The Screenwriter's Problem Solver: How to Recognize, Identify, and Define Screenwriting Problems |  | Author: Syd Field
Publisher: Delta
List Price: $17.00
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Seller: betterworldbooks_
Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 73955
Media: Paperback
Edition: First Edition; Later Printing
Pages: 384
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0440504910
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.23
EAN: 9780440504917
ASIN: 0440504910
Publication Date: February 17, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Can't get your characters to shut up? Is the bit player in Act II more compelling than your protagonist? Do your scenes drag on f-o-r-e-v-e-r? Whatever your problem, screenwriting guru Syd Field can help; he's written four previous books on screenwriting, teaches worldwide, and is "involved in the reading and writing of about a thousand screenplays a year." Screenplays bog down in vague and mysterious ways, says Field; identifying a screenwriting problem is half the battle. Fixing a screenplay that seems dazed and confused might seem like Mission: Impossible, but you've got to have courage under fire. By identifying symptoms in the writing, Field isolates about 20 different screenwriting problems, each related to plot, character, or structure (after all, what else is there?). His fixes generally involve getting to know your characters or story better, through the use of automatic writing, biographical sketches, and the like. For examples of spectacular screenwriting, he offers excerpts from the screenplays for Thelma and Louise, The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Apollo 13, and Silence of the Lambs. Field is a man of many mantras: "Writing is rewriting," "Film is behavior," "Drama is conflict," "Action is character." But his advice is so useful that you'll forgive him his facile phrasemaking. And you'll thank him for persuading you that, yes, "a problem is an opportunity, a challenge that will allow you to ultimately improve your craft." --Jane Steinberg
Product Description
All writing is rewriting. But what do you change, and how do you change it? All screenplays have problems. They happened to Die Hard: With a Vengeance and Broken Arrow-and didn't get fixed, leaving the films flawed. They nearly shelved Platoon-until Oliver Stone rewrote the first ten pages and created a classic. They happen to every screenwriter. But good writers see their problems as a springboard to creativity. Now bestselling author Syd Field, who works on over 1,000 screenplays a year, tells you step-by-step how to identify and fix common screenwriting problems, providing the professional secrets that make movies brilliant-secrets that can make your screenplay one headed for success...or even Cannes. Learn how to:Understand what makes great stories work
Make your screenplay work in the first ten pages, using Thelma & Louise and Dances With Wolves as models
Use a "dream assignment" to let your creative self break free overnight
Make action build character, the way Quentin Tarantino does
Recover when you hit the "wall"-and overcome writer's block forever
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 19
 Cookie Cutter Movie Scripts January 30, 2008
Mister Freeze (Madison, WI USA)
Ever wonder why so many movies are exactly the same. Blame this guy, he has his formula and every script needs to follow it or it is no good. I don't think so. The irony of this book is that the films he admires the most are the ones that don't follow his writing formula. The other thing that bothers me, is the book is all about drama's. There is little or nothing on action, sci-fi, comedy, westerns, animation. There are so few insights that I really felt this book was really more about the writers ego and the 'look how great I am' attitude than providing the real nuts and bolts that an aspiring film writer needs to know. I threw away his formula and guess what? See you at the movies!
 A reasonable approach to story bandaiding July 17, 2007
Craig Nybo (Salt Lake City, UT USA)
Syd Field is, of course, the master teacher when it comes to screenplay writing instruction and story theory. He has written many books about how to develop great characters and put them into an engaging story.
His book, The Screenwriter's Problem Solver, is an attempt to help writers work through story glitches by setting up common story problem scenarios and explaining how to iron them out. Though this book is good in principle, I didn't feel it helped me tremendously.
I have written many screenplays. I also watch and analyze many movies and stories. I think most of what this book teaches is pretty much known to the experienced screenwriter. Though, for a newbie to the craft, it might be a good read. I would recommend some of Field's other books, like Screenplay or The Screenwriter's Workbook.
Hope this helps.
-Craig Nybo, co-author of Total Human: The Complete Strength Training System
 Problem solved May 14, 2007
Juhani Luukkonen (New Zealand)
Syd Field writes about problems of screenwriting in such a way that every problem becomes a challenge and a new beginning. You lear to love your problems because they take you to the next level.
Very Helpful Guide for Screenplay Writers November 9, 2006
Melinda L. Honkomp
My son references this book often when he has writer's block, is uncertain of film techniques & rules of practice, and when he needs a little creative inspiration. Extremely helpful, and easy to read for first-time writers!
FOR ANY STORYTELLER August 3, 2006
Chris Well (Tennessee)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Although written for screenwriters, Syd Field's The Screenwriter's Problem Solver is full of useful advice for any kind of storyteller; as a novelist in the middle of writing my next novel, I found Problem Solver very helpful. Unlike most screenwriting books, which are about building your story from the ground up, The Screenwriter's Problem Solver is for the writer with a story-in-progress, exploring the relationship among character, plot and structure, and how each fit into the whole story -- and ways to troubleshoot if one or more of these elements needs to be strengthened. Field draws examples from screenplays that worked (and those that didn't), with liberal examples from a variety of popular films, including The Shawshank Redemption, Thelma & Louise, Crimson Tide, How to Make an American Quilt and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The end result is a useful text for any storyteller wanting to build a better story.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 19
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