Into the Woods (Vocal Score)

Book Description

Stephen Sondheim's Tony-Award winning musical includes: Agony * It Takes Two * Stay With Me * Any Moment * No More * No One is Alone

Customer Reviews:

Yay!.......2007-10-10

Finally released! This has every song on the OBC Recording and it sounds wonderful! It is extremely difficult to play though, as most Sondheim music is.

Great reference material.......2007-05-19

The vocal score for "Into the Woods," while not practical for use at the piano due to the nature of the binding, is a terrific study aid for those interested in analyzing Sondheim's brilliant work. I recommend it to anyone wishing to enhance his or her understanding and appreciation of the piece.

Good value.......2007-01-05

Good condition, received fast. It's great, it's Sondheim, what else can I say?

Generous and Wonderful.......2005-08-31

Being one who always wanted to audition using the Witch's song or the Baker's Wife's song, I am delighted and grateful to Sondheim and Co. for putting out this amazing vocal score. The effort to do so must have been incredible. My only wish, not complaint, is that the chords were also represented by "C" or "Dmaj7" so that I could play along as I sing. I can read music, but if I have to play piano chords by sight only, it takes me days to finger it one note at a time. Well, that's probably my fault - practice, practice, practice! Anyway, it's quite a thorough job and now I have audition pieces galore! Only hope the accompanists can play it!

grrrrreat!.......2005-08-03

The musical score was in tip top shape and it came to my house in perfect timing for me to be able to use it for a local production. thank you.

Average customer rating:

Do you really want to write screenplays?
Kind of boring, but good information
Polish Your Hollywood Star
Helpful
the publisher doesn't want to deal with you

Making a Good Script Great
Linda Seger
Manufacturer: Samuel French
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0573699216

Customer Reviews:

Do you really want to write screenplays?.......2007-10-02

If so, you will love this book. As someone who reads all the books I can on screenwriting over and over as I write, I find this book invaluable. What separates it from the others? The chapters on subplots and scenes really help. I also have found Rob Tobin's book, John Truby's course, Kate Wright's book, Blake Snyder's book, Michael Hauge and Chris Vogler's DVD/books instruction to be helpful. These books don't just tell you to reveal character and move the story forward; they show you how.

Kind of boring, but good information.......2007-06-27

Linda Seger teaches or taught script writing at some school somewhere. She loves to tell you this in her book. I don't think she actually ever wrote any movies in her life that I can tell. According to the Internet Movie Database she was listed under Miscellaneous Crew in the "Never Ending Story II: The Next Chapter". Not exactly a block buster. So I think she should work a little harder on her craft. My guess is that she has made more money teaching and writing about movies than actually writing a movie. She is listed as script consultant in some random movies I've never heard of. Probably worth the $3 I paid used but not much more. Here's a tip for the author. Go write a movie we've heard of and then write a book.

Polish Your Hollywood Star.......2006-09-22

Reading a screenwriting book by Dr. Linda Seger is like taking a hundred meetings with Hollywood's best writers and directors, and listening in as Seger helps them mold their stories and scripts into a hit. Seger's experiences are vast, and she's generous with her advice, which is smart, visual, commercial, and practical. If you do what she says, your chances at selling and getting your screenplay made are tremendously magnified. Making a Good Script Great, for instance, is one of those books that every screenwriter should read (again-and-again) before starting the next project. A good screenplay is complex and sophisticated, but must read simply, easily, and enjoyably. The task is a multifaceted, intense, and long-suffering. Seger, however, provides the chisels and rouges to take your diamond in the rough, sharpen its edges, and polish its faces, until your script gleams and sparkles like a Hollywood star.

Linda's writing was helpful in the writing of my own book on screenwriting published by Michael Wiese Productions -- THE MORAL PREMISE: Harnessing Virtue and Vice for Box Office Success.

Helpful.......2006-02-21

This book offers some good insight. This 'is' about "Making a Good Script Great" as the title says, so it's not for someone looking for a starting guide. For those people, I would reccomend "Lew Hunters Screenwriting 101."

I must warn, that the book references 'Witness' allot. So if you haven't seen it, see it. And see Ghostbusters too!

