The Best Screenwriting Books For Beginners
While I know we’re all fans of the visual medium here, at the end of the day every film starts with a script. So I wanted to share with you what I think are the best screenwriting books for beginners.
First and especially if you're a beginner, I recommend Blake Snyder's Save The cat. This book is named after the fun screenwriting mechanic called "save the cat." That's when the main character does something early on in the film, such as saving a cat, that makes us as an audience like and root for them. This book is short, so it can quickly get you up and running, or typing, and Blake gives screenwriting tips, rules, and his own definition of movie genres, such as Rites Of Passage, Buddy Love and the ever prevalent Dude With A Problem.
He offers practical workflows, such as using beat sheets, sticky notes, and note cards. It's pretty much the ultimate beginner's guide. So I highly recommend you start with this guy. And if you're looking for more examples from already made films, then I recommend Blake Snyder's Save The Cat Goes To The Movies. This book expands on the first Save The Cat book, but provides beat sheets for famous films. And each of Snyder's coined genres. So just be aware that that's literally all it is, but if you're still feeling confused about how to break down a beat sheet, it's a tremendously helpful tool.
To take it to the next level, I recommend Syd Field's Screenplay: The Foundations Of Screenwriting. This is pretty widely known as the screenwriting Bible, and it does read a little textbooky, but it lays great foundations for plot and structure. It goes over the three act structure in detail and even breaks down plot points to page numbers. For example, the inciting incident always happens around page 15 for feature films. So the next time you're watching a movie pay attention to where the inciting incident happens and see if it's around 15 minutes into the film.
Next to really drill down on the basics. I recommend Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey. This book is a modern day adaptation of Joseph Campbell's A Hero's Journey. It breaks down story structure and archetypes. Now, while some people might claim the hero's journey is out of fashion, it's actually still widely used and its principles are incredibly helpful for any writer. At the very least, learning important story archetypes and basic structure are monumental and extremely helpful. Once you understand archetypes and different characters, you can understand how they work and play in your film.
And finally, while it's not a screenwriting book, I highly recommend Mike Sacks' Poking A Dead Frog. If you're watching my channel, I'm going to assume you're into comedy. And if so, this is the comedy writing book for you. Now, while the book doesn't necessarily break down how to write comedy, it does feature interviews with various famous comedy writers. This book is chock-full of amazing tips from comedy writers for various different parts of the industry, such as narrative, TV and movies, sketch, standup, and more. I highly recommend picking this up if you're a comedy nerd like me.
Gear Featured In This Video:
➜ Save The Cat: https://amzn.to/2RP3Osn
➜ Save The Cat Goes To The Movies: https://amzn.to/3fa88uy
➜ Syd Field's Screenplay: https://amzn.to/3bhuHMM
➜ The Writer's Journey: https://amzn.to/3faitXp
➜ Poking A Dead Frog: https://amzn.to/3vTMMYQ
My Filmmaking Resources:
➜ Learning How To Shoot Video From Home Course: https://linkedin-learning.pxf.io/OX9Jr
➜ All of my Filmmaking equipment: https://www.amazon.com/shop/laughstashtv
➜ Get Free Filmmaking Checklists through my newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/e071707aca31/fiy
➜ Get my Filmmaking Templates on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FIY
➜ Learn how to be a successful YouTuber: https://linkedin-learning.pxf.io/BbBN4
➜ Rent gear like a pro on BorrowLenses: http://shrsl.com/29h7t
➜ Get $10 off of Subtitles and Captions for your videos: https://www.rev.com/blog/coupon/?ref=...
*This post contains affiliate links which give me a small commission once clicked on.
