My Story Can Beat Up Your Story: Ten Ways to Toughen Up Your Screenplay from Opening Hook to Knockout Punch

by Jeffrey Schechter

Overview

My Story Can Beat Up Your Story! is the same powerful, easy-to-learn system that industry insiders have used to generate millions of dollars in script sales and assignments. In a clear, step-by-step fashion, this book is a fun, eye-opening, brain-expanding, and often irreverent guide to writing stories that sell. Covering everything from Heroes to Villains, from Theme to Plot Points, from cooking up good ideas to a business plan for smart writers, this book forever eliminates that horrible feeling every writer goes through — staring at the blank page and wondering “what comes next?”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781932907933
Publisher:	Wiese, Michael Productions
Publication date:	04/01/2011
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Jeffrey Alan Schechter was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, which explains his endearing personality. After moving to Los Angeles and not wanting to starve, he quickly established himself as a versatile writer, able to work in all genres from action films to family comedies, from pre-school to adult drama, from live action to animation. His writing has earned him nominations for two Emmy awards, a Writers Guild of America award, a Writer’s Guild of Canada award, and a BAFTA award. Over the years Jeff has worked with dozens of studios and networks including Warner Bros, Universal Pictures, ABC, NBC, The Discovery Channel, Nickelodeon, The Hallmark Channel, the BBC, VH1 Films, RHI, and The Walt Disney Company.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction: Why your Screenplay Needs to Be the Toughest Kid on the Block: And why being just as good isn't good enough xi

1 My Story Can Beat Up Your Story!: How to avoid the most common mistake of all failed screenplays, a story that's a ninety-seven-pound weakling 1

2 My Theme is Smarter Than Your Theme: The simple and potent way to understand what your story is really about 13

3 My Hero's a Winner, Your Hero's a Wiener!: Drive your story with a hero who's not a zero by asking four questions 21

4 My Hero Fights, Your Hero Bites!: Keep your story moving with a hero that rockets through the same four archetypes that all great movie heroes share 39

5 Your Bad Guy Punches Like My Sister: Turn your hero's worst nightmare into your story's best friend by understanding the unity of opposites 49

6 My Hero Has Buds, Your Hero Has Duds: Know your hero, and your villain, by the company they keep 57

7 I Can Pitch, You Throw Like a Girl: The QuickPitch formula, including the three most important words every good pitch must have 67

8 I Plot, You Plotz: Tell your story the way people expect, but fill it with plot twists they don't 75

9 I'm Not Afraid of the Dark: Meet the "Guide," your story's next best friend 99

10 I Work Smarter, You Work Harder - And Not in a Good Way!: The My Story Can Beat Up Your Story! tough writer's business plan 113

Conclusion: Write now, right now… (and then write again, right away!) 125

Appendix: Five Movies, All Beat Up 129

About the Author 163

Index of Films 167