Overall though, this guide is one of the few that actually delivers, and is a quick and easy read.

-Matt

the publisher doesn't want to deal with you.......2005-08-18

The book is good, but the publisher is a horror for educators to deal with. (ex: requests for desk copies are met with a reply that amounts to 'buzz off')

The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters: Insider's Secrets from Hollywood's Top Writers

Average customer rating:

A Must Read
The truth you need to hear before pursuing your dreams
Yes, I am tired of reading old reviews on Screenwriting Books too.
A Must Have For Aspriring Screenwriters
A good "dip-in" book for the isolated writer

The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters: Insider's Secrets from Hollywood's Top Writers
Karl Iglesias
Manufacturer: Adams Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1580625509

Amazon.com

Aspiring screenwriters don't need another book on how to write a screenplay, says Karl Iglesias. What they need is a book on how to be a screenwriter. Voilà: The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters, featuring interviews with 14 screenwriters, arranged by subject. The result reads like a panel discussion, touching on such subjects as collaboration, schmoozing, discipline, Hollywood, and story pitching. The dream of winning a Hollywood jackpot has lured everyone and his gardener into the screenwriting game. Still, despite the unencouraging odds, "all you need to do is write a good script," says Scott Rosenberg (Beautiful Girls). Some of the book's best advice concerns one of the screenwriter's most formidable hurdles: getting a screenplay read. Submit it to film festivals and screenwriting competitions, or follow Tom Schulman's (Dead Poet's Society) advice and hire an entertainment attorney. After all, "most of them know a lot of agents." --Jane Steinberg

Customer Reviews:

A Must Read.......2007-05-14

This is a must read for anyone who aspires to be a screen writer. Any wannabe writer has their own personal favorite blogs, a blog that helps inspire, motivate and teach them. This book is almost a best of those blogs from successful writers whose movies they have written have actually BEEN PRODUCED.
The one main theme of this book is just write and write and write because you love writing and not because you want the Hollywood celebrity lifestyle. Great writing will open a lot of doors for one and most importantly, keep that door open.
In my opinion, I like to study and and read how successful writers from all genres got their first break, their work ethic and how most importantly they work through writer's block and rejection. Again, Karl Iglesias' book does that successfully.

The truth you need to hear before pursuing your dreams.......2006-04-10

I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Iglesias at the Screenwriting Expo. He knows his craft, he loves the business. And he's brutally honest in conveying the realistic odds of breaking into Hollywood. While no one ever says it's easy, he can tell you just how hard. This book is a must read for any aspiring screenwriter. Interviewing some of the greatest screenwriters, they all are forthcoming in telling their own tales of struggle, achievement, success, and most of them, frustration.

This book may be geared toward all screenwriters, however it succeeds in leaps and bounds, by telling the realistic truth any up-and-coming screenwriter needs to hear. Too often people are putting together a script hoping to win the lotttery, sell it for mid-six figures, and not taking the time to understand that the money should never be the motivating factor of writing any script. And if that's your only motivation, you'll never succeed in making your dream come true. This book reminds those of us that do it for a different reason, what that reason is. It's the love of writing. Anything else, any other reason, is simply a waste of time and energy.

Mr. Iglesias lays it out in plain view, through interview after interview, just how much of an uphill battle it is get someone to simply give your script a look, and even then, chances of your selling it are slim. Nicholas Kazan once spoke at a seminar. He told them to go turn in their registration forms and go home. He then told them that if any of them seriously entertained that advice, they would never make it. It's all about challenge and it's all about sacrifice. This book will help you realize how important both of those things are.

Yes, I am tired of reading old reviews on Screenwriting Books too........2006-03-06

I always find it frustrating when I go to Amazon and look at the reviews that are posted and find that they are at least 2 to 3 years old. So I decided to at least make a more up-to-date review.

