You've got an idea for the next great screenplay. Maybe you're just getting started or perhaps you've spent time with other screenwriting books, and you have your hero's journey, plot twists, reversals, and cat-saving scenes all worked out. Either way, what stands between you and an outstanding finished screenplay are the blank pages that you must fill with cinematic life, energy, conflict, and emotion. So how on Earth do you do that?
The secret is scenewriting.
This thorough and effective guide will help the beginner and the professional master the most critical and overlooked part of the screenwriting process: the art and craft of writing scenes. With step-by-step instruction, and numerous exercises, you will learn how to transform an outline into a fully-developed script. Learn how to prepare scenes for writing, construct sparkling, naturalistic dialogue, utilize scene description and the unique structure of the screenplay format to maximum advantage, and polish your scenes so that your idea becomes the script you always imagined it could be.
Through scenewriting, great ideas become brilliant scripts.
Why a Book About Scenes? Planning, Drafting, Perfecting What is a Great Scene, Anyway? PART I: Planning CHAPTER 1: What Do They Want And Why? What's It All About? EXERCISE: Overarching Goal One Does Not Simply Walk Into Mordor Kinds of Scene Goals Objects Words from Others Getting Somewhere Completing A Task Qualities of Scene Goals Relatability Specificity Achievability EXERCISE: And... Scene. CHAPTER 2: Why Can't They Have It? The Universe Is Out To Get You You Can't Share A Parking Space But I Thought We Were Friends Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Things In Absentia It's Not You, It's Me EXERCISE: Exploring the Possibilities The Just Right Obstacle Resonance with World and Tone Resonance with Theme EXERCISE: What Story Does This Obstacle Tell? Time Isn't On Your Side EXERCISE: Limit the Resources, And Pick CHAPTER 3: What Are They Gonna Do About It? Don't Just Stand There, Do Something! You Talkin' To Me? (Characters versus Others) You Can't Argue With a River (Characters versus Things) I'm My Own Worst Enemy (Character versus Self) Getting By With A Little Help With My Friends EXERCISE: Exploring Approaches It's Only a Mistake if You Don't Learn From It Themes Like a Good Idea EXERCISE: So THAT Didn't Work... Where're You Going With This? EXERCISE: So How Does Your Scene End? Not All Actions Are Created Equal Cooking Up Stakes It Takes Two To Tango Matching World and Tone EXERCISE: One Full Approach CHAPTER 4: Where And When Is It Gonna Happen? Changing Settings Does Not Necessarily Mean Changing Scenes It's About Freakin' Time EXERCISE: Identify Your Moment in Time Location, Location, Location! EXERCISE: Zooming in on the Precise Location Research and Destroy EXERCISE: Research and Character Preoccupations PART II: Drafting Chapter 5: The Fundamental Tools of Scenewriting Show 'Em What You Got Pacing EXERCISE: Basic Practice With Scene Description EXERCISE: Basic Practice With Dialogue Chapter 6: The Art of Reader Engagement Make 'Em Work For It EXERCISE: Mapping out a Treasure Hunt Nobody Expects The Spanish Inquisition! Shock EXERCISE: Leverage The Unusual In Your Scene Make 'Em Wait EXERCISE: Setting Up Anticipation Feast Your Eyes On This! EXERCISE: Add a Little Wonder Chapter 7: The Unformatted Draft Let's Get This Party Started When and Where Knock Knock... Better Late Than Boring EXERCISE: Writing the Beginning Scenis Morghulis: All Scenes Must End Reveals The Natural Ending The Cyclical Ending The Reversal Ending The Unexplained Mystery Ending Inviting The Reader Into The Next Scene We're Closing Early EXERCISE: Writing the End In the Middle With You One Thing Leads To Another (But and Therefore) What's at Stake EXERCISE: Filling Out The Middle Chapter 8: Formatting for Fun and Profit Courier? I Don't Even Know Her! A Minute Per Page EXERCISE: Pick Your Software and Import Your Unformatted Draft A Slugline Says What? EXERCISE: Writing Sluglines You Lookin' at Me? CALLOUTS Transition Callouts EXERCISE: Format That Scene Description You Got Something to Say? Wrylies Pauses and Interruptions MORE and CONT'D Trailing Off, Interrupting, and Talking Over Other Ways Characters Can Talk: O.S. and V.O. EXERCISE: Format Your Dialogue PART III: Perfecting CHAPTER 9: Check Your Length The Bare Necessities EXERCISE: Throwin' Strikeouts Whoa, I Think I Missed Something EXERCISE: Did You Throw Out The Baby With The Bathwater? Chapter 10: Managing Scene Information In Dialogue As You Know, I'm Your Son I'm So Conflicted Do You Know Why I Pulled You Over? Thank You, Captain Obvious EXERCISE: Un-obviousing Your Exposition Yeah, You Already Said That Here We Are In Prison That's My Name, Don't Wear It Out EXERCISE: Removing Redundant Exposition Chapter 11: Bringing Authenticity Into