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Summary: If you've read one, you've read them all
Review: This book simple restates the same message stated in so many others. If you have read The Screenwriter's Bible, then you have all the information found in this book. It contains the same do's and don't's that so many other books have. Get the screenwriter's bible. get William Martell's The Secrets of Action Screenwriting. don't get this book.
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Summary: hmmm...i wonder
Review: if all of the negative reviewers of this book wrote in with the intent to appear more intellectual and superior simply because it makes them feel better when they can scoff at someone else's advice? Here's the deal folk's: perhaps some of these ideas may seem obvious, but here's a thought-if you had thought of them, maybe you wouldn't be an "aspiring" screenwriter and actually have sold one. Until then, why don't you take what you can from this book without attempting to win the "out of work writer's snob of the year award". If you really feel as though you cannot possibly work within the margins of the Hollywood mainstream, which many of the reviewers seem to imply, then stay away from books that aim at those writers and seek consultation from more obscure auteur's. As for the reviewer who borrowed the book because-horror of horror's-his friends might think that he was interested in writing a screenplay, if you care so much about what other people think of you that you're afraid to put a book on your shelf, then perhaps your opinon isn't worth anyone's time or interest, muchless mine.
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Summary: Hardcore Information for Scribblers
Review: Want to get your script noticed? Buy this book. The author knows what she's talking about. And it doesn't come much more easier to read than this. Five hundred bullet points to set you straight. Functional morsels to fill your brain and ease you pen. This book has the magic to change your life.
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Summary: Refreshingly realistic, admits an script/play reader
Review: This shouldn't be the first, or even the third, book you buy on screenwriting--there are better ones on the storytelling craft--but, as someone who's read scripts, I have to admit some of the author's points on packaging, for want of a better word, are on-target--particularly when she stresses how crucial the first pages and the length of the script are. Most scripts are much too long, far too similar, and don't move fast and with a momentum that grabs that reader's attention. A script the author may have slaved for months over often just becomes the one on the top of the pile to a beleagured and bored script reader, so a writer confident enough to just get to the point and get to the story has a huge advantage. Screenwriting is far from as cut-and-dried or formulaic as this book's author makes it sound, and there's a couple of 100 of the 500 points that are just common sense, but her snappy advice is a refreshing change, or addition, to the host of more studious tomes on the topic.
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Summary: The challenge of creativity
Review: All freedom requires responsibility and all creativity must occur within certain limitations. One time a jazz trumpet player explained it to me like this. He looked around at the new venue in which he was about to play, and he said, "Joe, when the people who own this building decided to build it, they approached an architect with two things: everything the owners needed in the building and the budget for the building. The architect then faced the challenge of producing a creative and satisfying structure while staying within the limits created by the needs and the budget. But architects are into that kind of challenge, that's why they do what they do. Music is the same way...." And so is writing a screenplay.All writers face the challenge of making their work creatively satisfying while staying within the limits imposed by budgets and time, vast numbers of submissions, the criteria established by those who choose which projects get the nod, and so on. The purpose behind Jennifer Lerch's book is to explain in 500 clear and concise points what those limits for the screenwriter are and to provide advice on how to work within them. Understanding her goal as such, I think that she did a wonderful job.
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Summary: Excellent companion for any screenwriter
Review: From getting started to doctoring your finished work, 500 Ways will help you complete your masterpiece. It's simple, yet powerful, guidelines are easy to reference. A very direct apporach from someone who has spent time weeding through the aspiring in search of that "gem." A must read.
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Summary: Coverage is King
Review: By reading this book, one can get inside the head of a pro reader (Ms. Lerch has read over 10,000 screenplays). Understanding the importance of having good coverage for one's screenplay is understanding how Hollywood really works. Get this book - you won't regret it.
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Summary: A piece of fluff with a few insights.
Review: This is an aid to selling, but not writing a screenplay. Getting past the reader is one thing, but in my experience it's getting a screenplay into the hands of an agent that's more important. If you can't get an agent and you have to hustle your screenplay on your own, this is helpful. But if you're looking for tips on writing the thing, look elsewhere. I liked The Writer's Journey and The Screenwriter Within.
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Summary: Chin up, Ms Lerch.
Review: Few books generate so much comment. This is kudos to the niche market this book has so well served. Ms Lerch did not set out to provide a textbook on the subject. Her aim of providing 500 useful and practical tips were thoroughly achieved in my view. Some of the unfair critics need to get off their high horses and attempt to provide tips nearly as meaningful. For a book its size, 500 ways will do what it says - show you just how to beat the reader. Well done, Ms Lerch.
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Summary: Immensely Helpful Book But Only For Certain Screenwriters
Review: Lerch has written an enormously useful book worth far more than its cost, but only to a certain set of apprentice screenwriters. In contrast to a reviewer who said this book would be most helpful for beginners, I think the book is most helpful for non-beginners. Indeed, I think the negative reviews on the book owe to the fact that the book takes for granted the reader is knowledgable about the nature of "story." Not just the story of screenplays, but the nature of general story, whether in the form of short stories, novels, plays, or even song. For someone not terribly familiar with the nature of story, this book will seem like a waste of their time, or, worse, a theft of their money. For it is not written in narrative. It is an enumeration of 500 "ways" that Lerch offers on the craft of screenwriting. A beginner will definitely be disappointed. However, for someone knowledgable about story who is interested in learning about screenwriting (or even more fitting, someone, such as myself, who is a fiction writer aiming to convert to screenwriter), I haven't seen a better book on the shelves, and I have been looking. When I read it, I used a third of a notebook taking notes. Some points she makes could quite literally save someone's entire dreams of screenwriting. For instance, did you know when a Hollywood reader receives a script with an address outside L.A. the script is essentially dismissed as the work of an amateur? (Out-of-staters have to rent an L.A. P.O. Box.) Cruel? Perhaps. But important to know for the apprentice screenwriter? Without doubt. Just that point alone for someone outside L.A. would be worth the $12. The book abounds in points of equally great importance, whether they be on character, on formatting, or on the nature of "The Biz." One final comment. Perhaps the most impressive part of the book is Lerch's authority. As the book states, she's been a reader in Hollywood for more than ten years, eight of them at William Morris. For those who don't know, in Hollywood, William Morris is just about the Holy Grail. Stories are legion of movie moguls beginning their careers in the William Morris mail room. (David Geffin began his career there.) Thus, if you're an apprentice screenwriter knowledgable about story and want to learn the ins and outs of the craft of screenwriting, I doubt you'll find a more useful or authoritative book. If you're a beginner, this isn't the book for you. Because I've found this book singularly helpful, if anyone has anyone questions about the book, I'd be happy to offer my thoughts. Or you can e-mail the author herself, as she gives out her e-mail address in the book. I wrote her with a question and she promptly responded with an answer. Good luck and good writing all.
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