessary for a successful tragedy — a story where the hero fails to overcome the antagonists — and details the “three-act structure” made popular by Syd Field millennia later.
There are rumours that Aristotle wrote another volume of Poetics — this one dealing with comedy. But that work has been lost to the ages. (Which is one of the reasons I’m still angry at the burning of the Library of Alexandria.)
While you can buy Poetics in just about every decent bookshop, it is freely available online. However, online versions usually lack the annotations, notes on context and interpretations by experts a shop-bought copy will have.
The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Volger
In 1949, the anthropologist Joseph Campbell wrote The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Analysis of myths from cultures across time and the world, led Campbell to the “monomyth”: a basic structure used by all myths, beginning with the epic of Gilgamesh — the oldest known long-form story — right up until today’s modern myths told in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Along with Field’s “three-act structure”, the monomyth is the most influential screenwriting structure theory in existence. While Field’s theory evolves and changes with fashions and technologies, the monomyth remains steadfast — after all, if Campbell’s premise is correct, it has been around, unchanged, since humanity first started telling imaginative tales and seems to be encoded into humanity’s collective subconscious.
The monomyth most famously influenced George Lucas. By combining the monomyth with the story of The Hidden Fortress, Lucas created the first Star Wars film, Episode IV: A New Hope.
But it wasn’t until Christopher Volger circulated his memo, A Practical Guide to The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell among Hollywood studios that the monomyth because popular. In his memo, Volger argued that the monomyth had the potential to help writers create the screenplays for popular — and so profitable — movies and provided a summary of Campbell’s theory.
The memo was such a success that it spread out from Hollywood and hit the internet. So Volger further developed it into The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers.
Volger adapts Campbell’s theory of the monomyth and (as Field, McKee et al did) applies it to popular films, so the reader can understand how it applies to cinematic stories. Volger also breaks down the archetypes that form a key part of Campbell’s work.
Hero is a dense, academic treaty. The Writer’s Journey is an accessible, practical and accurate version of Campbell’s work. I recommend Volger’s book to any fiction writer and those who are interested in Campbell’s work but are intimidated by Hero.
The documentary series The Power of Myth — a six-part series, made by PBS, of Campbell discussing his theory with the media critic Bill Moyers — is now available on Netflix. (After watching Campbell, you next watch Nicholas Day’s documentary series Myths and Monsters — also on Netflix.)
Screenplay by Syd Field
Field’s Screenplay — the book that started the genre of screenwriting books — is the second book in the canon.
In this book, Field applies the Aristotle’s “Three Act Structure” to cinematic writing, to create possibly the most influential book on screenwriting there is.
The Three Act Structure is the foundation of how the film and TV businesses think about how stories should be constructed. Field’s theory has been adapted countless times by other writers (and non-writers), to form the nightmarish smorgasbord of screenwriting books out in the market.
While Screenplay is a very accessible (and short) read, and Field’s theory is a sound, the main reason to read Screenplay is that this is the book all other screenwriting books are based on. Field’s jargon and concepts are part of the film business’s DNA now, so you need to understand them to start as a screenwriter.
Field went on to further develop his theory in later books, but Screenplay is the only “must-read” Field wrote.
Story by Robert McKee
Like Screenplay, McKee’s Story is in the bloodstream of the film and TV industries.
Like Field, McKee, a former screenwriter, analysed feature films over decades. Unlike Field, McKee went further than detailing a structure for writing movies — he created a detailed theory of what a story is.
Don’t assume this is a philosophical text: Story is a methodical, forensic analysis of what makes an entertaining movie for mass consumption.
McKee broke down the components of a screenplay from acts (riffing off Field’s earlier work) all the way down to “beats” — the specific emotional changes that occur in a single shot — and laid out how they can be manipulated and structured to create a desired emotional response in a viewer.
Story is a long and technical read. Some people find it hard to read — you’d be forgiven for thinking Story was a mathematics textbook if you took a casual glance at its pages of graphs — other people say it fascinating, some think it is the bible of how to write a successful screenplay, and others that it is a soul-less piece of technical analysis.
