The Screenwriter's Problem Solver How to Recognize, Identify, and Define Screenwriting Problems

All writing is rewriting. But what do you change, and how do you change it? All screenplays have problems. They happened to Die Hard: With a Vengeance and Broken Arrow-and didn't get fixed, leaving the films flawed. They nearly shelved Platoon-until Oliver Stone rewrote the first ten pages and created a classic. They happen to every screenwriter. But good writers see their problems as a springboard to creativity. Now bestselling author Syd Field, who works on over 1,000 screenplays a year, tells you step-by-step how to identify and fix common screenwriting problems, providing the professional secrets that make movies brilliant-secrets that can make your screenplay one headed for success...or even Cannes. Learn how to: Understand what makes great stories work Make your screenplay work in the first ten pages, using Thelma & Louise and Dances With Wolves as models Use a "dream assignment" to let your creative self break free overnight Make action build character, the way Quentin Tarantino does Recover when you hit the "wall"-and overcome writer's block forever

Syd Field is a screenwriter, producer, teacher, international lecturer, and author of the bestselling books <i>Screenplay, The Screenwriter's Workbook, Selling a Screenplay,</i> and <i>Four Screenplays.</i> Published in 1982, <i>Screenplay</i> has been translated into sixteen languages, and is used in more than 250 colleges and universities across the country. At present he is creative consultant to the governments of Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Austria, and South Africa, and has been a script consultant for Roland Jaffe's film production company, for Alfonso Arau and Laura Esquivel on <i>Like Water for Chocolate,</i> and for Tri-Star Pictures. He lives in Beverly Hills, California.