In this essential writer's guide, a professional screen-writer shares her know-how on the elements of writing for the screen, from the basics of character development and creating the structure to resolving problems and revising in only three drafts.

Designed for screenwriters and film professionals looking for more than a formulaic approach to screenplays. it offers insights into the classic structures and themes which underlie good screenwriting, as well as contemporary story-telling techniques. it also provides detailed instructions on how to create cohesive plots and more.

Selling Your Screenplay is a step-by-step guide to getting your screenplay sold and produced. Learn how to get your script into the hands of the producers and directors who can turn your story into a movie.

Covers the basics of scriptwriting, from deciding on a story and characters through the finished work, and analyzes a sample script

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.

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.

The Turn & Burn methodology offers practical, real-world advice for quickly turning stories - within any genre - into engaging and authentic movie scripts.