First and foremost, this book is NOT a `How to Write a great Script' book. This book is about screenwriters and their knowledgeable insight on the practice we all know as Screenwriting. These established screenwriters ( Akiva Goldman: A Beautiful Mind, A Time to Kill, and the up coming The Da Vinci Code Steven E. de Souza: Die Hard, 48 Hours.) reference their past experience on what works, what does not work, and what habits you need to establish to have a successful career in the shark infested waters of Hollywood. Not sure how many hours you need to write day in day out? Thinking that you are the only one with a spouse and kids, fearing that you will not have enough time to write? Arrived at Hollywood lost with no plan of action on how to get your script read? Worried that you born yesterday and began sending inquiry letters to agents and producers? Fear of rejection (it is inevitable) from everyone? All these topics are discussed and more in this book.

This book is required reading for all serious screenwriters. I also suggest Breakfast with sharks by Michael Lent, The Art of Dramatic writing by Lajos Egri, Story by Robert Mckee, Making a good script Great by Linda Seger, and The Writer Got Screwed by Brooke A. Wharton.

A Must Have For Aspriring Screenwriters.......2005-11-28

This is one of thost books that you absolutely must read if you are an aspiring screenwriter. It's a goldmine of quality information to help you go from being a decent or lousy writer to a great one. Fourteen of Hollywood's most successful screenwriters share their secrets and tips to writing and selling your scripts to Hollywood. It's like getting private lessons from the pro's. Don't pass this book up, it will make a big difference in your writing career.

A good "dip-in" book for the isolated writer.......2004-12-20

Think of this book this way: it's you having a cup of tea with a bunch of good and not-so-good (but working) screenplay writers. This is not a formula for greatness, but rather a list of suggestions and experiences that you can greatly benefit from if you are so inclined.

Don't be put off by the cover. This is a good book. The best thing about it is it creates a sense of community and exchange of knowledge in what is essentially an isolated (and some might argue isolating) occupation.

This is a "dip-in" book which I find useful and refer to often.

Backwards & Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays

Average customer rating:

excellent analysis tool for actors
. . . and Hamlet too.
Required reading for anyone working on the stage!!
Valuable advice
A great book to teach the art of reading and writing a play

Backwards & Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays
David Ball
Manufacturer: Southern Illinois University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0809311100

Book Description

This guide to playreading for students and practitioners of both theater and literature complements, rather then contradicts or repeats, traditional methods of literary analysis of scripts.

Ball developed his method during his work as Literary Director at the Guthrie Theater, building his guide on the crafts playwrights of every period and style use to make their plays stageworthy. The text is full of tools for students and practitioners to use as they investigate plot, character, theme, exposition, imagery, motivation/obstacle/conflict, theatricality, and the other crucial parts of the superstructure of a play. He includes guides for discovering what the playwright considers the play’s most important elements, thus permitting interpretation based on the foundation of the play rather than its details.

Using Hamlet as illustration, Ball assures a familiar base for illustrating script-reading techniques as well as examples of the kinds of misinterpretation readers can fall prey to by ignoring the craft of the playwright. Of immense utility to those who want to put plays on the stage (actors, directors, designers, production specialists) Backwards and Forwards is also a fine playwriting manual because the structures it describes are the primary tools of the playwright.

Customer Reviews:

excellent analysis tool for actors.......2007-03-12

This book may have been primarily written for directors and writers, but it is a great tool for actors to get to real active meanings in a script.

. . . and Hamlet too........2006-06-28

I agreee wholeheartedly with those below. But Mr Ball is not merely a theorist, he supplies a chapter in which he takes us on a brief journey backward through Hamlet for a distance, and through this method shows how single and specific Hamlet's action is. I can't approach a script now without setting up my dominoes and charting it backward. It seemes foolish not to.

Required reading for anyone working on the stage!!.......2006-01-21

I had a conversation yesterday in which the other theatre artist asked what approach this book advocated to script analysis:
"is it feminist theory? queer theory? Marxist?"

"No, it's the one where you read the script."

Seriously, I don't know what I was doing in the theatre prior to reading this book, and I am so excited to begin my next project now because I feel that I have so much improved in my grasp of how to read a play. Why I wasn't required to read this book in Intro to Theatre or one of my first design classes I don't know, but I am so happy that I did now.

