The Basic Basics of Screenwriting

Welcome to the "Basic Basics of Screenwriting" - I will be the first to admit that calling a book the "basic basics" is equivalent to calling myself “AAAA Plumbing” in hopes of being at the front of the alphabet. The reality is that there are a number of "basic" books out there and so, why not, toss in the second basic to get my point across.

You might be asking Why .99? My response to that Why not? The actual "book" part of this publication is approximately 50 pages long. Not enough, really, to justify putting a price-tag on it. I also used modified versions of some of the hand-outs I provide to my students in my screenwriting class (that I have taught for over 15 years). And...since this is the "basic basics" - most everything I talk about in the book is real short-sweet-and-to-the-point. My hope is that you'll be able to get started with what I've written and go on and purchase bigger/better/more involved books (that are more than 50 pages) and really take your screenwriting up another notch.

You might also be asking If this book is only 50 pages, why does it say it's over 300 pages. The reason is that I include three (yes, three) versions of my unproduced screenplay entitled "Born on Wings." Why three? Well - I felt that to really show you how a script should be written - you should show an actual script. Since I don't feel comfortable using someone else's work - I had to use mine. I found a good, but very flawed, script I wrote back in 1996. This would work perfectly. I can provide the reader with the original script, with all its flaws. Then I can provide the reader with the same script but with comments of how it's flawed and what needs to be done to fix it and then I can, finally, provide the reader with the final version of the script - a version incorporating all the changes so the reader can see how it was fixed.

PLEASE Due to the conversion process used so these can be viewed via the Kindle – the script formatting is not correct. If you want to see this entire document in proper format – contact me and I will e-mail it to you.

ALSO I had hoped to give the book away for free but had to put a price on it. So .99 cents it is.

I hope you enjoy the book and the screenplay(s) and I hope they lead you to writing the next great movie script.