The Insider's Guide to Writing for Screen and Television

It's hard to imagine a more insightful book than this one about the business of being a screenwriter. In the first part, Tobias interviews several people involved in screenwriting about their roles in the process; he includes a director, a producer, an agent, two actors, etc. My attitude toward the book changed while I was reading the interviews; at first I thought they might give just a cursory overview of the screenwriting world, but Tobias has asked very detailed questions and his interviewees' comments always relate directly to what a writer should keep in mind. Also, Tobias isn't above disagreeing with the interviewees on occasion.Tobias follows this with a detailed account of what happens to both a script and a writer at every stage in the film and TV-making process. His account fairly drips with experience, and you know you're getting the advice of someone who has been in the trenches. What I liked was Tobias' attitude that it's important to know just what happens to a writer, but that it shouldn't hold you back. He's realistic but not discouraging.(Tobias also earned my unending respect by pointing out that analyzing screenplays in terms of where plot points and climaxes occur isn't too helpful to someone working on a script, since the analyses takes place *after the fact* of writing. By saying that, Tobias encapsulated my objection to many other books about screenwriting, including Robert McKee's "Story.")All in all, I think this will be one of my most helpful books on screenwriting.