Robert McKee (played by Brian Cox) gives advice to Charlie Kaufman (played by Nic Cage) in the excellent biopic/study of screenwriting Adaptation (written by Charlie Kaufman)
I think it’s all of these things. While there are many aspects of McKee’s theory I disagreed with when I first read it, there were other aspects of it I have never been able to suggest are “wrong”.
But whatever your opinion of McKee’s theory, as with Screenplay, his jargon and theory are part of the common language used by screenwriters, filmmakers and executives, so you need to be familiar with them for when you encounter them.
McKee also offers expensive Story Seminars. McKee held the first of these seminars, which runs for three 10-hour days, in 1983–15 years before he published Story. While I know writers who question the usefulness of this seminar, writers I trust who’ve been to one say it is one of the greatest pieces of theatre you are likely to see — that alone makes going to one worthwhile.
Save the Cat by Blake Snyder
Published in 2005, Snyder’s Save the Cat burst into the film industry and was feted as the new bible for screenwriting. The saying “save the cat” quickly became as much part of screenwriting jargon as “three-act structure”, “story beats” and “plot points”.
Compared to Field and McKee, Snyder was (he died unexpectedly in 2009) a far more experienced screenwriter. He also came up in the industry decades after his predecessors, so he had a modern sensibility and practical experience to guide his theory.
“Save the cat” refers to a key part in Snyder’s theory of writing a successful screenplay: early in the film, the film’s protagonist has to “save a cat” — do something that is nice. This could be literally saving a cat, defending another person from a bully, or cook a delicious banquet for their friends.
In this book, Snyder presented the “The Blake Snyder Beat Sheet” — an extremely detailed structure for a screenplay. Save the Cat promises that sticking to this structure will mean you can write a successful Hollywood blockbuster.
I found Snyder’s theory to be oversimplified and overly restrictive — far more so than either Field’s or McKee’s. However, for someone working on their very first screenplay, it would be helpful. But, I view this screenwriting book as one of those sells the lie that writing and selling a screenplay is simple.
However, like the McKee and Field books, Save the Cat is part of screenwriting lore, so you should familiarise yourself with Snyder’s premises.
Into the Woods by John Yorke
Don’t get this book confused with the postmodern fairy tale musical Into The Woods. The full title of John Yorke’s book is Into The Woods: How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them.
Despite it being on my bookshelf since 2013, I’ve not yet finished reading Yorke’s book. However, nearly every professional screenwriter I know has — it was the talk of the London Screenwriters Festival of the year it was published. The general consensus seems to be that it’s one of the great books on fiction writing available.
Yorke stands out from the other people in this list, as he is a British screenwriter/producer. He began his career on the BBC’s flagship continuing drama EastEnders in 1994, and today, he’s the show’s executive producer, setting the show’s creative direction and production. Hollywood may have its blockbuster scribes, but the writers on British continuing dramas (never call them “soap operas” to a British screenwriter) are some of the most skilful and talented writers in the industry.
Yorke’s book examines how stories are constructed using a five-act structure — a theory evolved from Field’s three-act structure — but examines how the techniques of playwrights and features of classic mythology can help and influence screenwriting today.
From what I have read, Into The Woods is excellent. Like McKee did with Story, Yorke aims to reveal what story actually is, rather than provide a rigid model of how to write a movie. Interestingly, Yorke doesn’t just examine film and TV screenwriting: he uses theatrical writing, novels, and non-fiction — including examples of journalism—to build his theory of narrative.
Yorke has begun holding lectures and seminars based on Into the Woods. Time will tell whether Into The Woods will be a new Story.
Being a professional screenwriter
The books listed above will tell you how to be a screenwriter — that is, a person who writes screenplays. However, actual writing only forms about 50% of professional writer’s work. The basics required for other 50% are covered by the following books.
In this section, I’ve also recommended blogs which screenwriters should visit regularly and a book on the art of filmmaking.
The Complete Book of Scriptwriting by J Michael Straczynski
Straczynski (henceforth “JMS”) is the creator of the epic space opera Babylon 5 and the orgy-tastic Sense8, and the writer behind some 1980s childhood TV favourites, including She-Ra and The Real Ghostbusters.
