Rating: 
Summary: A Great Place To Start
Review: No one wants to sit down and spend weeks and months writing a screenplay that no one will touch. Lots of people have fabulous ideas that never get anywhere, and Chris' book is a great guide to finding a way to give those ideas shape. He knows what works, what mistakes beginner screenwriters are likely to make, and how to break everything down so it doesn't seem quite so immense. I found myself, after my first screenplay was finished and I had moved on to rewrites and other projects, pulling it back out and using it like a troubleshooting handbook.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good stuff
Review: Overall, this is very good.It covers all the main areas to writing a screenplay: Character, plots, story, etc. It covers the formatting stuff, and goes over the business side (getting agent, getting it read). It has two things some of the other books don't: plenty of little exercises to help get you started. These were very helpful. And a full screenplay of his, with his annotated notes. The screenplay was helpful, particularly for me (a novice) to see how it all comes together. The only downsides to this book are: 1) it's not as simple, structured, and easy to read as a couple of the others (Charles Deemer's I like alot), 2) The screenplay he wrote is not very good. You'd be better off going to [url] and downloading for free one of the hundreds of scripts there. However, it did encourage me that if that thing could get optioned, that I could write one that gets optioned too! If you're a novice, buy Deemer's to read first. If you're a beginner who's got some fundamentals and is starting to get serious, this is the book for you (but skip his script).
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good stuff
Review: Overall, this is very good. It covers all the main areas to writing a screenplay: Character, plots, story, etc. It covers the formatting stuff, and goes over the business side (getting agent, getting it read). It has two things some of the other books don't: plenty of little exercises to help get you started. These were very helpful. And a full screenplay of his, with his annotated notes. The screenplay was helpful, particularly for me (a novice) to see how it all comes together. The only downsides to this book are: 1) it's not as simple, structured, and easy to read as a couple of the others (Charles Deemer's I like alot), 2) The screenplay he wrote is not very good. You'd be better off going to [url] and downloading for free one of the hundreds of scripts there. However, it did encourage me that if that thing could get optioned, that I could write one that gets optioned too! If you're a novice, buy Deemer's to read first. If you're a beginner who's got some fundamentals and is starting to get serious, this is the book for you (but skip his script).
Rating: 
Summary: There are better books about screenwriting than this.
Review: Reading about screenwriting from someone who has actualy written AND sold screenplays is of course refreshing. That said, I personaly think the topics of the book are better covered by Robert Mckee, Christopher Vogler and Linda Seger. But of course the test for books about screenwriting is wether or nor it inspires the reader. And if you are looking for a very detailed step-by-step 'recipe' then this book might be for you.
Rating:
Summary: It's the best book I have ever read on screenwriting.
Review: Thanks to Chris, I actually accomplished writing the screenplay I've thought about for years. He knows how it's done, and more importantly, for his students and readers, he knows how to tell others how to do it.
Rating:
Summary: The book to read if you're taking your laptop to Hollywood
Review: There are hundreds of books on the business of writing screenplays, and I've read plenty of them, but I'd say this is the best. Christopher Keane tells us how to refine an idea, how to develop characters, how to get a plot moving, and how to keep asking the right questions at every step along the way. He illustrates his points with examples from movies, both contemporary and classic, and he fills the book with anecdotes fro mhis own career, so it's fun to read as well as informative. Now that I've read it, I'm ready to start writing that movie I've always dreamed of.
Rating:
Summary: Short on Namedropping, Long on Practical, Exemplified Advice
Review: There are so many books on screenwriting already in existence that the real question any reviewer must address when another one comes along is: if you could only afford to buy one of them, why should you buy this one and save the others for any book tokens you might receive at Christmas? The title of this review forms the basis of my answer to that question. Chris Keane has made his living as a professional writer for decades, focusing mostly on novels and screenplays. His success has brought him many offers of teaching posts, and indeed, he spends a considerable part of each year teaching at Emerson, where he is an Associate Professor, and at the International Film and Television Workshops in Maine. All this makes him actuely aware of the nitty-gritty needs of both the fledgling screenwriter and the writer who has been over the course more than once, but who needs to re-learn key lessons. These lessons are so key that for much of the first part of the book, one feels like one is directing a question and answer session, rather than having questions answered in which one might possibly be interested. From the question of work habits to how to generate ideas, and what to do with them once you have them, through to characterisation, dialogue, and the scene as the nucleus of the screenplay, Keane is both judicious and generous with his hard-won wisdom. The second half of the book puts theory into practice. It consists of the full text of Keane's screenplay 'The Crossing', with honest, detached critical commentary at the end of each scene or section. This allows the reader to see exactly what Keane is talking about in the first half of the book, to experience the emotion that his own work needs to generate, to feel for the characters, and then, with Keane's assistance, to stop and reflect on why he feels as he does. In the hands of a writer with a bigger ego but less talent, this method might well have had the reader reaching for the sick bag after only a few pages, but it works wonderfully here, and it seems to me that anyone wishing a career in screenwriting could not wish for clearer, more genuine exemplification. A final point on this structural feature of Keane's indispensable book. Something else the inclusion of this constantly optioned but not yet produced screenplay teaches the would-be screenwriter is how tough his desired career can be, that he could write a screenplay as good as Keane's and still wait a long, long time to see it on the big screen, if indeed he ever does. Other books on screenwriting claim to 'make it easy'. Keane's puts the emphasis exactly where it should be: on the work.
Rating:
Summary: Keane takes the fear out of screenwriting
Review: There is nothing warm and fuzzy about this book and that's why it works. Solid, clear-cut experiential adivice from someone who has one foot planted in the world of screenwriting and the other in teaching the craft to others. Keane's humour neutralizes any fear of failure and motivates the would-be screenwriter to sit down and get to work.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: This book is a must if you are ready to write. It takes you through all the steps needed. Chris Keane's humor keeps you motivated. After reading this book I am ready to take on the challenge of screenwriting.
Rating:
Summary: A good solid foundation
Review: This is a clearly written, easily read book that distills lessons derived from the author's long experience in the movie business. Keane is able to express his points purposefully and succinctly, unlike other authors I've read. I'm a playwright who is interested in branching into teleplays, and this is the first book I've read that discusses in detail the differences between teleplays and screenplays. Arguably Keane's book is a bit formulaic, but he'd probably say that he's just describing the formulas which the studios are interested in. My only qualm was Keane's inclusion of *full text* of one of his own unproduced screenplays, complete with annotations (at one point he says, "WHAT A CLIMAX!"). Yes, the screenplay illustrates his points, but it also seems like a blatant attempt to find another producer. (Sorry, Chris, that's how it seemed.) He could have made the same points with only a few excerpts.
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