Screenwriting Tricks For Authors: Table of Contents

Okay, so I've finally put the most important of these articles so far in a relative order. A lot of the articles link to other articles within them, but this will provide an overall table of contents, and when I get done with this book tour (!), I'll also clean up the links on the right side of the page and add the missing ones.

Obviously, you can skip around as much as you like! But for those of you who don't know where to start - it's a map.

And I'll probably rearrange it about a million times, so be warned!

But if you're tired of clicking around for links, and/or want more than what's on the website, you can get the whole workbook, in order, with assignments for just $2.99, any format!


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Screenwriting Tricks for Authors and Writing Love, Screenwriting Tricks for Authors, II, are now available in all e formats and as pdf files. Either book, any format, just $2.99.

- Smashwords (includes pdf and online viewing)

- Kindle

- Barnes & Noble/Nook

- Amazon UK

- Amaxon DE (Eur. 2.40)



If you're a romance writer, or have a strong love plot or subplot in your novel or script, then Writing Love: Screenwriting Tricks II is an expanded version of the first workbook with a special emphasis on love stories.


- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)

- Amazon/Kindle

- Barnes & Noble/Nook

- Amazon UK

- Amazon DE


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LINKS TO BLOG POSTS:

SCREENWRITING TRICKS FOR AUTHORS (and screenwriters!)


What you need to know right up front, whether you're writing a novel or a screenplay:

Introduction: The method behind the madness, here

What's Your Premise?

What is High Concept?

Your First Draft is Always Going to Suck


If you're writing a screenplay, or thinking about it, you'll want to read this and the other screenwriting articles (linked within this article) sooner rather than later:


On Screenwriting

Screenwriting Part One: The Job

Screenwriting Part Two: The Craft

Screenwriting Part Three: The Dirty Little Secret



Story structure for both authors AND screenwriters:

Screenwriting - The Craft

Story Structure 101 - The Index Card Method

Story Elements Checklist

Why the Three Act Structure?

What are Act Climaxes, Turning Points, Act Breaks?

Elements of Act One

Act One Breakdowns:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Romancing the Stone

Chinatown Act I Breakdown


Acts Two and Three


Elements of Act Two

Elements of Act Two, Part 2

Elements of Act Three, Part 1

Elements of Act Three, Part 2

What Makes a Great Climax?


Visual Storytelling:

Visual Storytelling Part 1

Visual Storytelling Part 2


Creating Suspense:

Creating Suspense

Creating Suspense, Part 2


Plants and Payoffs:

Plants and Payoffs


More structure

Fairy Tale Structure and the List

Meta Structure

What KIND Of Story Is It?


Creating Character:

The Protagonist

What Makes a Great Protagonist? Case Study: Jake Gittes

What Makes a Great Villain?

Villains: The Forces of Antagonism

Collecting Character

Character Introductions


Story Breakdowns

Act Climaxes Breakdowns:


What Are Act Breaks, Act Clmaxes, Turning Points, Plot Points? (Jaws and Silence of the Lambs)

You've Got Mail

Raiders of the Lost Ark


Story Breakdowns:

The Mist

Romancing the Stone

Act One Breakdowns: (with more discussion)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Romancing the Stone

Chinatown

Chinatown Act I Breakdown

Chinatown - Act II, Part One Breakdown
Chinatown Second Half Breakdown


On Screenwriting

Screenwriting Part One: The Job

Screenwriting Part Two: The Craft

Screenwriting Part Three: The Dirty Little Secret



THE BUSINESS:

Why do I need an agent, anyway?

How do I get a literary agent?

Life is a Pitch Meeting

Internet Resources for Writers

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New series: HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL FROM START TO FINISH

PART ONE: THE RIGHT IDEA

How to write a novel from start to finish (part one)

What is genre?

What's your premise?

The Price (more on premise)

What is High Concept?

The Dream Journal


PART TWO: THE THREE ACT, EIGHT-SEQUENCE STRUCTURE


Three Act Structure Review and assignments

The Three-Act, Eight-Sequence Structure

The Index Card Method and Story Structure Grid

Elements of Act One

Story Elements Checklist for brainstorming Index Cards

What KIND Of Story Is It?

Elements of Act Two, Part 1

Plants and Payoffs

Plan, Central Question, Central Action (part 1)

What's the PLAN?

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If you'd like to to see more of the story elements I discuss on this blog in action, I strongly recommend that you watch at least one, or much better, three of the films I break down in the workbooks, following along with my notes.

I do full breakdowns of Chinatown, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Romancing the Stone, and The Mist, and act breakdowns of You've Got Mail, Jaws, Silence of the Lambs, Raiders of the Lost Ark in Screenwriting Tricks For Authors.

I do full breakdowns of The Proposal, Groundhog Day, Sense and Sensibility, Romancing the Stone, Leap Year, Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sea of Love, While You Were Sleeping and New in Town in Writing Love.