Screenwriting

At Berry Camera Acting, we collect books on filmmaking that are available for local actors and filmmakers. If you live in the Vancouver area and would like to borrow a book, please reach out to info@bcacting.com

The Most Important Books About Screenwriting

It's very difficult to pick up five books that every screenwriter at some stage in their career must have at least heard of. The late Blake Snyder's book "Save the Cat" is the easiest to read, even for teen actors and executives with accounting backgrounds rather than in the entertainment industry. It was and still is extremely popular and provides a nice and easy way to understand how a huge number of Hollywood movies are constructed. Before Blake Snyder, the book that was extremely popular and treats the three-act structure is  "Screenplay" by Syd Field. References to movies might not be the most up-to-date, but they are still a core read for any aspiring screenwriter. The Story by Robert McKee is, by all means, a serious read that goes quite deep into the intricacies of scriptwriting and building the story. Just to mention, Robert McKee also wrote "Action" and "Character", focusing on the other aspects of scriptwriting as well. It is, though, quite a challenging read. Christopher Vogler, at the time working at Disney, wrote a somewhat famous memo on structuring the hero's journey and how the story arc works. His book "The Writer's Journey" is what came after summarising the findings and providing them to writers Worldwide in a more comprehensive form. Last but not least is the book by Kenneth Atchity that discusses something that many aspiring screenwriters might not be aware of: the different stages of script development in modern Hollywood.

Writing Scripts for Short Movies

Every screenwriter has to start somewhere. You do not write the magnum opus - the huge concerto or a symphony first. You write a short story, you would be surprised how many motion pictures or TV series started as a small proof of concept short movie - books below talk specifically about this problem.

Writing for Television

Television writing has its own intricacies that are specific to developing a series, not a single motion picture. Books below discuss specific aspects that would be essential for anyone that intends to build up their career in the Writers's Room:

Writing Romantic Comedies

We might all love a good romantic comedy, if that's your genre of choice, here's the book that specifically talks about how to write scripts for that genre:

Focusing on the Character

Books below focus on specific aspects of building a character, whether it is how the character speaks, shows the diversity or what impact the character needs to have on the reader.

Screenwriting Software

FinalDraft is the leading software for screenwriting. Also, there are not many books on how to use it, and this one is already a bit outdated, but here it is.

Structure

Books focusing specifically on the structure of the script

Script Editing and Reviewing

Professional scripts are constantly read and edited. The reader is a specific role in Hollywood that is the gatekeeper - think of it as a casting director but for screenwriters instead of actors. 

Business of Scriptwriting

The biggest category in the books about screenwriting is the business category. Some of those books focus on the habits and methods for writing scripts, some of those books focus on selling, and all of them are quite enjoyable reads.