Description
Book SynopsisRenowned, award-winning screenwriters, including John Lee Hancock, Peter Hedges, Lawrence Kasdan, Whit Stillman, Robin Swicord, and Randall Wallace, discuss their craft from concept to completion in these lively conversations transcribed from the acclaime
Table of Contents
- Foreword by Brian Helgeland
- Acknowledgments
- Screenwriter Biographies
- Introduction by Barbara Morgan
- I. Inspiration
- A Conversation with Randall Wallace
- II. Story
- What Makes a Great Story: A Conversation with Bill Wittliff
- Steven Zaillian on Where the Story Originates
- Peter Hedges on Crafting Story
- Lawrence Kasdan on Story and Theme
- III. Process
- A Conversation with John Lee Hancock
- Sacha Gervasi on Getting Started
- The Basics with Nicholas Kazan
- Advice from Bill Wittliff
- Anne Rapp's Writing Routine
- Caroline Thompson’s Writing Process
- Lawrence Kasdan on the Challenges of Writing
- IV. Structure
- Structure and Format: A Conversation with Frank Pierson, Whit Stillman, Robin Swicord, and Nicholas Kazan
- Caroline Thompson on Structure
- Lawrence Kasdan on the Rules of Script Formatting
- Visual Storytelling: A Conversation with John August, John Lee Hancock, and Randall Wallace
- V. Character and Dialogue
- Building Characters and Mapping Their Journeys: A Conversation with Lawrence Kasdan and Anne Rapp
- Nicholas Kazan on Writing Characters
- Crafting Characters: A Conversation with Lawrence Kasdan
- Dialogue and Finding the Voice: A Conversation with John August and John Lee Hancock
- VI. Rewriting
- Writer's Block: A Conversation with Bud Shrake and Bill Wittliff
- Bill Wittliff on When to Let Something Go
- Steven Zaillian on Defining Scenes: What to Keep In, What to Leave Out
- Anne Rapp on Keeping the Writing Fresh
- Nicholas Kazan’s Rewriting Process
- On Rewriting: A Conversation with Daniel Petrie, Jr., Peter Hedges, and Sacha Gervasi
- Lawrence Kasdan on How You Know When You’re Done
- VII. Collaboration
- A Conversation with Steven Zaillian
- Peter Hedges on Collaborating
- Lawrence Kasdan on Writing with a Partner
- Randall Wallace on Working with Other Writers
- VIII. Go Forth
