Screenwriting Goldmine: How to Write a Screenplay That People Are Desperate to Shoot!

Unlike most of the other screenwriting manuals out there, this short, sharp, how-to book doesn't just analyse screenplay structure. Screenwriting Goldmine goes all the way, actually giving you step-by-step instructions for writing a script, all inside a highly readable 100 pages. No fluff, no padding, just solid writing techniques.

Based on the author's twenty years of professional experience, the Goldmine hands you a complete process. It starts with the blank page, helps you brainstorm your story world and find your lead characters, then guides you gently through the whole thing, leaving you happy and fulfilled and printing off your first draft.

Inside:

• The single most important principle of telling a story. (Page 15)
• How to make sure that your story is the BEST possible story you could tell about your hero. Every character has one supreme story and I explain how to find it. (Page 14 and page 65)
• How you create your Villain – and how to make sure they are the best possible antagonist for your story. (Page 15)
• How to find so much story material you'll have trouble deciding what to leave out. (Pages 21-27)
• A SIMPLE TRICK for researching ‘impossible’ topics, such as historical drama, or science fiction. (Page 25-26)
• Why doing your research on the Internet can KILL your script. (Page 21-22)
• The 4 Tent Poles of your story that you MUST find before you start writing. (Page 17)
• The 14 beats you MUST have in your story if you want it to GRIP YOUR AUDIENCE. (These are general beats, and work across any story, any genre.)
• A specific plan for your Act 1 that means you NEVER have to worry about how to start a story again. Imagine how it would feel to know that all you have to do is follow the story shape here and you will have a UNIVERSALLY APPEALING start to your story. (Page 37)
• 9 simple Rules of Thumb to help you write scenes and dialogue... (Page 80-82)
• And an explanation of why writing scenes and dialogue too early is a CRITICAL mistake that could SINK your screenplay. (Page 75)
• Why writing a biography for your protagonist is misguided. (Page 66-68)
• How to create a beat sheet with no wasted effort. (Pages 37-61)
• How much time you'll need to write the script. Don’t rush it, or let it drag on for ever. I give you an industry standard time to shoot for. (Page 84)
• How and why an attack on the Hero from this unlikely source will always RAISE THE INTENSITY of the drama. (Page 54)
• The simple, yet FATAL error that lets the life-blood of your story slip away. (Page 44)
• Why you MUST integrate one crucial aspect of your hero’s character into the final moments of the script – and how to set your hero up from the start to make that happen. (Pages 59)
• A simple trick to play with minor characters to give your script masses MORE LIFE and APPEAL. (Page 63)
• How to leave your audience happy and satisfied. Miss this stage out and you will leave people uneasy without knowing why. (Page 60)
• The crucial beat that will send your audience spinning into the final section of your story and make them hungry to get to the end. (Page 54)
• Why relying on real life for your endings may be one of the biggest mistakes you could make. (Page 58)
• One specific scene that raises your hero’s focus, and attention, and commitment, until he is like AN UNSTOPPABLE MACHINE who is STEAMING TOWARDS THE CLIMAX. (Page 57)
• The ONE SCENE that the WHOLE OF THE SCRIPT HAS BEEN WAITING FOR – and how to avoid making a critical mistake when you stage it. (Page 58)
• Plus ‘Action Step’ lists after every chapter to summarise exactly what you have to do next.

And so much more...