Valuable advice.......2004-12-04

The scope of BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS is narrow, but its ambition is important. This is a book about how to read a play. More specifically, it's about how to read a play whose production you are planning. There are 96 pages in this book and many of them are only partially filled. Some of them are blank. So in very few pages, author David Ball gives some valuable and (I would say, essential) advice. So many bad productions are bad simply because of a basic misreading of the script. Ball tells prospective directors what's important and how to recognize what's important. His advice is very straightforward and concise. He does not pad the book by going off on tangents or use long anecdotes to illustrate a point. He makes a point and then moves on to the next one. I think this book should be compulsory reading for the director, but it is also valuable to the playwright, the actor and the designer. This book is basic. There is a great need to get back to basics. David Ball has done the theatre a great service by writing this valuable book.

A great book to teach the art of reading and writing a play.......2001-04-06

I have used this book as the basis of several theatre and playwriting classes that I have taught. Ball's language is simple, though the words he creates to explain his theories, such as "trigger" and "heap" (a trigger is the moment when people's motivations are exposed, while a heap is the result of that action) make it it easy for any non-theatre person to grasp the clever concepts.

By having a person read a play backwards, Ball shows how to grasp the playwright's intentions, and the character's movements. It's a basic theatrical literary theatre that is surprisingly effective, especially in trying to teach young writers how to create a play.

Amazon.com

How Not to Write a Screenplay is an invaluable addition to any aspiring screenwriter's shelf--and you'd best make the shelf within arm's reach of the computer. Author Dean Martin Flinn, an experienced script reader, details the common rookie mistakes that drive script readers crazy. Flinn makes no pretense of being able to teach anyone how to write the next Great American Film--or for that matter the next Stupid Summer Blockbuster. Instead he offers information that will help keep the novice screenwriter's opus from being immediately tossed on the trash pile (arguably a more valuable service). As Flinn says in his introduction, if you follow the advice in this book, "you may not write a particularly good screenplay, but you won't write a bad one." Flinn offers practical advice on formatting, such as the proper form for a slugline and where to set your margins, and more general rules of thumb on giving the actors room to interpret their roles and avoiding dictating camera angles to the director (who will ignore them anyway). The second half of the book deals with content, also in a remarkably pragmatic way--structure, pacing, plot resolution, and dialogue that really stink are all handily dealt with. Flinn illustrates almost all his points with excerpts from screenplays both good and bad (names have been changed to protect the guilty), giving the reader concrete examples of the difference between poorly and well-structured scenes. Not sucking is an unusual goal for a screenwriting manual, but any script reader will agree it is a noble one. --Ali Davis

Book Description

Finally, what may be the last screenwriting book a writer will ever need to buy!

Customer Reviews:

Almost Worthless.......2007-05-13

There are at least two valuable books on screenplay writing - this is not one of them. Once a writer has read David Trottier's "Screenwriter's Bible" and Robert McKee's "Story", it is obvious that "How Not to Write a Screenplay" is full of obvious points and platitudes that are almost worthless. Most of this book is excerpts from screenplays that blatenly seem to be there so the book has more pages. Don't waste money your money on Flinn's book.

Read this one - but not first........2007-03-12

I have several "How to" books on screenplay writing. If you do too, then you need this one. It tells you what you are doing wrong. I promise many more than one "Oop!" moment from this entertaining and easy to read work.

Entertaining overview of the things most new screenwriters do wrong.......2006-08-29

Flinn has a sense of humor. That is the first thing one notices while reading his book, and that's the one thing that makes it stand out.

"How NOT to Write a Screenplay" is a witty and entertaining tool for learning the DOs and DON'Ts of the screenwriting craft. Packed full of examples drawn from real and make-believe scripts, it can be a definite help to a writer new to the industry. Anyone who has ever read another of the many available books on script formatting will find his commentary amusing. For example:

"Don't use (CONTINUED) at the top and bottom of each page. You're wasting four lines. Anyone reading your screenplay who doesn't know he's supposed to turn the page is a numskull."

Or his comments regarding music suggestions:

"Leave the music track alone: 'THIS SHOULD BE AN UPBEAT SCENE WITH A GOOD MUSIC TRACK.' (Darn. The studio really wanted to use a bad music track.)"

