Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Literature Tuesdays: Linda Seger's Making a Good Script Great

About a year ago, I took a screenwriting class in which by the end of the semester, I wrote a complete screenplay (it was terrible so don't ask me to show it to you or tell you what it was about) and even though I had a lot of fun writing it, I mostly enjoyed the class because of all the things I learned about screenwriting from my great teacher and from our required text, Making a Good Script Great by Linda Seger.



This book is basically a how-to in which Seger describes the best ways to go about writing your own screenplay. She uses many examples from some of the most popular films of our time and breaks down the mechanics of how a movie is written in each chapter. She discusses screenplay elementslike plot, story, character and of course reviews the classic dramatic structurethat consists of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution.




Before reading this book, I felt pretty good about writing short stories because I took numerous classes on the subject and perfected my writing as I went, but I always wanted to write a screenplay even though I didn't know a thing about it. After reading, I realize that writing a story and writing a screenplay are two very different things. You have to think differently because when you write a screenplay, you're writing it for a movie which means a lot of descriptions that you would normally write for a short story has to get left out to save time. I learned this as well as many other things from Seger's book and now feel more confident in writing a real screenplay some time in the future. Plus, because I love movies so much, learning how to write a movie is like a dream come true for me. So if you're interested in writing screenplays in the hopes that it can one day be a box office hit, check out Seger's book (my copy is the 3rd edition). You can probably find copies on Amazon.



And that's it! I know Seger's book is not necessarily literature, but I thought I'd do something different for today since I couldn't decide on a novel to focus on. I promise that next week will have something to do with an actual novel, but I hope this has interested you enough to try your hand at screenwriting. It's easy to pick up and a fun hobby to pass the time. Hey, it may even make you famous one day ;D.



IN THE COMMENTS BELOW, LET ME KNOW IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN SCREENWRITING AND IF SO, WOULD YOU CHECK OUT SEGER'S BOOK? THANKS FOR READING!! XD
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