Recommended Resources

Our mission is to make your screenplay the best it can be. Besides providing you with the highest-rated script analysis, we offer suggestions for further reading. The following are our favorite books and Web sites. Clicking on the titles will take you to their listing on Amazon.com, where you can order them online. Clicking on the Web addresses will take you to their home pages.

The Technique of Screen & Television Writing by Eugene Vale, Prentice-Hall 1982. A unique and insightful look at dramatic structure.

Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee, Harper-Collins 1997. A brilliant explanation of cinema narrative.

Lew Hunter’s Screenwriting 434 by Lew Hunter, Perigee 1995. An inspiring guide by the former chair of UCLA’s screenwriting department.

Now Write! Screenwriting: Screenwriting Exercises from Today’s Best Writers and Teachers edited by Sherry Ellis with Laurie Lamson, Tarcher 2010.

AFI Guide to Writing Great Screenplays for Film and TV by Dona Cooper, IDG Books Worldwide 1994. A refreshing examination of films as roller coasters.

Making a Good Script Great by Linda Seger, Samuel French Trade 1994. A smartly written approach for fixing whatever ails your script.

Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field, Dell Books 1984. An analysis of movie paradigms by the godfather of script gurus.

Creative Screenwriting (creativescreenwriting.com). Rated “the best magazine for screewriters” by The Los Angeles Times.

InkTip (inktip.com). Get your script seen by hundreds of industry professionals by posting it on InkTip.

Scriptologist (scriptologist.com). “The Portal for Screenwriters, Filmmakers, and Actors,” this catch-all site offers news, tips, and a vast directory.

The Scriptwriters Network (scriptwritersnetwork.org). A rich source of information and a virtual water cooler for networking film and TV writers.

Done Deal (scriptsales.com). Breaking news about script and pitch sales, who bought them, and for how much.

Absolute Write (absolutewrite.com). Devoted to all types of writing, this no-nonsense, information-rich zine publishes a newsletter on the hottest markets.

The Weekly Script (weeklyscript.com). What better way to learn screenwriting than by reading a good script? Download your fix.

The Writers Store (writersstore.com). The specialty source for screenwriting books and software, with a low-price guarantee and free shipping.

The Internet Movie Database (imdb.com). Everyone’s favorite searchable database of film and TV reviews, credits, and assorted movie trivia.

Variety (variety.com). The entertainment industry’s venerable trade paper and required reading by all entertainment execs.

The Hollywood Reporter (hollywoodreporter.com). Variety’s formidable competition, known for its feature stories keyed to awards shows.

Ain’t It Cool (aint-it-cool-news.com). A forum for entertainment news and reviews, run by an outspoken Texan, gets much of its information from insiders.

Ask.com (ask.com). The first place to visit when you have any question about anything, this intelligent search engine offers custom folders for your research.

HighBeam Research (highbeam.com). The poor-man’s LexisNexis™, this service searches thousands of books and publications for a yearly fee of $199.95.

Wikipedia (wikipedia.org). The free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, it has a wealth of arcane information, but may not be entirely accurate.

Encyclopedia Britannica (britannica.com). Forget about shelling out big bucks. The world’s most respected encyclopedia can be had for $69.95 a year.

Videomaker (videomaker.com). If what you really want to do is direct, then make this your home page. Get savvy with their “Beginner’s Guide.”