The second half of the book, covering content and story development, provides similar information to that of books by more well-known authors such as Linda Seger or Syd Field, but offers that information encapsulated in smaller sections that make everything quite easy to relate to...sections such as "Suspense", "Believability", "Twists" and "Whammies".

While the book doesn't teach you how to write the perfect screenplay, it does cover many of the practical details. Its strength isn't in storycraft but rather in addressing all the little details screenwriters tend to forget or abuse. Though some of the information is repetitive, there are plenty of examples and excerpts from screenplays -- some good, most bad, and some you may even recognize. Flinn's advice coupled with the many examples can help you avoid the pitfalls so many screenwriters encounter.

Excellent workbook.......2006-08-07

So happy I purchased this before starting my screenplay so I didn't have to do endless edits.

As a reader of many bad screenplays Mr. Flinn certainly knows the pitfalls that will keep a screenplay from even being finished. excellent workbook.

Barbara Gilmer

Okay, Okay.......2006-08-05

This is a book that could have been a long article, or two. But those article would have been interesting. I found the book getting very repetitive in the last half, when we started getting the same material over and over again. But the notions is good: that you need short scenes, with a whammy.

The Viewpoints Book: A Practical Guide to Viewpoints and Composition

Average customer rating:

Viewpoints
Indeed a "practical guide"
Must Own
FINALLY!

The Viewpoints Book: A Practical Guide to Viewpoints and Composition
Anne Bogart , and Tina Landau
Manufacturer: Theatre Communications Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1559362413

Book Description

The Viewpoints is a technique of improvisation that grew out of the postmodern dance world. It was first articulated by choreographer Mary Overlie, who broke down the two dominant issues performers deal with-space and time-into six categories. Since that time, directors Anne Bogart and Tina Landau have expanded her notions and adapted them for actors to function together spontaneously and intuitively and to generate bold, theatrical work.

The Viewpoints are a set of names given to certain principles of movement through time and space-they constitute a language for talking about what happens on stage. Coupling this with Composition, which is the practice of selecting and arranging the separate components of theatrical language into a cohesive work of art, provides theatre artists with an important new tool for creating and understanding their art form.

Primarily intended for the many theatre artists who, in the last several years, have become intrigued with Viewpoints yet have had no single source to refer to in their investigations. It can also be used by anyone with a general interest in collaboration and the creative process, whether in art, business or daily life.

Anne Bogart is Artistic Director of the SITI Company, which she founded with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki in 1992. She is the recipient of two OBIE Awards and a Bessie Award, and is an associate professor at Columbia University. Her recent works include Alice's Adventures; Bobrauschenbergamerica; Small Lives, Big Dreams; Marathon Dancing; and The Baltimore Waltz.

Tina Landau, noted director and playwright, whose original work includes Space (Time magazine 10 Best), Dream True (with composer Ricky Ian Gordon) and Floyd Collins (with composer Adam Guettel), which received the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical, an OBIE Award and seven Drama Desk nominations. She has been an ensemble member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company since 1997.

Customer Reviews:

Viewpoints.......2007-03-08

I wanted a good, basic look at Viewpoints and this book has been exactly what I hoped it would be. It is to the point but still offers enough explanation to make sure the reader understands each viewpoint. If you want a good, basic background of the work this book does well.

Indeed a "practical guide".......2007-01-11

This book was highly recommended to me by a dancer friend, and I've found it to be extremely useful for dance improvisation sessions I'm leading with a group of non-dancers. The authors offers numerous exercises that groups can build on, experiment with, and use to generate skill and teamwork. If you're looking for inspiration for your own performance project or creative ideas for group activities, you will find them here.

Must Own.......2006-05-26

This book is a must-own for actors looking to learn about the physical traning of Viewpoints.

It's great, and practical, and you'll find yourself learning.

A must for every actor's shelf.

FINALLY!.......2005-12-10

It took forever to finally arrive.. both in the sense that it kept getting delayed, but more importantly as a director who has trained with Viewpoints and wanted to impliment them into my work.

