Scriptnotes

A Book About Screenwriting and Things That Are Interesting to Screenwriters

By: John August, Craig Mazin

Narrated by: Graham Rowat

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The ultimate guide to writing a great screenplay and building a screenwriting career, from the creators of the hit podcast Scriptnotes—featuring contributions from film and TV legends Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig, Michael Schur, Rian Johnson, Aline Brosh McKenna, Ashley Nicole Black, Seth Rogen, and many more.

With decades of Hollywood experience, John August and Craig Mazin know what it takes to write a successful script for the screen. And over the past twelve years, they’ve analyzed generation-defining movies and shared their wisdom on their popular podcast Scriptnotes, inviting experts in the craft to discuss everything that makes a script shine.

Now, in their first book, August and Mazin draw on more than a thousand hours of Scriptnotes conversations, as well as their own storied careers, to help readers begin, refine, and sell their own scripts. Part writing class, part informational interview with the best creators in the business, this essential book shares tips on:

• The Basics—including the rules of screenwriting and when to break them
• The Craft—including how to create a compelling story with captivating protagonists, worthy antagonists, and a sound structure
• The Business—including how to pitch a script and the do’s (and don’ts) of working collaboratively on a project

Perfect for screenwriters, film buffs, and anyone who enjoys analysis of iconic movies like Die Hard, this one-of-a-kind resource provides exclusive access to the screenwriting process—and will inspire anyone ready to pen their own successful screenplay.

Critic reviews

“[Scriptnotes] shatters some long-standing clichéd rules . . . [and] stands out for its wealth of real-life examples taken from cinema and TV over the past decades, its humanizing tone, and its winning combination of the practical with the entertaining.”—Library Journal

Practical, inspiring, and fun!!!

I have listened to literally every episode of the show and still found this book useful — in terms of craft, business, and emotional housekeeping. Thank you for this generous gift of insight!

Un libro para reunir a los guionistas.

Gracias por esta joya 💎 sobre el guion y nuestro oficio. Nos hace reflexionar tanto sobre nuestra profesión. Sigan con su gran labor.

Harmful bigotry on display

There’s a lot of good information in this book about screenwriting. And, of course, the podcast is fantastic.

However, there are a lot of bigoted ideas in this book. Early on they make the point that gays should write for gays, blacks should write for blacks, and women should write for women. If you’re not a member of a specific group, you should not be writing those characters. Later they say how gay writers should hire gay directors to make their work, and so forth.

I don’t think the human experience can only be explained, understood, and enjoyed by specific groups and their in-group members alone. This sort of segregation of thought and experience is dangerous and backward.