Until you’ve consumed all of the best Screenplay books, can you even claim to be a true fan?
- Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting (2005)
- Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need (2005)
- The 90-Day Screenplay: from concept to polish (2014)
- Screenplay Format Made (Stupidly) Easy (Screenwriting Made (Stupidly) Easy) (2018)
- Screenplay: Writing the Picture, 2nd Edition (2012)
- The Dark Knight Trilogy: The Complete Screenplays (Opus Screenplay) (2012)
- The Short Screenplay: Your Short Film from Concept to Production (Aspiring Filmmaker’s Library) (2006)
- Inglourious Basterds: A Screenplay (2009)
- Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect (2014)
- The Screenwriter’s Workbook: Exercises and Step-by-Step Instructions for Creating a Successful Screenplay, Newly Revised and Updated (2006)
- Your Screenplay Sucks!: 100 Ways to Make It Great (2008)
- Writing Screenplays That Sell, New Twentieth Anniversary Edition: The Complete Guide to Turning Story Concepts into Movie and Television Deals (2011)
- Reservoir Dogs: The Screenplay (2000)
- The Scream Writer’s Handbook: How to Write a Terrifying Screenplay in 10 Bloody Steps (2018)
Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting (2005)
Hollywood’s script guru teaches you how to write a screenplay in “the ‘bible’ of screenwriting” (The New York Times)—now celebrating forty years of screenwriting success!Syd Field’s books on the essential structure of emotionally satisfying screenplays have ignited lucrative careers in film and television since 1979.
Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need (2005)
Here’s what started the phenomenon: the best seller, for over 15 years, that’s been used by screenwriters around the world! Blake Snyder tells all in this fast, funny and candid look inside the movie business.
The 90-Day Screenplay: from concept to polish (2014)
The 90-Day Screenplay was workshopped at L.A. Writers’ Lab over the course of ten years and has helped hundreds of screenwriters complete their work. Many graduates of the Lab have gone on to illustrious careers as screenwriters and producers in TV and film. The 90-Day Screenplay method of structuring your story is organic, involving a rigorous inquiry into the dilemma besetting your characters.
Screenplay Format Made (Stupidly) Easy (Screenwriting Made (Stupidly) Easy) (2018)
“Loved every bit of it. An absolute essential tool for a screenwriter, professional or beginner. This man is a script genius!” –Alex Sorrels – Assistant Director, Worth Fighting ForWant to learn screenplay format?
Screenplay: Writing the Picture, 2nd Edition (2012)
Screenplay is a complete screenwriting coursefrom initial idea through final script saleproviding in-depth discussions of theme development; story research; script plotting and structuring; character development; dialogue; writing and rewriting methods; formatting; the ins and outs of marketing and pitching scripts; writing for TV, the Web and video games, and much more.
The Dark Knight Trilogy: The Complete Screenplays (Opus Screenplay) (2012)
At nearly six hundred pages, The Dark Knight Trilogy, a behemoth of script and storyboards, captures on the page the dark mythic expanse of the cinematic Batman. These definitive, vibrant film blueprints – published on the heels of the final film’s closely guarded release – are destined to be enshrined on every fan’s bedside table, studied in universities, and emulated by filmmakers.
The Short Screenplay: Your Short Film from Concept to Production (Aspiring Filmmaker’s Library) (2006)
With the growth of film festivals, cable networks, specialty home video, and the Internet, there are more outlets and opportunities for screening short films now than at any time in the last 100 years. But before you can screen your short film, you need to shoot it. And before you can shoot it, you need to write it.
Inglourious Basterds: A Screenplay (2009)
With such iconic films as the Oscar-winning Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill: Volumes 1 & 2, and Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino has become the most famous and revered writer/director of his generation. Now he’s back with his most ambitious movie yet: the World War II epic Inglourious Basterds. Starring Brad Pitt and filmed on location in Germany and France, it has the largest cast of characters of any Tarantino film to date.
Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect (2014)
Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect, Fourth Edition stands alone among screenwriting books by emphasizing that human connection, though often overlooked, is as essential to writing effective screenplays as conflict.
The Screenwriter’s Workbook: Exercises and Step-by-Step Instructions for Creating a Successful Screenplay, Newly Revised and Updated (2006)
Syd Field's timeless manual on visual storytelling is your own, hands-on master-class with the man The Hollywood Reporter called "the most sought-after screenwriting teacher in the world." Field was the very first person to dissect thousands of films and scripts to find the essential narrative structure and shared functio…
Your Screenplay Sucks!: 100 Ways to Make It Great (2008)
A lifetime member of the Writer’s Guild of America who has had three feature films produced from his screenplays, Akers offers beginning writers the tools they need to get their screenplay noticed.
Writing Screenplays That Sell, New Twentieth Anniversary Edition: The Complete Guide to Turning Story Concepts into Movie and Television Deals (2011)
For more than twenty years, Writing Screenplays That Sell has been hailed as the most complete guide available on the art, craft, and business of writing for movies and television. Now fully revised and updated to reflect the latest trends and scripts, Hollywood story expert and script consultant Michael Hauge walks readers through every step of writing and selling successful screenplays. If you read only one book on the screenwriter’s craft, this must be the one.
Reservoir Dogs: The Screenplay (2000)
Quentin Tarantino’s films have single-handedly revived and redefined American noir, bringing to Hollywood a new energy, irony, and cool. Tarantino has won awards and accolades around the world, earned a devoted following among critics, actors, and audiences, and paved the way for a new generation of young filmmakers.
The Scream Writer’s Handbook: How to Write a Terrifying Screenplay in 10 Bloody Steps (2018)
The only Horror Screenwriter’s Handbook written by a successful Hollywood screenwriter. Authored by Hollywood horror screenwriting veteran Thomas Fenton, whose credits include work on the Saw and I Spit On Your Grave horror franchises, The Scream Writer’s Handbook offers a 10-step approach to writing a screenplay from idea through completing a first draft.
Best Screenplay Books You Should Enjoy
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some screenplay books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
The Final Rewrite: How to View Your Screenplay with a Film Editor’s Eye
Author(s): John Rosenberg
ID: 3720226, Publisher: Routledge/Focal Press, Year: 2023, Size: 36 Mb, Format: pdf
Script Analysis: Deconstructing Screenplay Fundamentals
Author(s): James Bang
ID: 3530863, Publisher: Routledge, Year: 2022, Size: 3 Mb, Format: pdf
Writing Scenes For Screenplays: (The 15-Minute Movie Method)
Author(s): Wang, Wallace
ID: 3597617, Publisher: , Year: 2022, Size: 567 Kb, Format: epub
Please note that this booklist is not absolute. Some books are absolutely record-breakers according to The New York Times, others are composed by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant links you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.