The book is very accessible to even those who have not taken any Viewpoints classes with a laid out ground plan for how to introduce each Viewpoint as well as how to use them in rehearsals and creating new pieces. The end of each section includes several options to eithe expand or replace, making the plan fit perfect for whatever you're doing. I read it cover to cover in a sitting and will be referencing it in the future as I direct those new to Viewpoints as well as those previously exposed.

The Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay: How to Write Great Screenplays for Movies and Television

Average customer rating:

A Great Book!
The best!
Read it Thrice
Finally, somebody who knows what they're talking about!
Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay

The Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay: How to Write Great Screenplays for Movies and Television
Cynthia Whitcomb
Manufacturer: Watson-Guptill
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ASIN: 0871161915

Book Description

With the average payment for a screenplay over $100,000, every writer knows that screenwriting is where the money is. In this guide, successful screenwriter and teacher Cynthia Whitcomb shares her extensive knowledge on writing for the screen. This book will teach you her proven techniques, including how to:

• test an idea for its commercial potential
• plan a compelling script
• write great openings and endings
• create characters that grow and evolve
• revise and hone your script to attract Hollywood agents and producers

Includes lists of the best movies to study—and why!

Cynthia Whitcomb has sold more than 70 feature-length screenplays, 25 of which have been filmed. She has made millions of dollars for her work, and her scripts have won and been nominated for many awards, including the Emmy Award, Cable Ace Award, Edgar Allan Poe Award, Humanitas Award, and Writers Guild of America Awards. Her students have also gone on to write successful box-office hits. She has taught screenwriting for many years, including seven at the acclaimed UCLA Film School.

Whitcomb's commercial success and teaching experience make this an essential resource for anyone who wants to write winning scripts for Hollywood.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Book!.......2007-04-04

I'm writing my first screenplay and found this book to be invaluable. Worth its weight in gold.

The best!.......2007-03-14

I've read other screenplay books, watched videos and this book is the best! Not just telling you what to do but with real world suggestions. She rewrites movie endings for you so you can see how a good movie could have been a great movie. She shows you mediocre dialogue and rewrites it so it's great movie dialogue.
It's a great book for novelists too. Creating crisp believable dialogue, creating conflicted characters, pacing. It's all here.
She is direct and like a great movie, gets to the real issues fast.

Read it Thrice.......2006-10-08

"A Brief History of Time" for scriptwriters.

Compressing novel-length stories into an interesting 90-120 minutes, is a big part of the art.

Whitcomb puts a huge quantity of important information into very few pages.

She writes with simple words in short sentences, yet the content is astonishingly information rich.

And spot on.

A rare talent seen only in the very gifted.

There are books on scriptwriting that run to 500+ pages that are quite good. J. Michael Straczynski's works come immediately to mind.

However you can re-read this book 5 times in fewer minutes than it takes to read any of those longer books once. With repetition, you'll surely retain much more of what you read.

Recommended. Highly.

Finally, somebody who knows what they're talking about!.......2006-07-04

Whenever I am about to buy a 'how to write' book, I first look at the bio to see what the writer has actually done. Just about every 'how-to' is written by a 'haven't-done-much.' Cynthia Whitcomb's professional experience is far and away the most.

Not to say other books don't have sound advice, but I sensed a depth here that was lacking elsewhere. I attribute that to her experience.

BTW, I'm a published prose writer, and I recommend this book for prose writers, since a lot of what she says translates over to the written page. It wouldn't hurt novelists to structure plots and develop scenes with as much craft and skill as screenwriters do.

Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay.......2006-03-06

As an old writer who is new to the field of screemwriting, I have found the industry full of mystery when attempting to write a screenplay. Cynthia's book takes away a lot of the confusion and worry by succinctly explaining terms, giving multiple clear-cut examples, and laying out the entire process so that rookies can learn the basics, and experienced writers can get a quick review from an entertaining source. I am sincerely hoping Cynthia plans to write a similar book in the future with regards to publishing hints!

The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines

Average customer rating:

Great book
Easy to understand and use
Essential for Character Development!
Eye-Opening and Entertaining
Open the book and see the possibilities

The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines
Tami D. Cowden , Caro LaFever , and Sue Viders
Manufacturer: Lone Eagle
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ASIN: 1580650244

Book Description

Writing great fiction heroes and heroines.

