The Screenwriter Within: How to Turn the Movie in Your Head into a Salable Screenplay

by D.B. Gilles

Book Overview

If you've ever dreamed of writing a screenplay,The Screenwriter Withinis the book for you. Insightful, inspirational, and wildly irreverent, it takes you through all the stages of the writing process,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0609804952
• ISBN13: 9780609804957
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.5" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

What a jewel!

This book is not like Field's, McKee's or any of the zillion others that take you through the basics of screenwriting. It assumes you know most of the basics and concentrates, instead, on polishing and professionalizing your script and does so with a sense of humor that's wonderfully refreshing.I was exceedingly fortunate to have had DB serve as a consultant on one of my screenplays. He was insightful, encouraging, down-to-earth and funny as hell. His book is written in the same style he uses when consulting and teaching. It will forever have a place on my shelf near my computer and the rest of my important research/reference materials.Thanks, DB. Hurry up and write the next one!

Totally unique.

I've written two screenplays so far and had trouble with the structure, primarily when it came to the third act. I seemed to run out of steam creatively. I've read Aristotle's Poetics and Joseph Campbell and four other screenwriting manuals that pretty much all said the same thing. The Screenwriter Within says it differently. Gilles makes structuring a story and building a plot easy to understand and, I guess more importantly, easier to undertake. I looked at both of my previous scripts and applied some of the tips that Gilles suggests and realized that the reason my third acts crashed and burned was because my first acts took too long to get started. Instead of feeling happy or at least pleased when I finished my two scripts, I felt defeated. But this book inspired me and motivated me to try and fix one of the scripts. Gilles ends his book with a neat quote that also made me feel writing a good screenplay and even selling it is possible. Highly recommended.

Finally, a great screenwriting book

I thought this was an excellent book. I've written some screenplays and read other screenwriting books, and this is the best I've read by far. It was fun to read, but it also delivered the goods. It really tells you how to come up with great stories and craft them into a professional screenplay. Most screenwriting books are dull as dirt, and that's why I liked this one so much. I laughed a lot (hey, it was more entertaining than a lot of movies I've seen), but I was also inspired. It's filled with all the important inside information you need to know. Great book!

This is the book to read...

As a professional writer in Hollywood, I have read all the screenwriting books, taken all the courses, and spoken with all the agents, and this is the book to read. The Screenwriter Within is an excellent informative (and entertaining) sourcebook on three-act structure, filled with examples from the author's own life, quick reference tips, and humor. If you ever wanted to write a screenplay, but didn't know how to get it on the page, this is the book to read. Highly recommended.

Here's the handbook on writing we've been looking for ...

A big thumbs up on this one! I finally found a book on screenwriting that is funny, easy to follow and not bogged down in academic jargon. I just read this in one sitting. D.B. Gilles's simple approach to writing takes the fear out of facing a project, and believe me, I've read plenty of these books. If I sell a screenplay NOW, I'll know who to thank.