When I saw the Complete Book of Scriptwriting I thought this would be a chance to peek into his mind. But JMS’s book is about the business of being a screenwriter — from how to approach producers, to how to work with creative staff in another continent.
It’s a book about how to be a professional scriptwriter, not just a person who writes scripts. That alone makes it invaluable.
(The title refers to “Scriptwriting”, as JMS covers writing scripts for different media: film, TV, animation and theatre.)
JMS was one of the first professional writers to be on the Internet, before there was the World Wide Web, when people talked by email and text-based newsgroups. Back then he was approachable to writers and fans alike, and willing to advise them. And he still is, via his Twitter account @straczynski.
Good in a Room by Stephanie Palmer
Here’s something few screenwriting books will tell you.
When you’ve written your screenplay, your job isn’t to sell your screenplay to a producer: your job is to sell you as a screenwriter to a producer — and your spec script is your audition piece. This is the dreaded “pitch meeting” — that point when you have to convince executives of some kind to hire you.
And that meeting is what Palmer’s book Good in a Room is all about.
Palmer is a former development executive for MGM Studios, and has been the executive in a countless number of these meetings, with new and veteran screenwriters. She wrote Good in a Room as a guide for people who have to sell their work to another person, based on her experiences in those meetings.
Pitching is a critical skill for screenwriters. In short: a poor writer who can pitch well will have a successful writing career, while great writers who cannot pitch well will fail in the profession.
Palmer’s book can help you be successful at pitching.
The bad news is Good in a Room is no longer in print — to my knowledge, it isn’t available as an ebook either — so you’ll have to locate a used copy or buy an audiobook version.
The good news is Palmer continues to provide advice via Twitter at @goodinaroom and through her website goodinaroom.com.
In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch
There is a maxim in filmmaking that goes, “A movie has three writers: the screenwriter, the director and the editor.”
Murch is the video and sound editor behind some of the greatest movies you’ve seen: Jarhead, Apocalypse Now, the Godfather trilogy and The English Patient are just a few.
In the Blink of an Eye summarises Murch’s theory of editing films. And it’s one of the greatest books on filmmaking around. Too many screenwriters do not appreciate how much of the story we see in a cinema is created by the editor selecting and combining footage, sound effects and music.
Murch’s reveals how much of a storyteller good editors are, and how you can make your screenplays more cinematic, by writing with the edit in mind.
Screenwriting websites
I’ve got three websites I recommend you visit to learn more about screenwriting and enter the community of screenwriters.
I am going to list these in order of my encountering them: not in order of quality.
Go into the Story
Scott Myer’s blog Go into the Story (GITS) (stop sniggering Britons!) is a vast resource for new and experienced screenwriters.
Myers’ site packs more in information and guidance than any screenwriting book outside of the “canon”, so you are guaranteed to find help with your problems — even if you didn’t even realise you had a problem.
For your first visits to GITS, go to these posts:
- How to Read a Screenplay: this seven-part series shows how you can analyse a screenplay: a key skill for screenwriters.
- Script Reading & Analysis Series: occasionally Myers will analyse the script of a classic or recently released film using the steps detailed in How to Read a Screenplay, which are listed here.
- 1, 2, 7, 14: professional writers have to balance their time between different projects at different stages of development. Myers’ 1, 2, 7, 14 method is designed to help you do all of that. And it’s effective.
- A Screenwriter’s Guide to Aristotle’s Poetics: and we’re back to Aristotle. Myer’s 44-part epic details how Poetics applies to screenwriting. Myers has also made this available as an ebook.
- The other reason: I’ll talk about this later.
John August
Screenwriter and novelist John August has maintained a blog for what seems like decades. While his blog doesn’t have the wealth of advice Myers provides in GITS, it does provide insight into the writing process and the business of Hollywood.
The site also hosts Scriptnotes, August’s podcast, which is definitely worth listening to, his screenplays (from early drafts to production and shooting scripts), and the free Courier Prime font (a much-improved version of the Courier font that is one of the banes of Windows).
Bang2Write
Lucy V Hay — aka Bang2Write — is an experienced British script editor and script reader. She lives in the Devon countryside, with many cats and her (frankly barking mad) children, and also online as @Bang2Write.