Customer Reviews:

Great book.......2007-09-16

The book is a great tool for aspiring writers and screenwriters. It offers great insight into the different archetypes. That information is presented in a dictionary type form. Anyone can look up a personality type and find its virtue, flaws, style and background. I highly recommend the book to all aspiring writers.

Easy to understand and use.......2007-06-27

I started using this book for my writing the very day I received it. It's great--I can't recommend it highly enough

Essential for Character Development!.......2005-11-19

I can't say enough good things about this book. Fantastic character profiles. I wish it had been available when I was studying Sociology at university! I own two copies so I can always have it at hand when I need some help. My ONLY complaint are the pop culture references as archetype examples. But, overlook Dr. Spock and Ally McBeal and this book is priceless!

Eye-Opening and Entertaining.......2004-07-31

In the quest of refining character, I have devoured a number of psychology texts and writer's guides, and I do believe that this one may be the best book on that topic I have ever discovered. I would quibble with Cowden, LaFever and Viders in their assertion that the 16 Master Archetypes are the only archetypes, but it's such a small point that it doesn't detract from what they present. Peppered with easily accessible examples, their book breaks down character into strong, clearly sketched components and then discusses how the palates may be blended--in individual character development and interpersonal relationships. I don't know if I would ever use any guide to create a character from scratch, but I'm always happy to find something to help me ensure that my characters behave consistently once they've been created. I expect this book to prove valuable for that, and I highly recommend it.

Open the book and see the possibilities.......2004-04-28

Begin with Hero Archetypes and learn about the Chief or the Lost Soul or the Warrior. See what might make them tick.

Move to your Heroine Archetypes to visit with the Free Spirit, the Nurturer or my favorite the Spunky Kid. Learn how they got to be who they are.

Then you will learn how to use the Archetypes to Create Characters. As most writers understand, great characters are not one-dimensional and flawless. It is their layers that make them truly intriguing. Indiana Jones' fear of snakes made him believable.

Finally play with Archetype Interactions and see how the Waif might react to the Professor type. What if the Waif were layered with the Librarian and the Professor had a bit of the Swashbuckler in him. What would these two encounter? Where would they take your story?

Tami et al's book is invaluable to me. If I had no other book on characterization, I would be fine. My only quibble is that we didn't get the Villains, but Tami teaches a Villains Archetype class online as well as face-to-face. I just recently had the pleasure of taking that class with From The Heart Romance Writers.

Book Description

Thoroughly revised and greatly expanded, this new edition is even more helpful than the classic first edition. The 1997 revision of Writing Broadcast News - Shorter, Sharper, Stronger is 40 percent longer. And it's even richer and smoother...

Customer Reviews:

Standard for Broadcast News.......2007-03-05

If you're trying to break into news on the AM/FM dial, this is a book that you must read and follow. It helps you format the way most of Radio Broadcasting does it today.

If you're a serious journalist, this book is a must........2005-08-10

This is the bible of broadcast news writing. Well organized. I'm a 25 year veteran of broadcast news and I still find information in this book that improves my writing and reporting.

Broadcast newswriting for the professional.......2002-07-16

Merv Block was himself a newswriter. He wrote for Cronkite and others; his experience is unquestioned.

Block's book, and Bliss's book(Writing News for Broadcast, Columbia University Press) are, in effect, the bibles of broadcast newswriting.
Block gives his own tips, and also shows how it's done by taking broadcast scripts apart and correcting them.
There is no better book for the professional newswriter.

can't live without it!.......2000-03-27

Ten years ago, I had the privilege of taking introductory radio writing from Mr. Block while earning my master's degree in journalism at Columbia University. If memory serves, Mr. Block also revisited my spring semester radio news course as a guest editor and instructor. He was a tough and fair instructor -- one of the many highlights of my year at 116th and Broadway.

Mr. Block's book has been indispensible to me ever since. Every so often, I reread a chapter to keep my writing fresh, and to jolt me out of the workaday rut so many reporters and anchors inhabit. Television news works on two levels, the words and the pictures, and it is a challenge and an art to make the two levels work together!

