About the Book:

How to Bulid a Great Screenplay is a definitive guide on the mechanics of screenwriting because, aside from being the foundation of USC's script analysis class, the book teaches writers how to use their characters' goals to create tension.

Acclaimed USC screenwriting teacher David Howard has guided hundreds of students to careers in writing for film and television. In this companion to The Tools of Screenwriting, which is a core text used at top film programs worldwide, he synthesizes years of teaching into a thorough and profound curriculum in storytelling. Drawing on decades of practical experience and savvy, How to Build a Great Screenplay deconstructs the craft of screenwriting and carefully reveals how to build a good story from the ground up. He eschews the system offered by other books, emphasizing that a great screenplay requires dozens of unique decisions by the author. David Howard uses the analogy: "…in the first act you tie a knot, in the second act you tighten that knot, and in the third act, you untie it again." He offers in-depth considerations of:

Throughout the book, David Howard clarifies his lessons by using examples from some of the most successful Hollywood and international script-oriented films, including Pulp Fiction, American Beauty, Trainspotting, North by Northwest, Chinatown, and others. The result is a classic text in the field – a bible for the burgeoning screenwriter.

What people say:

"How to Build a Great Screenplay is insightful, riveting, clear, concise and to the point. It's a screenwriter's screenwriting book packed with practical as well as theoretical insights. If you're serious about screenwriting – start here, and if you're a twenty-year veteran, this is the place to take a refresher course. I came away from reading this book inspired with a renewed sense of purpose on why I write screenplays. This isn't a book – it's an education." — Jack Epps Jr., award winning screenwriter primarily known for big action movies including Top Gun, Dick Tracy, Turner & Hooch, and Anaconda

"David Howard's How To Build A Great Screenplay is a rarity – not merely a 'how to' guide, but the most comprehensive and thoughtful examination of storytelling, and as close to an entire graduate writing program, as one is likely to find within the covers of a single book." — Adam Belanoff, writer and Executive Producer of The Closer and its spinoff, Major Crimes

About the Author:

David Howard is an internationally known American screenwriter, script doctor/consultant and educator. He has taught at USC's School of Cinematic Arts for 24 years and was the founding director of its Graduate Screenwriting Program. He has led screenwriting workshops around the world: from nearly every country in Western Europe to Korea, New Zealand, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico and Cuba. He has worked as a professional script doctor and story consultant on dozens of produced projects for film, television and other media around the world.