Your Dialogue Keepin' It Real I'm Listening Speaking of Questions... EXERCISE: Going Off-Topic and Ignoring Read Between The Lines Using Subtext To Avoid Hurt Feelings Off-Topic Subtext Using Subtext To Communicate Emotions EXERCISE: What I Mean Is... You Sound Just Like My Mom EXERCISE: Finding Your Voice The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You EXERCISE: Music in Dialogue Chapter 12: Final Polish Once More With Feeling Scene POV Spotlight It Writer's Commentary Poetic Impression EXERCISE: Write In The Feels Smooth It Out Eschew Impenetrability Avoid Ambiguity SProoffrreading Are Important EXERCISE: Line By Line, For Clarity Last Looks White Space For The Win Compressing EXERCISE: Expand And Compress Okay, Now What? Bonus Chapter: Expanding Your Development Circle Not All Readers Are Created Equal EXERCISE: Build Your Reading Roster Readings Are Fundamental First-Time Readers Slings And Arrows Prepping Questions Receiving Critique EXERCISE: Preparing For A Reading Found In Translation Collecting Waiting Translating Revising EXERCISE: Lather, Rinse, Repeat Appendix A: References Appendix B: Course Adoption Guide A Scenewriting-Only Course Custom Modular Adoption Example Adoption Into a Pilot- or Feature-writing Course Example Adoption Into a Short Film Writing Course Acknowledgements Index
Chris Perry and Eric Henry Sanders, both of Hampshire College, USA, have spent decades in entertainment; SceneWriting is the culmination of their shared experience analyzing, teaching, and exploring the craft. And talking about it a lot. Probably too much.
Reviews for SceneWriting: The Missing Manual for Screenwriters
SceneWriting stands out among screenplay manuals for its unique and valuable approach in focusing on the style and structure of the scene rather than the screenplay. The helpful attention to the writing process and its accessible style make it a useful component of any aspiring screenwriter's library. * Julian Hoxter, Screenwriting Coordinator for Cinema at San Francisco State University, USA * A multitude of books are focused on helping writers gain skills and solve problems relating to plot and story, but the audience ultimately judges their work one scene at a time, one scene after another. Perry and Sanders focus on these fundamental and often overlooked building blocks from which all scripts are built in an energetic and thorough style. * Jeremy Sheldon, Head of Development, Omeira Studio Partners, UK * SceneWriting: The Missing Manual for Screenwriters is such a welcome addition to the world of books on screenwriting. Most books have a chapter or a section on writing scenes, but there are precious few titles that focus on this important topic. The authors present the material in an incredibly engaging, user-friendly style that is not just clear and easy to understand, it is is inspiring. The book kind of flips the model of most screenwriting books, because it centers its attention on constructing rich, active scenes but also gives ample time to other topics like dialogue, structure, and character development. The examples provided from contemporary films are effective in illustrating points and the authors' comments on them are enlightening. I am so glad that this book exists and have already started to implement some of the material into my classes. * David J. Greenberg, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, USA and author of Screenwriting For Micro-Budget Films * Buy this book. Read this book. Then when you inevitably hit that moment in your screenplay where you're certain what you've written is garbage, read the book again. Chris and Eric break down the elements of screenwriting with deft humor and loads of insight, using spot-on examples from virtually every genre and subgenre you can imagine. Whether you've never written a screenplay or written dozens, SceneWriting is an invaluable resource. * David Walpert, Executive Producer (House of Lies, Veronica Mars, New Girl) * Chris and Eric are story-tellers who know there is no formula for screenwriting, only the joy, delight, and hard work of making things happen and creating the people things happen to. * Susan Shilliday, Writer (Legends of the Fall, thirtysomething), Sundance Advisor * SceneWriting is perfect for anyone wanting to turn their idea into a polished script. It brings logic to a craft that is often wildly illogical, and goes deeper than any book out there. * Jessika Borsiczky, Writer, Showrunner, Director (House of Lies, UnREAL, Lucifer) * SceneWriting is a must read for screenwriters of all levels and backgrounds, regardless if you're an established writer or just starting out... the key to a great script all comes down to writing great scenes, which is why Perry and Sanders have put together a highly instructive and invaluable manual for success. * Will Reiser, Writer/Producer of the film 50/50 *
