The 101 Habits Of Highly Successful Screenwriters: Insider's Secrets from Hollywood's Top Writers

by Karl Iglesias

Book Overview

You can struggle for years to get a foot in the door with Hollywood producers--or you can take a page from the book that offers proven advice from twenty-one of the industry's best and brightest In... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1580625509
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Adams Media
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

A Helping Hand

Are you thinking of writing a screenplay? Then you could use the advice in this book. First of all, this is not a how-to book. It doesn't show you how to develop characters, or structure a story, or tell you how to write. What it does give you is information on the daily life and habits of professional screenwriters. One of the most important pieces of advice is to just write. Too often, a beginning screenwriter will spend years to write one script and then shop it around. This is a big mistake for several reasons. A movie producer is looking for someone who can work reliably at speed. If you've only written one script, they're going to be suspicious about your abilities. Another thing is that producers are very busy, so if you get one of them to finally read your script, it's going to be the first and last chance. Do you really want to show him your first script? It's trash to him. Would you send your first painting to an art gallery? Of course not, so you shouldn't do the same with screenwriting. You should have written 5 to 10 screenplays before you think of showing your work around. Most aspiring screenwriters don't want to put in this work, and it shows. If you write, you will get better. If you love writing, and you can apply yourself to your writing, then you can have a chance to work in Hollywood.

It was thrilling and an eye-opener to compare my habits...

with those of the best in the business. Finally, I could see what I've been doing wrong all this time. This book is what I've been looking for forever. I'm now keeping it on my desk. When I'm stuck on something, I can easily access any topic and any top writer discussing the problem at hand. It's as if I had a Rolodex, where I can call up a highly successful writer and ask him or her to help me. Very practical.

14 top screenwriters become your mentors

How would you like to have Ron Bass share his outlining process? or Eric Roth give you advice on how to make readers feel powerful emotions on the page? Or Nicholas Kazan reveal how he tackles the blank page? How about 14 highly successful writers all in one place? This is a gem of a book and the roster of writers Karl Iglesias has gathered for this book is impressive: Ron Bass, Eric Roth, Akiva Goldsman, Ed Solomon, Nicholas Kazan, Leslie Dixon, Scott Rosenberg, Gerald DiPego, Steven DeSouza, Tom Schulman, Michael Schiffer, Amy Holden Jones, Robin Swicord, and Jim Kouf. What's also impressive, and unique in my opinion, is that Mr. Iglesias has structured the book by topic, rather than by individual interview, which feels more like a symposium of habits, skills, invaluable advice, each outlined separately with comments from the panel of experts.I highly recommend this book to any aspiring writer and all who are interested in the craft of writing for the screen. Having million-dollar screenwriter Ron Bass discuss his outlining process alone is worth more than the price of the book. Forget about shelling out $300 for a screenwriting seminar and go directly to the source: those who are doing it successfully and have agreed to share their wisdom with you.

At last, what every aspiring screenwriter needs!!

If you're anything like me, you're tired of reading book after book on how to write the winning screenplay. They all say the same thing because the fundamentals of story have been pretty much set by Aristotle in Poetics. The key is HOW to be the kind of screenwriter that's able to write the script that will set Hollywood on fire. And this where this new book comes in. There's nothing like it on the market, despite the fact that it's technically a set of interviews from 14 of the top screenwriters in Hollywood, and I'm talking A-list, CAA scribes, such as Ron Bass, Eric Roth, Leslie Dixon, Gerald DiPego, Akiva Goldsman, Niholas Kazan, and Scott Rosenberg to name a few! The uniqueness of this amazing book is the way it's structured. Instead of the traditional individual interview, the author has outlined 101 key habits, tips and skills with various screenwriters' comments under each one, reminding me of a panel of experts discussing a particular topic. Very helpful for me. My problem has always been discipline. After reading tons of books and going to seminars for years now, I know what to do, but how do I get myself to actually do it? No problem! I just flip to the chapter on discipline and read what the professionals are sharing with me on that frustrating issue. It's literally like having them as your mentors. And what aspiring writer wouldn't want to have this group of A-list writers as their mentors? Fourteen highly-successful screenwriters. 101 habits. The title says it all. If you're serious about a career as a screenwriter, get this book now. You won't be disappointed!