Lucy has also been running the Bang2Write blog for many years. While her blogging style is idiosyncratic (her Twitter pseudonym isn’t “Shouty Writing Tips” for nothing) — her writing advice is superb.
Lucy regularly discusses how to write commercial screenplays, how you can apply the techniques of a Hollywood blockbuster to low-budget independent feature film, as well as how writers — and the film and TV industries — can improve the portrayal of other cultures, ethnic minorities and women.
Lucy also writes books on screenwriting that contain useful advice and do not sell you false hope: Writing & Selling Dramas, Writing & Selling Thrillers and Writing Diverse Characters.
The Most Important Thing All Screenwriters Must Read…
So now we come to the Most Important Thing All Screenwriters Must Read:
Screenplays.
Lots and lots and lots of screenplays.
Before you put fingers to keyboard and start your first script, I recommend spending six months reading and analysing three to four screenplays a month for six months. And after that, read at least one per week.
If that sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is.
If you find reading that many screenplays is too much work, screenwriting is not the business for you. If you can’t find the time to read one screenplay a week, how will you find the time to write a screenplay?
In the days before the World Wide Web, getting screenplays was difficult. Today, studios will release screenplays of movies shortlisted for awards, so voters and read and vote on them, and some writers — like John August — distribute own screenplays.
But at GITS, Myers has collated more than 100 of these legally released screenplays. That should be enough to see you through those first six months.
In addition, GITS is associated with The Black List — a website that makes members’ screenplays available for reading by industry professionals. And there are some writing groups where members share their screenplays with each other — one being WRAC, or Writer Accountability.
In short, there are many sources for screenplays available to those who can get online — and if you are reading this, that means you — so you have no excuse to avoid reading screenplays.
Final words
The Full List
Here are all of the books and websites listed above (with books in suggested reading order) for easy reference.
- Poetics by Aristotle
- Screenplay by Syd Field
- Story by Robert McKee
- The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Volger
- Save the Cat by Blake Snyder
- Into the Woods by John Yorke
- The Complete Book of Scriptwriting by J Michael Straczynski
- Good in a Room by Stephanie Palmer
- Go into the Story (blog)
- John August (blog)
- Bang2Write (blog)
And while you’re reading those, read and analyse one screenplay a week.
Wrapping up…
Some writers will recommend reading William Goldman’s Adventures in the Screen Trade and Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade. While Goldman is one of the great screenwriters, his books are memoirs and histories of Hollywood, not guides on how to be a screenwriter today. But read them! Along with Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, Down and Dirty Pictures and Seeing Is Believing: How Hollywood Taught Us to Stop Worrying and Love the Fifties by Peter Biskind.
Likewise, there are some excellent books on writing fiction and filmmaking, all screenwriters should read — such as On Film-making: An Introduction to the Craft of the Director by Alexander Mackendrick, The Philosophy of Horror, or Paradoxes of the Heart by Noël Carroll, and John Berger’s Ways of Seeing (or at least watch the BBC documentary based on Berger’s book on YouTube).
But don’t get so caught up reading about writing, that you forget to write!
Movie credits
Movie credits are sourced from IMDB.
Adaptation (2002)
Writers: Susan Orlean (book), Charlie Kaufman (screenplay)
Director: Spike Jonze
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Writers: John Milius, Francis Ford Coppola
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
The English Patient (1996)
Writers: Michael Ondaatje (novel), Anthony Minghella (screenplay)
Director: Anthony Minghella
The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974),
The Godfather: Part III (1990)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writers: Mario Puzo (screenplays and novel), Francis Ford Coppola
The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Writers: Ryūzō Kikushima Hideo, Oguni Shinobu Hashimoto, Akira Kurosawa
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Jarhead (2005)
Writers: William Broyles Jr. (screenplay), Anthony Swofford (book)
Director: Sam Mendes
Jessica Jones (2015–)
Creator: Melissa Rosenberg
Channel/studio: Netflix
Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (1977)
Writer/director: George Lucas
Except for Poetics, which I downloaded from the Gutenberg Project, and Ways of Seeing and On Film-making, which were personal gifts, I purchased all of the books I mentioned in this post. I am not receiving any payments nor free gifts for mentioning these books and blogs.