Whether you're a journalism 101 student or a seasoned professional, it never hurts to have this book on your desk (and occasionally at home!). Your viewers, producers, photographers, and managers will thank you!

Broadcast Newswriters: You Need This Book.......1999-07-14

To paraphrase Mr. Block, "if newswriting is easy, then you're doing something wrong." This book is for the lover of action verbs and simple words. You're taught to think and to see the beauty of simple writing. And if you want to be GOOD, you must learn to TELL a story. After you read this book, the news will likely not sound the same.

The TV Writer's Workbook: A Creative Approach To Television Scripts

Average customer rating:

Great Book
Fast delivery
Wonderful Workbook
great sitcom advice
Something For Everyone...

The TV Writer's Workbook: A Creative Approach To Television Scripts
Ellen Sandler
Manufacturer: Delta
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385340508
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Book Description

Why is TV writing different from any other kind of writing? How will writing a spec script open doors? What do I have to do to get a job writing for TV? Writing for television is a business. And, like any business, there are proven strategies for success. In this unique hands-on guide, television writer and producer Ellen Sandler shares the trade secrets she learned while writing for hit shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and Coach. She offers concrete advice on everything from finding a story to getting hired on a current series.

Filled with easy-to-implement exercises and practical wisdom, this ingenious how-to handbook outlines the steps for becoming a professional TV writer, starting with a winning script. Sandler explains the difference between “selling” and “telling,” form and formula, theme and plot.
Discover:

• A technique for breaking down a show style so you’re as close to being in the writing room as you can get without actually having a job there
• The 3 elements for that essential Concept Line that you must have
in order to create a story with passion and consequence
• Mining the 7 Deadly Sins for fresh and original story lines
• Sample scripts from hit shows
• In-depth graphs, script breakdown charts, vital checkpoints
along the way, and much, much more!

Customer Reviews:

Great Book.......2007-07-12

This is by far the BEST TV writing book I've ever read and I have nearly all of them. Sandler doesn't just tell you the steps necessary to write a fantastic spec script, like all these kinds of books do, she guides you through the creative process of mining story material for it. And she tells you how to fashion subject matter that has the most emotional meaning for you, the author--which is the benchmark of great writing. It was a concept that until now, that no matter how many books I read, or how many harsh notes from execs I received on all my previous specs (or so I thought, now I FULLY understand their notes!) that I didn't grasp until now. TV Writer's Workbook, has provided the creative lightbulb I needed to get me out of my sucky spec script darkness. Highly recommended!

Fast delivery.......2007-07-08

This book was in excellent condition and arrived quickly. What more is there to say.

Wonderful Workbook.......2007-06-19

This book is not only entertaining and an easy, quick read, it is filled with what i would consider industry secrets. It is also very inspiring as far as realizing that there are people out there to help you who understand you as a writer as it seems Ellen Sandler does. It's one thing to give people advice and tricks of the trade on how they come up with great stories and how scripts are developed and created, it's a beautiful thing and she does it amazingly well, but it's PRICELESS to give introverted writer types tips and tricks to networking, where to go, what to do, what to be open to, etc. It's filled with some of the best idea's that have ever been suggested to me. I created a direction and a plan for myself after reading it and that is worth a lot more than what I paid for this book. If you want to write and make money by doing so, buy this and use the exercises and her suggestions! We should all thank Ellen Sandler for being kind enough to spend her time creating a book that can help newer writers such as this.

great sitcom advice.......2007-06-12

This book provides valid inside info for improving your sitcom script whether you are a pro or a beginner. Highly recommended.

Something For Everyone..........2007-04-19

Having written for television myself, I know it's never an easy task. Ellen Sandler breaks it down to the basics. Ellen's book is insightful, entertaining and covers the details every writer needs to know such as how to create intriguing dialogue, strong character development and an engaging storyline. But it's her unique ability to take you through the process from getting an agent, to writing on staff, to pitching that one in a million idea that sets her apart. So, whether you're a newbie to the biz or a veteran writer, I can't recommend this book highly enough.

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