Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
How to Use this Book
A Brief Introduction
CHAPTER ONE - STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE YOU START
The current state of development, your screenplay’s journey from submission to green light, The
only question that matters, Criteria for answering the only question that matters, What draws people
into the theater?, Analyzing the success of Transformers, The Avengers versus Green Lantern,
What The Avengers, Transformers, and Little Miss Sunshine have in common, Take it to the wall:
Monster’s Ball, What it all means to you,
Exercises – Getting started
CHAPTER TWO - WHAT DRIVES A FILM: A PREPATORY LOOK UNDER THE HOOD
What is a scene?, The rhythm of reverses, Character creation – a quick primer, A process for
moving forward,
Exercises – nailing down the basics
CHAPTER THREE - THE FIRST ACT – STRUCTURE - LESSONS FROM THE NEAR-DEATH OF THE FUGITIVE
First act story points, Analysis: The Fugitive, A tale from the trenches: What the studio didn’t
understand about The Fugitive and how it almost killed the film,
Exercises – First act structure/begin your outline
CHAPTER FOUR - A DEEPER DIVE INTO THE FIRST ACT - CREATING GREAT CHARACTERS
Setting Up your Protagonist/Creating Castable Roles, Character contradiction, Do audiences need
to love protagonists?, Tools of Characterization, The relationship Between Structure and Character,
other important character issues for the first act: Entrances,
Exercises –your character bible
CHAPTER FIVE - THE SECOND ACT - HOW OUTBREAK BECAME A FILM
Other components of the second act, The rhythm of the second act, Tips from the pits of development hell – creating second acts that don’t unravel, Analysis – the second act of The Fugitive, Another tale from the trenches: Outbreak - How a key second act decision won a war between studios, An additional lesson from Outbreak,
Exercises – Construct your second act
CHAPTER SIX - ACT THREE - FACE/OFF: A TERRIFYING PREVIEW AND WHAT IT HAS TO TEACH
The Fugitive’s third act, A third tale from the trenches – The first preview for Face/Off, A brief digression about trailer moments,
Exercises – Design a third act worth the wait
CHAPTER SEVEN - REWRITING AND REVISING - FIRST DRAFTS ARE NEVER AS GREAT AS YOU THINK
The eight rules of the rewrite process, The clearest clues that you have a ways to go, Be your own script whisperer: Discovering your screenplay’s hidden truth, Making peace with ceding control to your own subconscious, How to sabotage your own rewrite - Self-destructive writers I have known,
Exercises – Getting ready for your rewrite
CHAPTER EIGHT - THE POLISH – WORDSMITHING YOUR SCREENPLAY
When are you ready to polish?, Word choice – the poetry of screenwriting, Shaping your paragraphs, The dialog polish, Description and Action, Scenes, Length, Title, Proofreading - The final step of the polish,
Exercises – The final step/polishing your screenplay
CHAPTER NINE - A CLOSE READ OF LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, THE KING’S SPEECH, AND LINCOLN
The ensemble film: Little Miss Sunshine, The King’s Speech: no, the flawed hero is not his own antagonist, rules are made to be broken – The screenplay for Lincoln,
Exercises – Do what I just did
CHAPTER TEN - FINAL THOUGHTS - LESSONS FROM BOB DYLAN AND THE INTERNET.
Exercises – Examine what you’ve learned
About the Author
