Coe William K. The Screenwriting Bible

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The Screenwriting Bible™

Sir William K. Coe™

THE

SCREENWRITING

BIBLE

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beginning chapters of this book. Includes third-party content not owned by Sir William K. Coe™.

The Screenwriting Bible™

Sir William K. Coe™

RIGHTS RESERVED. CONTAINS THIRD PARTY CONTENT AS

CITED IN THE BIBLIOGRAPHY.

YOUR USE OF THIS BOOK CONSTITUTES YOUR AGREEMENT TO

THE EULA FOUND AT:

http://www.wskel.com/legal/

Note: “Hero,” “main character,” and “Protagonist” mean the same thing.

It is the character your story revolves around.

have read and abide to the license, warnings, and additional documents listed within the

beginning chapters of this book. Includes third-party content not owned by Sir William K. Coe™.

The Screenwriting Bible™

Sir William K. Coe™

“Only constant repeating will finally succeed in

imprinting an idea on the memory of the crowd.”

- Hitler’s Mein Kampf

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beginning chapters of this book. Includes third-party content not owned by Sir William K. Coe™.

The Screenwriting Bible™

Sir William K. Coe™

INTRODUCTION 9

QUALIFICATIONS, DISCLAIMERS, AND EXCUSES 11

ARE YOU READY? 13

THE GOAL OF A SCREENWRITER 13

AVOID WRITER’S BLOCK 13

THE LIFE OF A SCREENWRITER 14

THE POWER OF SCREENWRITING 14

STORY CONCEPT 16

EXPRESSING THE STORY CONCEPT 16

FINDING STORY IDEAS 16

SELECTING THE BEST STORY CONCEPTS 17

STORY CONCEPT CHECKLIST 18

ARTISTRY VS. COMMERCIALITY 19

CHECKLIST TO DETERMINE IF STORY HAS A COMBO OF ARTISTRY AND COMMERCIALITY 20

MODIFYING STORY CONCEPT 20

ASSIGNMENTS 20

“MY MOVIE” STORY DEVELOPMENT 22

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT 24

THE THREE FACETS OF CHARACTER 24

DEVELOPING YOUR HERO 24

CREATE A ROUGH OUTLINE OF YOUR HERO 24

ESTABLISH CHARACTER IDENTIFICATION 24

MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS ORIGINAL 25

MOTIVATION 25

CONFLICT 26

DEVELOPING THE OTHER CHARACTERS OF YOUR SCREENPLAY 26

PRIMARY CHARACTERS 26

FOUR BASIC CATEGORIES OF PRIMARY CHARACTERS 26

RULES FOR CREATING PRIMARY CHARACTERS 27

RULES WHEN CREATING NEMESIS: 27

SECONDARY CHARACTERS 27

CHARTING CHARACTER, MOTIVATION, AND CONFLICT 28

THEME 28

CHARACTER GROWTH 29

KEYS TO CREATING CAPTIVATING CHARACTERS 29

A GOAL AND AN OPPOSITION 29

MOTIVATION 29

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beginning chapters of this book. Includes third-party content not owned by Sir William K. Coe™.

