Rewrite: A Step-by-Step Guide to Strengthen Structure, Characters, and Drama in your Screenplay

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review




Great!, June 28, 2008
By jrltll
This book provides an excellent step by step approach to the rewrite process. No matter how good your script is, this will improve it or confirm that it is as good as you think it is.



Paul is the man to see. , June 22, 2008
By Christopher H. Tovar (Houston, Texas)
I began studying screenwriting by taking Robert McKee's Story course back in '04. While it was a good introduction to the craft generally (maybe "academically" is a better word), Paul Chitlik's course in the UCLA extension program really got me started on the road to becoming a professional. Paul goes straight to the heart of the process from the very first session of class, and holds a true line to the end. I was fortunate to be a runner up in the UCLA Screenwriting Contest in 2007 with a story I wrote for his course, and did well in a few other contests, including Nicholl. Had I turned in the draft I've written recently using "Rewrite," I think I would have had a better shot at winning. If you want to be a screenwriter, and have a good story in you, Paul can help you get it on those hundred odd blank pages, and make it great in later drafts. Take his course. He's the guy.



One of the Best!, May 26, 2008
By R. Gilmore
The title of this book is "Rewrite" but save yourself a lot of work and read this book BEFORE you start your next script.

Paul Chitlik is an amazing instructor at UCLA (under his tutelage, my second screenplay ever went on to win the prestigious UCLA Professional Screenwriting Contest) and he has distilled his teachings into this concise yet comprehensive book.

This book is a "must have" for any screenwriter. I have a feeling that I'll be rereading it every time I finish a rough draft.



A beacon for writers, May 9, 2008
By N. Matteson (Berkeley, CA)
As a screenwriter and a professional editor and writing coach, I highly recommend this book. It has already helped me personally in a quick turnaround re-write I needed to do. The book provides clear guidance while not prescribing formulaic cliches. The examples are excellent and the information invaluable. Chiltlik strikes a balanced tone of the work required in rewriting and the humor required in getting oneself to do the work. A true gem of a book.



A Personal Script Doctor in Paperback, May 3, 2008
By C. J. Singh (Berkeley, California, USA)
REWRITE's author, Paul Chitlik has many years' experience teaching MFA workshops in screenwriting. His tone is amiably authoritative, guiding with the attention of an experienced script doctor. Here are samples of the "To Do" items, chapter-by-chapter.

1. Clarifying Story and Structure for Impact. "To Do: Briefly outline your story in terms of seven points" (p 11): Ordinary Life; Inciting Incident; End of Act One; Midpoint or Turning Point; The Low Point; The Final Challenge; The Return to (the Now-Changed-Forever) Normal Life. Next "To Do" is to write a beatsheet or list of the scenes in your screenplay. The appendix presents an excellent example of a 67-item beatsheet with subheadings corresponding to the seven points.

2. The Powerful Protagonist. "Write your premise now. Do not tell the story, only the idea of the truth you want to prove." Does your protagonist help prove your premise? If not, adjust his profile. Ten more "To Do" items include the protagonist's apparent goal, what the goal changes to at the midpoint, and the personality flaw.

3. The Worthy Antagonist. "Write one line saying what your antagonist wants" (p 43).

4. Ensuring Dynamic Scenes. "Go through your beatsheet and examine each scene for conflict. Write what, exactly, is the conflict of each scene under your description of the scene. If there is no conflict, there is no scene. Sometimes you'll need to group several beats to make a whole scene, so not every beat will have conflict" (p 47).

5. Making Descriptions Leap Off the Page. "Go through the descriptive paragraphs in your screenplay and see if you can take out all the adverbs and as many adjectives and nouns as possible. Shorten your sentences. Shorten your paragraphs" (p 61). "To Do. Find a scene that is heavy in dialogue and try to express it completely in action and description" (p 62).

6. Life Support for Your Protagonist. "Go through your story and identify the supporting characters who are most important. Beef up their screen presence by giving them a quirk of some sort. Make them stand out. Have the quirk relate to their personality or function regarding your protagonist or your antagonist" (p 67).

7. Paring It Down. "Choose a ten-page excerpt from your script that you think is pretty tight already. Now cut a page from it. Use any tricks you can think of, but get it down to nine pages" (p 72). Chitlik presents an example from his own screenwriting: an 11-page excerpt pared down to 9 pages.

8. Where Am I? The "To Do" item asks you to complete the suggested Script Status Report on your rewrite.

9. The Right Look. The "To Do" items include standard formatting, correcting grammatical errors, and culling out camera directions.

10. Finishing: The "To Do" item is to go back and rewrite. How many rewrites? "A professional writer might revise a script 30 times.... In fact, a script isn't done until the final cut is made, and it goes into wide release. Even then some writers would like to do more" (p 111).

An eminent script doctor in paperback, Chitlik's REWRITE merits five shining stars.
-- C J Singh