Publisher: Focal Press
Release Date: March 13, 2013
“We outline conventions and then proceed to suggest practical ways to undermine or alter those conventions. We use specific examples to illustrate the points we’re trying to make. Our ultimate goal is to help you develop better screenplays. To do this, we talk about form, content, character, and language, while pressing you to develop alternative narrative strategies that prompt you to write the best screenplay you can write… We want you to look beyond the surface of scriptwriting, beyond form. You’ll be surprised what you find.” –Ken Dancyger & Jeff Rush (excerpt from Chapter 1: Beyond Form)
This 5th edition of “Alternative Scriptwriting: Beyond the Hollywood Formula” by Ken Dancyger and Jeff Rush may be the best book on screenwriting that I have ever read. While most screenwriting manuals focus on the traditional three-act structure, this book goes far beyond structure and focuses on many other aspects of the scriptwriting form. The text also challenges the belief that the 3-act restorative structure is the only effective writing method. Other alternatives are presented to the reader, and these alternatives are elaborated upon in vivid detail. We learn what is gained and lost by challenging the traditional form. This book is recommended as a chaser for manuals by Syd Field and Robert McKee. It might make these more traditional texts easier to swallow.
Review by: Devon Powell
Cinema Literate 