The Screenwriting Bible™

Sir William K. Coe™

BACK-STORY 30

THE WILL TO ACT 30

A POINT OF VIEW (POV) AND ATTITUDES 30

ROOM TO GROW 30

BELIEVABILITY 31

DETAILS 32

A WRITER WHO CARES 32

STRONG SUPPORTING CAST 33

GOOD CHARACTER 33

WHAT IS CHARACTER? 33

TOOLS OF CHARACTER 34

THE VISUAL DYNAMICS OF CHARACTER 34

CHOOSING A NAME 35

ASSIGNMENTS 38

STRUCTURE 41

PLOT STRUCTURE 41

THE THREE ACTS 41

TWISTS AND TURNS 41

SITUATION, CONFLICT, AND RESOLUTION 42

MAKE A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION 42

YOUR TWO KEY CHARACTERS 42

THE CATALYST 42

FORESHADOWING 42

THE PINCH AND RISING CONFLICT 43

THE RESOLUTION 43

THE LOW DOWN ON HIGH CONCEPT 44

A TITILLATING TITLE 44

ITS GOTTA BE BIG 44

STORY LAYERING 45

GOALS AND NEEDS 45

TWO STORIES IN ONE 46

PLOT 47

EXAMPLES OF PLOT-DRIVEN STORIES 47

EXAMPLES OF CHARACTER-DRIVEN STORIES/EMOTIONAL STORY 47

SUBPLOTS 47

GENRE 48

MYTH 53

THE STRUCTURAL CHECKLIST 54

7 TYPES OF OPENINGS: CHOOSE 1 55

STRUCTURE 55

TREATMENT 56

FORMAT: 56

THE PARADIGM 56

ACT I 56

THE FIRST TEN PAGES 57

THE SECOND AND THIRD TEN PAGES 57

ACT II 57

MIDPOINT 58

PINCH 58

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The Screenwriting Bible™

Sir William K. Coe™

ACT III 59

ASSIGMENTS 61

SCENES 64

HOW TO MAKE A SCENE 64

HEADINGS 64

SCENE HEADINGS 64

MONTAGE 64

SERIES OF SHOTS 64

FLASHBACKS/DREAMS 65

DESCRIPTION 65

CHARACTER FIRST APPEARANCES 65

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS 65

CHARACTER NAMES 65

REDUNDANCIES 65

SIGNS, NEWS HEADLINES, SONGS, BOOKS, MAGAZINES, NOTES, LETTERS 66

SOUNDS 66

SPECIAL EFFECTS, TRANSITIONS, EDITING DIRECTIONS, MUSIC, CAMERA DIRECTIONS 66

SUBTITLES/SUPERS: 66

KEYS TO GREAT SCENES 66

BEATS 67

TOOLS FOR BUILDING SUSPENSE 68

EVOKE EMOTION 68

CREATE CONFLICT 68

PROVIDE OPPOSITION 68

BUILD EXPECTATION 69

INCREASE TENSION 69

USE SURPRISE 69

CREATE IMMEDIACY 69

ESTABLISH CONSEQUENCES 69

LIMIT TIME 69

MAINTAIN DOUBT 69

LEAVE THEM LAUGHING (COMEDIES) 69

WRITING DIALOGUE 70

CHARACTER CAPTION 70

ACTOR’S DIRECTIONS 70

DIALOGUE 70

OFF-SCREEN 70

WRITING GREAT DIALOGUE 70

WHAT DIALOGUE IS 71

8 ELEMENTS OF THE VOICE: 71

IT’S NOT WHAT YOU SAY BUT HOW YOU SAY IT 71

WRITING BETTER DIALOGUE 71

EXCITING EXPOSITION 73

FLASHBACKS 73

FORMAT STYLE GUIDE 74

FIVE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SCENE WRITING 74

WRITING DESCRIPTIONS 74

WRITING ACTION 74

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beginning chapters of this book. Includes third-party content not owned by Sir William K. Coe™.

