Free eBooks on Screenwriting and Writing Screenplays

In my quest to hone my screenwriting skills and learn how to become a better screenwriter, I've encountered several useful eBooks. Many of these eBooks are written by professional screenwriters or creative story writers whose purpose is to distill their own tips and advice to succeed at screenwriting.

Some of these eBooks are short (up to 30 pages) and focus on one or a few specific topics related to screenwriting, such as: 1) formatting a new screenplay, 2) writing a treatment to sell your screenplay, 3) writing action blocks and character descriptions, 4) creating life-like characters, 5) developing plots and sub-plots, and 6) what film producers want from screenwriters.

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Entering a Screenwriting Contest: What Judges Look For In the "Perfect" Screenplay

When evaluating and analyzing your screenplay, judges look for these 13 basic ingredients to determine the strength and marketability of your story. Before you enter a screenwriting contest, ask yourself if your screenplay has most of these ingredients.

CHARACTERS
Memorable characters have unique personas and attributes; they are riveting, multi-dimensional, and erratic. A strong hero and villain have distinct and progressive goals.

• Do your characters engage your audience's attention? 
• Can they relate to your characters? 
• Are the characters' ambitions and goals credible? 
• Do their behaviors match their identity?

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Screenwriting: Page Numbering a Screenplay

There are only a few simple rules to remember when numbering a screenplay page:

Rule #1: The Title page has no page number.

Rule #2: The first page of your screenplay has no page number. This is the "FADE IN:" page that begins the first scene.

Rule #3: The second page and every page thereafter has a page number. Since you begin numbering on the second page, you start with the numeral "2."

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A Screenwriting Tip: How a Well-Written Story Unfolds

Thumbing quickly through the pages of my Fantastic Four comic books  (sample page below) created the feeling of editing a film. As a sequence of visually stimulating scenes with characters speaking and doing things in each box, a film editor could splice together these comic book scenes to produce a visual storyline that viewers could watch on screen.

Unlike novels that showcase more elaborate writing, a screenplay must embody tightly-focused scenes that show characters doing things. Developing engaging characters are essential to produce interesting action and dialogue. Viewers should be able to relate to your lead character (to some degree) as he/she is set in motion to attain a primary goal which is usually to  fulfill a desire.

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