Description:

A revised and expanded second volume of award-winning author and screenwriter Alexandra Sokoloff's Screenwriting Tricks For Authors workbook, with a special emphasis on writing love.Screenwriting is a compressed and dynamic storytelling form and the techniques of screenwriting are easily adaptable to novel writing. You can jump-start your plot and bring your characters and scenes vibrantly alive on the page - by watching your favorite movies and learning from the storytelling tricks of great filmmakers.With this workbook you'll learn how to use techniques of film writing such as:- the High Concept Premise- the Three-Act, Eight-Sequence Structure- the Storyboard Grid- the Index Card Method of Plotting- as well as tricks of film pacing and suspense, character arc and drive, visual storytelling, creating setpieces, and building image systems - to structure and color your novel for maximum emotional impact, suspense, and pacing, no matter what genre you're writing in.Contains all the general story structure lessons of STFA I and much more, but with special attention to key story elements, techniques and examples from romantic comedy, romantic suspense, and romantic adventure, including ten full story breakdowns. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction PART ONE: STORY STRUCTURE 1. The Master List 2. What's Your Premise? 3. First, You Need an Idea 4. What KIND of Story Is It? 5. The Three-Act, Eight-Sequence Structure 6. The Index Card Method 7. Story Elements Checklist 8. Elements of Act I 9. Plan, Central Question, Central Story Action 10. What's The Plan? 11. Hero/ine, Protagonist, Main Character 12. Hero and Heroine, Lover and Loved One 13. What Makes A Great Villain? 14. Elements of Act Two 15. Elements of Act Two, Part 2 16. Elements of Act Three 17. Top Ten Endings 18. What Makes a Great Climax? 19. Act Climaxes Overview and Examples 20. Expanding on the Key Story Elements 21. Expanded Story Elements Checklist 22. Love Story Elements 23. Fairy Tale Structure 24. Meta Structure 25. What is "High Concept"? 26. The Rule of Three 27. Voice 28. First Chapters 29. Theme and Thematic Image Systems 30. Visual Storytelling 31. Creating Suspense 32. Plants and Payoffs 33. The Big Twist 34. Character Introductions 35. Using Character Clusters 36. Your First Draft is Always Going to Suck 37. Top Ten Things I Know About Editing 38. A Process for Writing PART TWO: STORY BREAKDOWNS 39. The Breakdowns 40. Leap Year 41. While You Were Sleeping 42. Notting Hill 43. Four Weddings and a Funeral 44. The Proposal 45. New in Town 46. Groundhog Day 47. Sense and Sensibility 48. Romancing the Stone 49. Sea of Love PART THREE: THE BUSINESS 50. Life is a Pitch Meeting 51. How Do I Get a Literary Agent? 52. Internet Resources for Writers 53. So You Want to Know About Screenwriting 54. Recommended Reading Figure 1: Story Grid