Real Screenwriting: Strategies and Stories from the Trenches

By Ron Suppa

As news of screenwriters getting seven-figure deals leaks to the masses, it's no wonder hundreds of aspiring screenwriters come to Hollywood each day for a chance at easy money and glory. However, the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592009573
• ISBN13: 9781592009572
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Cengage Learning PTR
• Length: 409 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

A requisite for budding Screenwriters

Wow, this book is a terrific combination of writing academics, insight and personal agony experienced by a one time actor attorney, producer, writer and current UCLA professor. The dark text at the end of each lecture "from the trenches" imparts Ron's actual experiences with some very famous people and movies. It is priceless and makes this book a fascinating read. The last chapter recounts the "Real Rocky" story, and this alone makes the book worth the money. Ron keeps it interesting and by the end of the book you feel as if you've been through the mill with him. Frank Nuciforo Cambria, Ca

Any screenwriter - even those already successful - needs REAL SCREENWRITING

Ron Suppa is a successful film producer and instructor: he's taught fine courses in the UK on the topic of screenwriting and here offers in book form the contents of his course, which packs tips with personal experiences and polish. REAL SCREENWRITING: STRATEGIES AND STORIES FORM THE TRENCHES covers everything from movie dialogue and spec teleplay plots to understanding the importance of the entertainment lawyer. Any screenwriter - even those already successful - needs REAL SCREENWRITING to hone and perfect skills. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

A Compulsory Purchase

If you are serious about fulfilling your dream to become a screenwriter and cannot attend Ron Suppa's classes at UCLA, it is compulsory you buy this book. It offers a rare blend of instructional criteria directly applicable to your work, with philosophical wisdom from Aristotle to David Mamet. Wondering how to define your characters or exacerbate your conflict? Accomplish that goal using his point by point "Strategies", or the plethora of easily relatable examples he gives from a treasure trove of cinematic masterpieces. Along the way you will be both entertained and impressed by his "From the Trenches" segments, priceless personal experience from a bona fide raconteur.

The best book on screenwriting ever written, period.

As a film editor, I "write" movies in the editing room so I have read a lot of books on screenwriting and taken the usual courses. I am totally blown away by this book! First of all, it is SO well written, so much fun to read, it reads like a great novel! Not to mention the invaluable strategies and tips on every aspect of the art and craft and business, and so many great ON POINT anecdotes and stories from the writer's real world experiences as a screenwriter -- no wonder this book is a hardcover -- it's packed thick and heavy and not a word wasted! Buy this book and love it, or just read the forward by Lew Hunter and see why even the pros are blown away by this book.

Buy It Now!

The first thing you will notice about Ron Suppa's book "Real Screenwriting" is that it is heavy. One person can carry it, but it is 400 pages. And it is not just heavy because of the page count. This book is heavy with valuable, useful material, thoughtfully presented. This is not for dilettantes. If you are looking for short cuts to that first big spec sale, buy one of those cute, little, entertaining paperbacks. (Or contact me. I probably have all of them on my shelf.) This is a book for people serious about learning the craft. It is also entertaining. His "From the Trenches" sections are both fun and informative, stories from someone who was, and is, in the middle of the Hollywood scene. But the really interesting thing for me about Ron Suppa's book is how slowly and carefully I have been working through it. In my prior reading on scriptwriting, I would finish the books very quickly and I think it was because there just wasn't that much value in these books. It was either old and rehashed material or information that was mostly self-explanatory. I usually felt I was finishing the books without coming away with the help that I really needed. With Mr. Suppa's new book, I notice how often I reread a sentence or paragraph and then think about how it might apply to my script. I don't recall ever doing that with any other scriptwriting books. So many of his statements are absolute pearls of useful information. Here's just one example out of the thousands in the book: "Screenplays are goal-oriented. The goal must be specific, clearly identifiable, as crucial to your character as life and death, and not subject to compromise. And yet, it is not the goal itself but the character's journey toward the goal that matters most." Great stuff! And worth taking a moment to think about. If, when you finish this book, you want to know more about scriptwriting, read the book again. I am quite certain that you will learn about as much the second time around -- this book is loaded! I am not suggesting that this book "adds to the library of existing books on scriptwriting." I think you will find, as I did, that it replaces them. Rick Smith