Posted by Nate Dogg at prox1.cc.iup.edu on February 11, 2002 at 12:24:18:
In Reply to: My suggestion. posted by Smalls on February 11, 2002 at 12:09:58:
: Anything by William Goldman and "How Not to Write a Screenplay" are both key.
I couldn't agree more with the about, but there are a few other things that I have used to help me out.
While not directly involved with the screenwritting process, read Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez. Kind of directed me in the right direction.
But I have to say my main source has always been reading scripts of movies I love. Noticing how on the page, things that I thought I could never be capable of writting looked attainable. Reading scripts has helped me learn that not everything has to be on the page. It's helped me with the subtext.
The thing that I have found to be key though isn't a book. It's just listening to how people talk. Getting people from Point A to Point B isn't all that hard. but what they talk about on the way there can be.
-- Nate