Zen and the Art of Screenwriting: Insights and Interviews

Rating:
Summary: A Screenwriter's Treasure
Review: After reading the rave reviews by others about how Froug tells you to follow your guts, I found maybe two lines in the whole book about following your instincts, and there is NO mention of Zen principles at all in the book. I found the "hype" about the book and the actual content somewhat misleading. The book does give a few clues about structure, following the same old tired format that every other screenwriting book does.

What salvaged the book for me was the excellent

Rating:
Summary: Not really about Zen at all.
Review: I thought that this book was going to be about getting in touch with your own creativity. It wasn't. It was basically a book about "tricks and tips of the trade." That has its uses too,
but it wasn't what I was looking for. The title of this book is so misleading that I feel I did not get my money's worth. I would highly recommend "Writing from the inside out" instead. Sometimes you have to go through several books before you find one that really is useful. ...

Rating:
Summary: Not really about Zen at all.
Review: I thought that this book was going to be about getting in touch with your own creativity. It wasn't. It was basically a book about "tricks and tips of the trade." That has its uses too,
but it wasn't what I was looking for. The title of this book is so misleading that I feel I did not get my money's worth. I would highly recommend "Writing from the inside out" instead. Sometimes you have to go through several books before you find one that really is useful. ...

Rating:
Summary: The only screenwriting book you should pay any attention to.
Review: This is the last book that ever needs to be written about screenwriting. As for all of the ones that came before it, well, I'm afraid those are now obsolete as well.

Froug basically encourages screenwriters to follow their gut instincts, and write what they really want to write. You can't second-guess the marketplace, so you shouldn't even try. He emphasizes art over structure, which makes the whole screenwriting process much more enjoyable, and, in my experience, more productive.

I found this book inspiring, and very, very helpful. I can not recommend it highly enough.

Rating:
Summary: Best Of The Best!
Review: Through the years many how to books have been written, not only on screenwriting but just about every subject imaginable. William Froug's book is more than a "How To" book. Zen and the Art of Screenwriting is a journey into the writers soul, and Froug is the guide that leads you there.

It has been said before and I will state it again; This is the only book you will ever need to read on screenwriting! All others are obsolete and should be dispensed of at once. Screenwriting is an artform born of individual expression and intuion, not a technique. Great writing comes only from the heart!

This wonderful book of insight and interviews will help the reader abandon conventionality and follow thier own unique intuition. I highly reccommend this book to all serious screenwriters from beginers to the advanced professional. Zen and the Art of Screenwriting is a writers best friend. Get it, buy it, read it... then read it again!

Rating:
Summary: Best Of The Best!
Review: Through the years many how to books have been written, not only on screenwriting but just about every subject imaginable. William Froug's book is more than a "How To" book. Zen and the Art of Screenwriting is a journey into the writers soul, and Froug is the guide that leads you there.

It has been said before and I will state it again; This is the only book you will ever need to read on screenwriting! All others are obsolete and should be dispensed of at once. Screenwriting is an artform born of individual expression and intuion, not a technique. Great writing comes only from the heart!

This wonderful book of insight and interviews will help the reader abandon conventionality and follow thier own unique intuition. I highly reccommend this book to all serious screenwriters from beginers to the advanced professional. Zen and the Art of Screenwriting is a writers best friend. Get it, buy it, read it... then read it again!

Rating:
Summary: NOTHING ZEN ABOUT THIS BOOK. . . .
Review: William Froug probably had in mind another, more appropriate, title for his book about griping and whining and moaning about how Hollywood mistreats poor, defenseless writers.

Boo ... hoo!

This has nothing at all to do with ZEN. May as well just call this NEZ and start something new.

Zen is about getting in touch with your inner self and how it interacts with the external workd, in this case, inner creativity to become a better writer and share the experience with others.

This book, however, is about a bunch of people whining about how producers and movie moguls steal all the money and withhold all the royalties.

Again, boo ... hoo!

This book does give personal opinions about some aspects of the script-writing process, and shares tips from pros who've written some super movies. When they're not moaning about Hollywood's triple-accounting system, i.e. the one that doctors accounting books to show losses for big-grossing movies, they actually buckle down and get excited about the process of dreaming up a concept and putting it into words.

Shame on those sales and marketing people (or, perhaps, person?) who came up with this highly misleading title.

Dean Garner
KNI Literary
Santa Barbara, CA

Rating:
Summary: NOTHING ZEN ABOUT THIS BOOK. . . .
Review: William Froug probably had in mind another, more appropriate, title for his book about griping and whining and moaning about how Hollywood mistreats poor, defenseless writers.

Boo ... hoo!

This has nothing at all to do with ZEN. May as well just call this NEZ and start something new.

Zen is about getting in touch with your inner self and how it interacts with the external workd, in this case, inner creativity to become a better writer and share the experience with others.

This book, however, is about a bunch of people whining about how producers and movie moguls steal all the money and withhold all the royalties.

Again, boo ... hoo!

This book does give personal opinions about some aspects of the script-writing process, and shares tips from pros who've written some super movies. When they're not moaning about Hollywood's triple-accounting system, i.e. the one that doctors accounting books to show losses for big-grossing movies, they actually buckle down and get excited about the process of dreaming up a concept and putting it into words.

Shame on those sales and marketing people (or, perhaps, person?) who came up with this highly misleading title.

Dean Garner
KNI Literary
Santa Barbara, CA