CS Daily Archive > Son of a Pitch > 04/06/04

Good Old-fashioned Book Learnin'

By David Michael Wharton

You people have had it too easy so far. Time for a reading assignment and some homework.

This week, as promised, we delve into just what makes for a good idea, and -- Wait! I've got a better idea!

You should have seen that coming, folks, I set it up last week.

To look at Barnes and Noble, everyone on the planet has written a how-to writing manual. Screenwriters… novelists… people who regularly do well at Wheel of Fortune… Anybody who can string two words together and snooker a publisher has got lots and lots to say about how you, yes you, can be a better writer.

Say, David… you haven't actually sold any scripts yet, have you?

A valid point, entirely valid. There is, however, one crucial difference between them and me: they tiptoe around their inexperience. I founded a column based on it! My hope is that if you turn up every week, you'll be able to learn some helpful and interesting things from the pros I quote here, and if not, I'll at least do my best to entertain you as we all inch our way across the Hollywood minefield. Remember that William Goldman quote about how nobody knows anything? I hereby declare that the official Son of a Pitch motto: "Nobody knows anything… least of all me." Let it ring from the rafters.

That said, if you think I won't slap a binder on these columns and sell out just as soon as Beelzebub sends a publisher my way, think again.

But my point being, there are so many books out there, it's almost impossible to know which ones are worth the effort. Especially when you're just starting out, and all those paragraphs about "beats" and "inciting incidents" just make you feel mildly queasy. Believe me, I've been there. But along the way, I've managed to find some gems.

I'm not saying these are the best books out there, but they've certainly made my life easier. Here are six of them.

Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting - Syd Field

The book that launched a thousand specs. Some more experienced writers claim that it's too simplistic or outdated. Maybe that's true, maybe not, but all I can tell you is that if you're looking for a bare bones, ground-floor guide to screenwriting, this is your pony. Field carefully illuminates all the confusing terminology, traces the geography of a screenplay, and liberally peppers the text with concrete examples from a broad spectrum of movies.

If I had a friend who had never seen a movie nor read a script, but suddenly decided they wanted to write a screenplay, this is the book that I'd give them. I read it in the months leading up to this column, as I began working on my own first screenplay, and it was definitely helpful. More than a lot of the books I sampled, Screenplay finally helped the basic structure of a screenplay click into place in my mind, and that made all the difference once the writing began.

The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers - Christopher Vogler

Unless you've been living under a rock in Tom Sizemore's ice chest (and there's your Inexplicable Phrase of the Week), you've probably heard the name Joseph Campbell. His book, The Power of Myth pointed out that damn near everything could be tied in to themes expressed in mythology. One of his most vocal modern students has been George Lucas, who somewhere between Blue Harvest (see #94) and Episode One decided to start dropping the phrase "the power of myth" into just about every interview or sound bite that crossed his lips. Lucas's lamprey-like attachment to "the power of myth" hasn't made the last two Star Wars movies any less depressing, but that doesn't mean there's noting to be learned from Campbell's ideologies. Quite the contrary.

Vogler's book clearly explains the tenets of Campbell's work, applying it both to writing and to writers. After you've read this book, you will finally understand what the pretentious literature professors mean when they drop things like "gatekeeper" or "call to adventure." More importantly, you will understand the ways in which storytelling has evolved over the centuries, the patterns and constructs that turn up again and again. Vogler explains this stuff better than anyone I've encountered, and takes it that extra step further by specifically applying it all not just to stories, but to the writing process. Understanding universal mythological themes won't automatically move your screenplay from the roundfile to the greenlight pile, but it will allow you to add depth that might otherwise be lacking. After all, this stuff worked for that Homer guy -- they made a summer blockbuster out of one of his books!

The Complete Book of Scriptwriting - J. Michael Straczynski

The key word here is "complete." This tome, from Babylon 5 creator Straczynski, isn't kidding when it promises to be the "all-in-one guide to writing and selling screenplays, teleplays, theatrical plays, radio scripts, and animation scripts." It covers every one of those areas, and in no small amount of detail.

This was actually the first screenwriting book I ever picked up, working from the theory that at least I knew who the hell Straczynski was, as opposed to most of the other names on the spines. The book is expanded from the Writer's Digest column he wrote for many years, mixed together with new material.

The biggest selling point of this book is the thoroughness of it. Many aspiring screenwriters who want to learn both feature and television writing could purchase two separate books. Here, Straczynski offers up his experience in both fields, plus several others to boot, all in one convenient package. He also cleverly divides each section into history of the field, craft of writing for the field, and then marketing the finished script. Good stuff.

Writing from the Inside Out - Dennis Palumbo

On the surface, this is not the type of book I ever would have picked up. Just going from the dust jacket description, it would have been easy for me to dismiss it as yet another self-help tract for writers to get in touch with their inner selves, yadda yadda yadda. And I would have been much the poorer for it.

I profiled Palumbo last summer for Creative Screenwriting, and one of the things that I took away from that interview was how genuine, warm, and frank he was. His book is much the same, granting you the unique insights that could only come from an experienced screenwriter (My Favorite Year) who just happens to now be a licensed psychotherapist.

Palumbo addresses issues like procrastination, fear of failure, and writer's block with empathy and an appropriately sharp sense of humor. You never get the sense of being lectured or spoken down to: Palumbo is clearly one of us, but he's been through the game and seen all the moves, and now he's willing to share. It's a wonderful book, and I personally happen to like the guy, so do us all a favor and go pick this one up from the above Amazon link.

On Writing - Stephen King

I will tell you to go ahead and pick this one up in book form, preferably a nice hardcover that will last you a long time. But I heartily suggest that you find a copy of the audio version at your local library and listen to it first. King (pictured above) is one of the best readers of his own work I've ever encountered, running neck-in-neck with Harlan Ellison, and his reading of On Writing is even better, since he's essentially telling the story of his life and his writing. Hearing King tell the story of his infamous van accident alone is worth the price of admission.

And yes, I realize this isn't strictly speaking a screenwriting book -- neither is Palumbo's book -- but both are about the creative process as a whole. Ultimately, good story is good story, and regardless of whether you're a King fan or not, his career speaks for itself. If nothing else, hearing just how miserable King's situation was before Carrie made him an overnight success will inspire all of us who sometimes have trouble seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

So, those are my picks. Each of them had something to offer me; maybe they'll have something to offer you. Now for some homework. I want to hear which writing books have made an impact on you, and why. Email me, and I'll run the best of them in an upcoming column. Your chance to grab a little free ink, so make sure you don't come across like a jackass. That's my job.

Now, go write.

We talk about what makes a good idea. Seriously, this time. Would I lie to you?

David Michael Wharton is a regular contributor to Creative Screenwriting magazine. When not watching DVDs or otherwise procrastinating when he should be working on his screenplay, he has been known to write for the likes of UGO Screenwriter's Voice and Comic Book Resources. You can email him, especially if you're deposed African royalty looking to secretly transfer millions of dollars into an American bank account.

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