Write That Script! A Comprehensive Guide to Screenwriting

From award-winning screenwriter for film and TV Lindsay J Sedgwick comes this comprehensive guide to screenwriting. A veteran screenwriter with more than two decades writing and teaching the craft all over Ireland, Sedgwick is also the creator of the ground-breaking children’s series Punky. (Available in +100 countries, with circa 5 million hits on YouTube, it has won awards in Ireland, France and Russia.) Her character-driven formula combines theory with experience to enable you to write your winning script. Using examples from her own imagination to demonstrate how to be creative with the theory, she has incorporated tried and tested writing exercises throughout to guide you towards your finished script. She will take you from analysing your idea to see if it’s suitable for the screen all the way through to your finished script, breaking the process into accessible beats. Write That Script covers character development, plotting, structure, format, the individual scene and it’s elements, pitfalls to be aware of, knowing your audience and more, with a bonus chapter on rewriting. Sedgwick also looks at how to be more productive and more creative with your material. Through the lens of character, Sedgwick breaks the craft of writing a script into realisable pieces, all the time maintaining that the rules aren’t there to be slavishly followed. They’re there as a guide, but you need to know what they are and why they work if you’re going to break them in a way that will improve your script or story narrative. If you have a story in you that would make a fantastic film, this book from an award-winning screenwriter, long time tutor and creative consultant could help you turn that idea into a screenplay. Screenwriting is a tight and demanding medium but it is also one of the most exciting forms in which to write. Write That Script! will steer you through the stormy seas from wanting to write a script to having it down on the page or screen. Endorsements: “A practical inspiration for getting that script out of your head and on to the page/screen from someone who has done just that and done it brilliantly.” – Paul Donovan, Producer, Deadpan Pictures “What Lindsay has done wonderfully well in this book is to give screenwriters a helpful and practical guide to fire imaginations and to get words flowing onto the page. She has distilled the essence of screenplay craft and technique into a practical guidebook that’ll motivate you to overcome the screenwriter’s hardest obstacle – the first draft. It’s the how-to book that inspires as much as it teaches and enlightens.” – Alan Fitzpatrick, MD Filmbase “Lindsay was my first screenwriting teacher way back in 1996 and set me on my way to becoming a professional screenwriter. It is a delight to see all her knowledge, experience and enthusiasm distilled into a book that will add richly to the education of screenwriters everywhere.” – Christian O’Reilly, screenwriter “What I love about this book is that it’s all practical and actionable advice, with effective exercises and brainstorming tips. Great for those starting out and getting more familiar with the challenges of screenwriting, as well as those want to develop their craft in a committed and professional way.” – Danny Stack, writer/ director