Hi all,
Hot on the heels of finding time to write, we consider the value of reading. This week – the importance of books that will help you to become a better writer. Interestingly, three of the books (in the photo) are on film director Ron Howard’s list of ‘must reads’ for his Directing Masterclass – fancy that? If you know which ones, why not post your answers below the post on Facebook or (if reading on Twitter) post as a tweet.
Okay, now let me add these are just a few of the books which I have found useful in advancing my understanding of screenwriting – I will follow up with more books in the next post or three. In the meantime, in the photo above, moving left to right we have:
Screenplay (Syd Field) – a solid book that will help you understand story craft and structure.
Making a good script great (Linda Seger) – a fantastic book that needs to be read cover to cover such is the depth or writing and editing insight offered.
The Art of Dramatic Writing (Lajos Egri) – this will lay a foundation of how premise and key question are the fundamentals and develop it from there.
The Negative Trait Thesaurus (Ackerman and Puglisi) – invaluable resource to aid your research and decision making about what character flaw to use and why.
One Hundred Ways to Improve your Writing (Gary Provost) – a book that will help develop a writing habit but also advance the way you do it as you develop your craft.
While there are no hard and fast rules (for myself) I do try and read a t least three screenwriting books a year though (I’m a light weight and) you can do better.
Til next time….