Routledge Prewriting Your Screenplay: A Step-by-Step Guide to Generating Stories

Prewriting Your Screenplay cements all the bricks of a story’s foundations together and forms a single, organic story-growing technique, starting with a blank slate. It shows writers how to design each element so that they perfectly interlock together like pieces of a puzzle, creating a stronger story foundation that does not leave gaps and holes for readers to find. This construction process is performed one piece at a time, one character at a time, building and incorporating each element into the whole. The book provides a clear-cut set of lessons that teaches how to construct that story base around concepts as individual as the writer’s personal opinions, helping to foster an individual writer’s voice. It also features end-of-chapter exercises that offer step-by-step guidance in applying each lesson, providing screenwriters with a concrete approach to building a strong foundation for a screenplay. This is the quintessential book for all writers taking their first steps towards developing a screenplay from nothing, getting them over that first monumental hump, resulting in a well-formulated story concept that is cohesive and professional. Review "Tabb's book asks you to look deep within yourself and answer a fundamental question: why are you writing this particular story? Why are you even writing in the first place? It gives you some very pragmatic tools to help make your writing more soulful and authentic." ―David S. Goyer, WGA Screenwriter/Creator; The Blade and Batman Begins Trilogies, Dark City, Jumper, The Puppet Masters; TV’s Krypton, Da Vinci’s Demons, Constantine, Flash Forward; Video Games Call of Duty: Black Ops I & II "A comprehensive, honest, and heart-felt look at the craft of screenwriting. Writers at all levels will find something in this book to inspire them to do their best work." ―Nicole Perlman, WGA Writer, Guardians of the Galaxy, First Man, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Detective Pikachu, Sherlock Holmes 3 "The best way I can think to get yourself writing again if you’re stuck would be to have Michael Tabb come over with a bottle of bourbon and a couple of glasses and talk you through things. The second-best way would be to buy this book and read it. You can supply your own bourbon." ―Bill Prady, WGA Writer/Creator, The Big Bang Theory, The Muppets, Gilmore Girls, Dharma & Greg, Caroline in the City, Dream On "Michael Tabb has thought long, hard, and usefully about how to write screenplays with vision and intent. He understands premise, character, conflict, and drama; Far more importantly, he can impart wisdom about all of them without condescending or ‘dumbing down.’ I know of no better guide to the work of writing that happens before we write." ―Howard A. Rodman, President, Writers Guild of America (WGA); WGA Writer, August, Saving Grace, Takedown "Are you a writer? Then you’re a fraud, right? Every time you stare at that empty page, you feel it in your bones. The movies I have written have grossed over five billion in the box office, and STILL, I feel like a fraud every time I start a new project. When I read Michael’s book, I felt a lot better. Michael is not only a great screenwriter, but he understands how to explain screenwriting in a way that I never could and in a way that helped me move forward. It is so strange to have a decent man you know help you, through his writing, to become a better writer. I got a free copy of his book on my shelf, but I would’ve paid for it. Writers like Michael who help other writers understand the art or the craft of screenwriting are truly among our best and brightest. Think about it. He is helping his own competition! Only a wise and true class act would ever do that. This book is yours. Consume it!" ―Roberto Orci, WGA Writer/Creator, Transformers 1 & 2, Star Trek 1, 2 & 3, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, People Like Us, The Legend of Zorro, Mission: Impossible III; TV’s High School 51, Sleepy Hallow, Hawaii five-0, Fringe, Alias, Matador,