A screenwriting book that sucks…

FADE IN The Screenwriting Process Written by Robert A. BergmanOur second … Pretty soon we should OWN that search phrase in … Oh, we already do… LOL.

So I’m ALWAYS reading screenwriting books. Some are and worn while others look absolutely pristine… Because they suck.

The one I just finished reading, sucks.


Written by Robert A. Berman

I know this may get me in a little hot water with some of you readers but holy shit… I hope nobody out there who did purchase this book took it seriously enough to actually write a screenplay based on the information inside.

I’m in today because of a meeting we have with the … I actually got here yesterday and bought the book at a local bookstore… After all, it does have a great title.

Yow. This book HURT me. What’s worse, is the author’s screenplay in the back of the book. Yikes! He tediously mentions throughout the book that he did everything he needed to do to this screenplay but I submit he failed to do the most important thing.

Shitcan that script.

Okay, maybe not completely shitcan it but this thing needs some serious rewriting to bring it up to player’s level.

Just like my earlier posts on , this is definitely the book to buy to learn what NOT TO DO.

The screenwriting process? Please.

I’m not really sure about the legal ramifications so I won’t include any of the material from the book but wow…

The author admits that he’s never sold a screenplay… If the rest of his screenplays are anything like the one in the book… Whew.

Talking heads all the way through. Exposition at its finest!

The author also admits that his “other scripts” are “pretty good.”

He does mention the loglines of the other screenplays and in none of those loglines did I read a high concept. Maybe some of the stuff he’s written would translate to a low budget Indie film… Nothing wrong with that however, in the book, the author explains how he holds a yard sale to come up with $2000 to go to Los Angeles for a week to get an agent.

He comes up empty of course but I detected a kind of “” attitude while reading about the meetings with the agents. This is a solid case of someone who thinks their shit doesn’t stink.

While he admits that some of the notes others have given him will in fact improve the screenplay, I never really got the idea that he believed the notes at all… Rather, these statements come off as obligatory.

If one can learn ANYTHING from this book, it’s this…

Do NOT quit your well-paying job, hold a yard sale and sell all your fishing tackle, take the $2000 and go to Los Angeles for a week and expect to pick up an agent or maybe even sell your screenplay.

That’s exactly what the author says he did… He does come up short of course which is to be expected.

Let me also say that I have no problem with someone writing a book that’s never sold a screenplay before… What I DO have a problem with is a book that purports to be a book that will help those of us to write a screenplay and sell it.

This book FAILS on all levels as far as I’m concerned. There is some decent reading in there but this book is also more expensive than a LOT of that we should all be making .

Needless to say, I found more than a few problems with this book but I feel too exhausted to list every one of them RATHER, here’s what I want to do…

I want to start our very own little right here at … I want as many of YOU to read this book as possible BUT I don’t want you to go out and buy it. For that reason, let’s get a list going on a first come first served basis…

Just send me an email IF you’re interested in reading WHAT NOT TO DO and I will send you the book for free but there is one catch. You must agree to read the book right away and send me some kind of review that we can post here on the blog. In addition, you’ve got to send the book on to the next person on the list who wants to read it… So yeah, you gotta pay for the postage…

If nothing else, READ THE SCREENPLAY in the back of the book to see what I’m talking about. Learn what a screenplay with talking heads is like. Learn how to tell a story through exposition.

If you’re interested, throw me a comment and an email and let’s get this book passed around.

Unk

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September 22, 2006 | Filed Under Books

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