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How Not to Write a Screenplay: 101 Common Mistakes Most Screenwriters Make | 
 enlarge | Author: Denny Martin Flinn
Publisher: Lone Eagle
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $7.99
You Save: $8.96 (53%)
New (29) Used (20) from $7.11
Rating:  66 reviews
Sales Rank: 9685
Media: Paperback
Pages: 240
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.6
ISBN: 1580650155
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.23
EAN: 9781580650151
ASIN: 1580650155
Publication Date: May 1, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
How Not to Write a Screenplay is an invaluable addition to any aspiring screenwriter's shelf--and you'd best make the shelf within arm's reach of the computer. Author Dean Martin Flinn, an experienced script reader, details the common rookie mistakes that drive script readers crazy. Flinn makes no pretense of being able to teach anyone how to write the next Great American Film--or for that matter the next Stupid Summer Blockbuster. Instead he offers information that will help keep the novice screenwriter's opus from being immediately tossed on the trash pile (arguably a more valuable service). As Flinn says in his introduction, if you follow the advice in this book, "you may not write a particularly good screenplay, but you won't write a bad one." Flinn offers practical advice on formatting, such as the proper form for a slugline and where to set your margins, and more general rules of thumb on giving the actors room to interpret their roles and avoiding dictating camera angles to the director (who will ignore them anyway). The second half of the book deals with content, also in a remarkably pragmatic way--structure, pacing, plot resolution, and dialogue that really stink are all handily dealt with. Flinn illustrates almost all his points with excerpts from screenplays both good and bad (names have been changed to protect the guilty), giving the reader concrete examples of the difference between poorly and well-structured scenes. Not sucking is an unusual goal for a screenwriting manual, but any script reader will agree it is a noble one. --Ali Davis
Product Description
Finally, what may be the last screenwriting book a writer will ever need to buy! Written by a Hollywood screenwriter, How NOT to Write A Screenplay carefully identifies and examines the common mistakes screenwriters invariably make when writing a screenplay.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 61 more reviews...
 Best for more intermediate level screenwriters July 9, 2008
c.k.
I found the book extremely helpful - but I would NOT recommend for beginning screenwriters.
I've written almost 3 screenplays, and had them critiqued in class. So, I would say that I am an beginner-intermediate level. This book is an excellent resource for those who are already familiar with good screenwriting rules and formats, and need to refine these points.
I saw many of my own mistakes in the book examples (yikes!) - you know what they say, the best way to learn is by making a mistake.
Therefore, if you have yet to write at least one screenplays, I'm not sure this book will be as helpful as books like "Hot Property" or "The Screenwriter's Bible."
The Difference May 10, 2008
Andrew Romy
I agree with another reviewer. This is better to read while you're in the middle of your first screenplay, or after you've written it.
But it's brilliant.
If you write a screenplay, and are not sure how to revise it, read this, and you will laugh. But you will also discover the difference between writing a film that sounds good to you and writing something that a studio-exec will enjoy reading.
I think it can make good writing better and make it smoother, while helping you avoid the minefield that so many ignorantly charge through.
 A good book, but just good. April 20, 2008
J. Hartranett
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
While this book does tell you some of the basic stuff it takes not to write your script, it also goes back and forth and gives examples of bad scripts and then good scripts doing almost the same thing. It seems as if sometimes the author will tell you not to write too much, but then when it comes to scripts that have been turned into movies, that rule is gone. This part of it was disappointing, so what is it? Dont write too much but then go ahead and write too much.
 A good read! April 11, 2008
Michael N. Burns (Wisconsin USA)
This guy is funny. I burned through this book in short order. A little heavy on the inclusion of other writers work, but it does illustrate his points. That is the only reason I didn't give it five stars.
He claims that the screenplays he faults are actual screenplays. It's not hard to imagine somebody who bought this book recognized their work. Not good.
Less negative than I hoped, but very effective. March 24, 2008
Michael D. Kenny (Atwater Village, CA United States)
The writing examples used in this book were mostly from quality scripts, when I expected the book to focused on tearing apart bad scripts. I believe the jacket's assertion that there's much to be learned this way, and it sounds like a lot of fun. This probably has a lot more bad examples than any typical guide, and regardless of what I anticipated, it was very effective.
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