Screenwriting For Dummies: Edition 2

Laura Schellhardt

Feb 2011 · John Wiley & Sons

About this ebook

Write a great script and get it into the hands of the Hollywood players!

So you want to be a screenwriter? Whether you want to write a feature film or a TV script or adapt your favorite book, this friendly guide gives you expert advice in everything from creating your story and developing memorable characters to formatting your script and selling it to the studios. You get savvy industry tips and strategies for getting your screenplay noticed!

• The screenwriting process from A to Z -- from developing a concept and thinking visually to plotline, conflicts, pacing, and the conclusion
• Craft living, breathing characters -- from creating the backstory to letting your characters speak to balancing dialogue with action
• Turn your story into a script -- from developing an outline and getting over writer's block to formatting your screenplay and handling rewrites
• Prepare for Hollywood -- from understanding the players and setting your expectations to polishing your copy and protecting your work
• Sell your script to the industry -- from preparing your pitch and finding an agent to meeting with executives and making a deal

Open the book and find:

• The latest on the biz, from entertainment blogs to top agents to box office jargon
• New story examples from recently released films
• Tips on character development, a story's time clock, dramatic structure, and dialogue
• New details on developing the nontraditional screenplay -- from musicals to animation to high dramatic style
• Expanded information on adaptation and collaboration, with examples from successful screenwriting duos

Ratings and reviews

That's because I've carried this book for the last two years of my life. I started out two years ago without a clue on how to write a screenplay. Two years later, I have two completed features and six completed teleplays. Trying to build the portfolio! I haven't sold a script yet, but I've been read by a few top names in the business and every day I feel like I'm getting closer. This book is EXCELLENT and highly recommended for those just starting out with just an idea and a dream. Study this book as if your life depended on it. I've read a lot of books on screenwriting, and this is by far the best.

This book gave me enough helpful info to get me started.

About the author

Laura Schellhardt holds an MFA in Literary Arts from Brown University and degrees in Theatre and Creative Writing from Northwestern University in Chicago. Her scripts have been produced in New York (SPF, The Hangar, The Exchange Theatre), Seattle (Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT), Chicago (Northlight Theatre, Serendipity Theatre, New Leaf Theatre, Citadel Theatre), Washington DC (The Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth), Providence (Trinity Repertory Company, Brown University), Minneapolis (Theatre Limina), North Carolina (Center for Performing Arts), and Provincetown, Massachusetts (Provincetown Repertory Theatre, Provincetown Theatre Company).
Original works include The K of D, The Chair, Courting Vampires, Shapeshifter, The Apothecary’s Girl, Inheritance, and Je Ne Sais Quoi. Adaptations include The Phantom Tollbooth, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, The Outfit (Jeff Award Nominee), and Creole Folktales.
Laura is a recipient of the Theatre Communications Group 2007–8 Playwriting Residency, The Jerome Fellowship, the New Play Award from ACT in Seattle, and a Dramatist Guild Playwriting Fellowship. She has participated in the SoHo Rep. Writer/Director Lab and the O’Neill National Playwright’s Festival. Laura has assisted in the development of new work at The Goodman, Steppenwolf Theatre, Northlight Theatre, and Trinity Repertory Company. She has studied writing with the likes of Paula Vogel, Maria Irene Fornes, Erin Cressida Wilson and has taught alongside Oscar-nominated John Logan of Aviator and Sweeney Todd fame.
Laura currently heads the playwriting program at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and teaches workshops across the country.