How NOT to Write A Screenplay: 101 Common Mistakes Most Screenwriters Make

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Product Details

Author : Denny Martin Flinn
Binding : Paperback
EAN : 9781580650151
Edition : 1
Number of Pages : 240
Product Group : Book
Publication Date : 1999-08-25
Publisher : Lone Eagle Publishing Company

ASIN : 1580650155

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Editorial Reviews

From Amazon.com

How Not to Write a Screenplay is an invaluable addition to any aspiring screenwriter's shelf--and you'd best make the shelf within arm's reach of the computer. Author Dean Martin Flinn, an experienced script reader, details the common rookie mistakes that drive script readers crazy. Flinn makes no pretense of being able to teach anyone how to write the next Great American Film--or for that matter the next Stupid Summer Blockbuster. Instead he offers information that will help keep the novice screenwriter's opus from being immediately tossed on the trash pile (arguably a more valuable service). As Flinn says in his introduction, if you follow the advice in this book, "you may not write a particularly good screenplay, but you won't write a bad one." Flinn offers practical advice on formatting, such as the proper form for a slugline and where to set your margins, and more general rules of thumb on giving the actors room to interpret their roles and avoiding dictating camera angles to the director (who will ignore them anyway). The second half of the book deals with content, also in a remarkably pragmatic way--structure, pacing, plot resolution, and dialogue that really stink are all handily dealt with. Flinn illustrates almost all his points with excerpts from screenplays both good and bad (names have been changed to protect the guilty), giving the reader concrete examples of the difference between poorly and well-structured scenes. Not sucking is an unusual goal for a screenwriting manual, but any script reader will agree it is a noble one. --Ali Davis

Customer Reviews

Great technical book (2006-10-10)

I found the technical merits of this book with regards to format and basic "dos" and "donts" to be very helpful. I am currently working with a mentor to polish off my screenplay and this book became one of my main resources.As the author of five novels, it was difficult to cut down on my literary fiction. I had many questions regarding how to handle certain formats ie. timelines and plot points, without sacrificing story, that this book helped me out.Thanks...

The Best of the Best (2004-07-05)

Well, just reading the first few pages was even very helpful, let alone the whole book! I have read some books that have a few helpful things in them, but that's the problem, "a few". This book is filled with stuff that you should NOT do. He tells you so much and it is very easy to read and has many illistrations from other famous screenplays. It will help you to write the right way and also gives you different ways to do it. This book is not a "should have", it's a "must have".As I said it is very easy to read and very helpful. You shouldn't have problem reading unless per se, you are from Rotchester, NY or some place that has problems reading past the 3rd grade. Basically, it's a great book and you have to read it.

Anyone can tell you what to do... (2004-04-29)

This book is one of few I've read about screenwriting that isn't bogged down with a premium on overbearing structure. It simply suggests that, if we all are storytellers, one of the most valuable lessons one can learn is to tell YOUR story YOUR way and to omit elements you disliked in other stories you've read, seen or heard in the past. The book validates many of the triumphs you might have made in your own work while making clear (OK, sometimes ridiculing) areas where you may have missed the mark. While I would definitely call this book humorously sarcastic, I didn't find it cynical at all. I've given the book as gifts to many friends.

The how-not-to book to measure all the other how-to's by (2004-02-09)

Until I read this book, I wasn't even sure I knew what I was doing when I wrote screenplays. This book made me realize just exactly what I was doing right and wrong, so my confidence in my own writing sky-rocketed! I would suggest reading The Screenwriter's Bible first, then this book. In addition, I suggest reading any script written by James Cameron and John Hughes. Flinn gives you a thorough understanding of all the "do's" and "don'ts" which no one else quite does. It's very helpful to know what not to do and what to do instead.

Useful and Insightful (2003-12-09)

There are a great many screenwriting books out there but I found this one to be the most practical. If you want to get your script read and to move on past the readers at a production company this book gives you the tools to accomplish that. I found much of what is in this book to be invaluable. The writing is funny and the examples he gives only made my writing better. It is a very helpful book and I keep returning to it as I write. I am truly glad I found this book.

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