The Screenwriting Bible™

Sir William K. Coe™

DIALOGUE 75

THE REWRITE 75

THE GOOD READ 78

EACH REWRITE 79

SECOND AND THIRD DRAFT COMPLETED 79

ABOUT FORMATS 81

PRESENTATION – THINGS TO DO AFTER YOU’RE DONE 81

MARGINS AND SPACING 83

PAGE BREAKS: 83

ASSIGNMENTS 84

MARKETING 92

THREE KEYS TO MARKETING YOURSELF AS A SCREENWRITER 92

TWO SOURCES OF INFORMATION REGARDING WHO THE 92

PEOPLE IN POWER ARE 92

FOUR CATEGORIES OF PEOPLE IN POWER 92

WHAT TO DO WHEN COMPLETED 92

FINDING AN AGENT 92

APPROACH PRODUCTION COMPANIES AND OTHER WAYS OF FINANCE 94

THE SCREENWRITER’S DEAL 94

THREE WAYS FOR A SCREENWRITER TO EARN MONEY 94

YOUR STRATEGIC MARKETING PLAN 95

PRINCIPLES 95

PURPOSE 95

AUDIENCE 95

STRATEGY 95

HIGH CONCEPT 95

TOOLS FOR SELLING 96

LOGLINE 96

THE PITCH 97

MANY WRITERS FEAR PITCHING THEIR STORIES, IF THEY WANTED TO PERFORM FOR AN AUDIENCE, THEY WOULD

NOT HAVE CHOSEN A SOLITARY PROFESSION LIKE WRITING. SCRIPT WRITING MAY BE A SOLITARY PURSUIT WHEN

YOU FACE THE BLANK PAGE; BUT ONCE YOU PUT SOMETHING MAGIC ON THAT BLANK PAGE, EVERYBODY WANTS

TO GET INTO THE ACT.

WORKING WRITERS OFTEN PITCH THEIR STORIES WHILE THEY'RE IN THE MIDST OF WRITING THEIR SCREENPLAYS.

EVEN AFTER THEY SELL THE SCRIPT, THEY HAVE TO PITCH IT TO THE DIRECTOR AND THE ACTORS. ALL

SUCCESSFUL SCREENWRITERS LEARN HOW TO PITCH EFFECTIVELY, IT'S PART OF THE JOB DESCRIPTION. 97

QUERY LETTER 99

SYNOPSIS 102

TREATMENT 106

STEP OUTLINE 108

PROJECT PLAN 112

POSITIONING STRATEGIES 113

IDENTIFYING PROSPECTS 114

WEEKLY ACTION PLAN 115

ASSIGMENTS 115

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beginning chapters of this book. Includes third-party content not owned by Sir William K. Coe™.

The Screenwriting Bible™

Sir William K. Coe™

APPENDIX 116

SAMPLE SCREENPLAY OPENING 116

PARADIGM STRUCTURE 118

STEP OUTLINE 119

STEP OUTLINE 122

STEP OUTLINE 125

TREATMENT 126

TREATMENT 128

QUERY LETTER 133

QUERY LETTER 134

QUERY LETTER 135

QUERY LETTER 136

STRUCTURE TABLE 137

LIST OF AGENTS AND MANAGERS 139

LIST OF PRODUCTION COMPANIES 197

COMMON FORMS YOU’LL ENCOUNTER 265

COPYRIGHTING SCREENPLAYS 272

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT? 272

HOW DO I ENFORCE MY COPYRIGHT? 273

WHAT IF YOU WANT TO WRITE SOMETHING BASED ON SOMEONE ELSE'S WORK? 275

POETICS

BY ARISTOTLE

WRITTEN 350 B.C.E

TRANSLATED BY S. H. BUTCHER 291

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET SCREENPLAY 319

BIBLIOGRAPHY 430

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beginning chapters of this book. Includes third-party content not owned by Sir William K. Coe™.

The Screenwriting Bible™

Sir William K. Coe™

Introduction

Screenplays have become, for the last half of this century, what the

Great American Novel was for the first half. Closet writers who used to

dream of the glory of getting into print now dream of the glory of

seeing their story on the big or small screen. After teaching about

7000 writers in more than forty-five cities in the United States,

Canada, and England, I have found that the dream is by no means

confined to Hollywood. People everywhere watch TV and think to

themselves, "I could write better than that." Or they go to the movies

and lose themselves in the magic of the dark, and they want to be a

part of that magic or that glamour or that wealth that they see and

read about. Or they just want to touch the pain and the wonder that

comes from facing that blank page and turning it into something totally

one's own.

