Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #177153 in Books
• Published on: 1991-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 325 pages

Synopsis
Covers story concept, character development, theme, structure, and scenes, analyzes a sample screenplay, and tells how to submit a manuscript, select an agent, and market oneself.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic
This excellent book covers screenplay creation in so many different ways that you feel awful if you can't come up with a story after you've read it. Written in the 1980s it refers to material prepared for the screen at that time, but the rules have not changed. The central idea is that movies are a special type of writing project in which a hero pursues an 'outer goal'. For example, in An Officer And A Gentleman (2 Disc Special Edition) [DVD] [1982] Zach Mayo wants to be an officer and wants to have an affair with Debra Winger's character. That's what drives the movie forward. On the other hand, other characters seek to stop or thwart the hero's intentions, which is what creates the dramatic tension. Debra Winger doesn't just want an affair. She wants to get married.

This is an interesting and brilliantly written book which challenges you, the reader, to focus your story ideas and meet the challenge of narrative storytelling. While it's tempting to whinge that plenty of successful directors like Quentin Tarantino ignore the rules in this book, Michael Hague points out that new writers are doomed to conform until they have proved themselves.

For anyone interested in learning about how stories work - or why they work - this is a great book. It's invaluable for any stuck writer and it's written in such an encouraging style that it rarely patronises. In a world where we are surrounded by the arts I think we all forget the amount of work that goes into creating what we see and we do not appreciate quality as much as we should. This book is a fabulous reminder of the process and thinking behind excellent Hollywood films such as Tootsie, Jagged Edge and Presumed Innocent and you feel like slapping the people behind a lot of other films we won't mention over the head with it, because they clearly haven't read it.

Excellent
The best thing about this book is that it guides you through the whole process of writing a script from idea to completion. A lot of these type of books simply tell you what a completed script should be without helping with the problems you face getting there. The section on writing and re-writing individual scenes is very illuminating. A very useful book.

Excellent introduction to writing screenplays
I've read several books on and around screenwriting, but this is the only one that manages to be instructive and educational, without being laboured or preachy. Although it is (understandably) focused on Hollywood, there's a special foreword (and wider scope) for British readers which makes a refreshing change - too often these sort of books are pitched at a purely American audience. Michael Hauge writes honestly and with pace, and there is a levity to the book that makes it more friendly and readable than others that are more lecture-style. Rules are only laboured consciously; the important facts are reiterated throughout the book to ensure they are not forgotten, not out of lazy editing. Everything you need to know is packed into a concise guide that leads basic structure, characterisation and plot development into the more technical areas of motivation and themes. It's easy to get into and unputdownable once you are. However, I'm not too sure about his case study script - "The Karate Kid" - but that's just personal preference.

As an introduction or a supplemental guide to screenwriting, this is unmissable. Inspiring, informative and very enjoyable.