Laura Schellhardt 
Screenwriting For Dummies 

Write a great script and get it into the hands of the Hollywood
players!

So you want to be a screenwriter? Whether you want to write a
feature film or a TV script or adapt your favorite book, this
friendly guide gives you expert advice in everything from creating
your story and developing memorable characters to formatting your
script and selling it to the studios. You get savvy industry tips
and strategies for getting your screenplay noticed!

* The screenwriting process from A to Z — from developing a
concept and thinking visually to plotline, conflicts, pacing, and
the conclusion

* Craft living, breathing characters — from creating the
backstory to letting your characters speak to balancing dialogue
with action

* Turn your story into a script — from developing an outline and
getting over writer’s block to formatting your screenplay and
handling rewrites

* Prepare for Hollywood — from understanding the players and
setting your expectations to polishing your copy and protecting
your work

* Sell your script to the industry — from preparing your pitch
and finding an agent to meeting with executives and making a
deal

Open the book and find:

* The latest on the biz, from entertainment blogs to top agents
to box office jargon

* New story examples from recently released films

* Tips on character development, a story’s time clock, dramatic
structure, and dialogue

* New details on developing the nontraditional screenplay — from
musicals to animation to high dramatic style

* Expanded information on adaptation and collaboration, with
examples from successful screenwriting duos

Table of Content

Foreword.

Introduction.

Part I: So You Want to Write for Pictures.

Chapter 1: Introducing the Art of Screenwriting.

Chapter 2: Preparing to Think Visually.

Chapter 3: Diving In to the Screenwriter?s Mind.

Chapter 4: Approaching Screenwriting as a Craft.

Part II: Breaking Down the Elements of a Story.

Chapter 5: Unpacking Your Idea.

Chapter 6: Plot Part I: Beginnings.

Chapter 7: Plot Part II: Middles.

Chapter 8: Plot Part III: Endings.

Chapter 9: Character Building.

Chapter 10: Say What? Constructing Dynamic Dialogue.

Chapter 11: The Nontraditional Film.

Chapter 12: Maintaining an Audience?s Trust.

Part III: Turning Your Story into a Script.

Chapter 13: Mapping Out Your Screenplay.

Chapter 14: Surviving Writer?s Block.

Chapter 15: Formatting Your Screenplay.

Chapter 16: Putting It Together: Structuring Your First
Draft.

Chapter 17: Take Two: Rewriting Your Script.

Chapter 18: Adaptation and Collaboration: Two Alternate Ways to
Work.

Part IV: Selling Your Script to Show Business.

Chapter 19: Before You Send It: Premarketing Considerations.

Chapter 20: Getting Your Screenplay Noticed.

Part V: The Part of Tens.

Chapter 21: Ten Screenwriters You Should Know.

Chapter 22: Ten Screenwriting Myths.

Index.

About the author

Laura Schellhardt holds an MFA in Literary Arts from Brown
University and degrees in Theatre and Creative Writing from
Northwestern University in Chicago. Her scripts have been produced
in New York (SPF, The Hangar, The Exchange Theatre), Seattle
(Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT), Chicago (Northlight Theatre,
Serendipity Theatre, New Leaf Theatre, Citadel Theatre), Washington
DC (The Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth), Providence (Trinity
Repertory Company, Brown University), Minneapolis (Theatre Limina),
North Carolina (Center for Performing Arts), and Provincetown,
Massachusetts (Provincetown Repertory Theatre, Provincetown Theatre
Company).

Original works include The K of D, The Chair, Courting
Vampires, Shapeshifter, The Apothecary’s Girl,
Inheritance, and Je Ne Sais Quoi. Adaptations
include The Phantom Tollbooth, The Mysteries of Harris
Burdick, The Outfit (Jeff Award Nominee), and Creole
Folktales.

Laura is a recipient of the Theatre Communications Group
2007-8 Playwriting Residency, The Jerome Fellowship, the New
Play Award from ACT in Seattle, and a Dramatist Guild Playwriting
Fellowship. She has participated in the So Ho Rep. Writer/Director
Lab and the O’Neill National Playwright’s Festival.
Laura has assisted in the development of new work at The Goodman,
Steppenwolf Theatre, Northlight Theatre, and Trinity Repertory
Company. She has studied writing with the likes of Paula Vogel,
Maria Irene Fornes, Erin Cressida Wilson and has taught alongside
Oscar-nominated John Logan of Aviator and
Sweeney Todd fame.

Laura currently heads the playwriting program at Northwestern
University in Evanston, Illinois and teaches workshops across the
country.