So they decide to give it a shot. And then they meet The Great

Destroyers: Everybody's writing a screenplay. You can't learn

creativity. It's impossible to get an agent. You've got to live in

southern California. It's who you know, not what you know. They'll rip

you off. They'll ruin your script. Nobody knows what sells. All they

want is teenage sex comedies. All they want is macho violence. All they

want are established writers.

And you don't have any talent anyway.

So the dream gets changed or diminished or vanishes altogether. Or you

forge ahead in blind, confused ignorance, assuming that there are no

standards in Hollywood, that it's just a crap shoot. Or you refuse to

consider commerciality at all, because that's a sellout. Or you decide

just to go after the bucks because you can't hope to say anything

meaningful anyway. And so on.

I don't buy it. After twelve years of working in Hollywood developing

screenplays as a reader, a story editor, staff producer, and screenplay

consultant for various production companies (including my own), and

after having worked with probably a hundred or more screenwriters in

acquiring and developing projects, and after listening to, talking

with, working with, and interviewing another hundred or so writers,

agents, producers, executives, and stars, I think all those notions

listed above are myths. At the very least, they have grown way out of

proportion to reality and need to be put in proper perspective.

I have now been teaching screen writing for about eleven years, first

at Sherwood Oaks Experimental College and then through UCLA Extension.

And for more than eight years I have been conducting an intensive, two-

day seminar on the complete screenwriting process. This book sets forth

the principles that have evolved out of those classes and my own

professional experience. The goal of this book is to destroy those

common myths of failure and to replace them with the following ideas:

have read and abide to the license, warnings, and additional documents listed within the

beginning chapters of this book. Includes third-party content not owned by Sir William K. Coe™.

The Screenwriting Bible™

Sir William K. Coe™

1. If screen writing is a goal you wish to pursue, then you should go

for it. And as long as you find the process of writing screenplays

personally fulfilling, then you should keep at it, because anyone with

talent who sticks around long enough will succeed.

2. Lots of us would like to have written a screenplay; what's important

is whether you want to write a screenplay. If you get fulfillment out

of the day-to-day work of putting a story to paper, then the additional

rewards of money and success and fame can follow. But if it's those

secondary rewards you're focused on, it probably won't happen, and

success certainly won't be as golden as you think it will be if it does

arrive.

3. Creativity is something we all possess. Your objective should be not

to learn creativity but to stimulate it. This book is filled with

methods of nudging, nurturing, and recognizing your own creativity, and

funneling it into your screenplay.

4. No matter how much new technology can be thrown into a movie, no

matter what new stars or concepts or directors are hot, and no matter

how much Sylvester Stallone gets paid, the foundation of any successful

film will always be a good, well-written story. A bad movie can be made

out of a good script but never the reverse. Hollywood will always need

the screenwriter.

5. Hollywood does have standards, and it is possible to know what those

are and write screenplays that meet them. The most straightforward way

is to look at successful movies and see what they have in common. And

beyond that, to listen to the stated desires and needs of the people

who are in the position of buying screenplays and making movies and TV

shows. This book contains numerous checklists and outlines of those

requirements and the methods for achieving them with your writing.

6. Commerciality and artistry are not mutually exclusive.

7. The screenwriting process can be broken down into a proven series of

steps and stages which will enable you to achieve a salable,

emotionally involving screenplay.

8. You can be a working screenwriter and live anywhere in the world.

9. You can launch a career as a screenwriter even if you don't know

anyone within a thousand miles of southern California.

And finally:

10. You can make a bundle of money doing all of this.

Now before this list starts to sound like those no-money-down seminars,

or those secret-way-to-riches ads at the back of Writer's Digest and

Family Weekly, I'd better summarize:

If you want to decide whether screenwriting is a career for you, then

do it on the basis of the reality of the work involved and the

have read and abide to the license, warnings, and additional documents listed within the

beginning chapters of this book. Includes third-party content not owned by Sir William K. Coe™.