There is no specific order in the list but these books have been helpful and useful to me, though a few may not now be in print.
Successful Script Writing
by Jurgen Wolff and Kerry Cox
(Writer's Digest)
Structure! Whatever market you're aiming for - movies, sitcoms, soaps, serials - and pitching your script.
ISBN 0-89879-449-8
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On Camera
by Harris Watts
(Aavo)
Reading about how programmes are made gave me insight into script writing. It's all about how the finished product happens.
ISBN 0-95075-823-X
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Solutions for Writers
by Sol Stein
(Souvenir Press)
A good starter book, but good tips for experienced writers too. Love scenes, flashbacks, dialogue, pace, the craft of storytelling.
ISBN 0-285-63525 5
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The Screenwriter's Problem Solver
by Syd Field
(Dell Publishing)
Syd Field defines the goals and writes in a clear concise style making writing good scripts achievable. Other teachers quote him and it's easy to see why.
ISBN-0440-50491-0
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The Art and Science of Screenwriting
by Philip Parker
(Intellect Books)
Phil Parker clarifies the market terms, explains genre, theme, style and development, and excites the creative imagination. This book constantly inspired me into new writing.
ISBN 1-84150-000-3
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How to Make Money Scriptwriting
by Julian Friedmann
(Intellect Books)
If you want to make a living writing, and understand your market, this book is an absolute must.
ISBN 1-84150-002-X
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Writing the Blockbuster Novel
by Albert Zuckerman
(Little Brown)
Planning is important. This book showed me how to save time and stopped me going off at tangents.
ISBN 0 316 910422
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The Writing Life
by Annie Dillard
(Harper Perrenial)
What is writing all about? Annie Dillard stands back and surveys what drives her. I knew more about my own way of working when I'd read this book.
ISBN 0060919884
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The Writer's Journey
by Christopher Vogler
(Boxtree)
This is a classic - always on every class reading list.
ISBN 0330375911
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Story
by Robert McKee
(Regan Books Harper Collins)
Go with the force on this one - it made me speed up my writing, and analyse my personal understanding of story and structure and what I'm trying to achieve.
ISBN 0-06-039168-5
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Writers' and Artist' Yearbook : annual edition
(A & C Black)
New writer or experienced, the information between these covers is an essential marketing tool.
The Writers' Handbook: annual edition
(Pan Macmillan)
A range of handbooks for particular disciplines offering essential information market information for new writers
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
by Chris Baldick
(Oxford University Press)
New writers will find this helpful. I stopped feeling silly if I didn't know what a literary term meant. I could sneak home and look it up!
ISBN 0-19-811733-7
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The Nuts and Bolts of Writing
by Michael Legat
(Robert Hale)
This a great book for the beginner writer - the nuts and bolts of grammer plus layout, meaning, punctuation, presentation - if you don't know it, it will be in here.
ISBN 0-7090-3450-4
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How to Write Comedy
by Brad Ashton
(Elm Tree Books)
Comedy's the hardest thing for me - and even drama needs its light moments.
ISBN 0-241-11092-0
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Understanding Wide Screen
by Brendan Slamin
(BBC)
The bigger picture's here. I figure I want to know what will actually happen to my script. I like getting the broadest technical view of programme making.
ISBN 0 948694 95 5
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Developing Characters for Scriptwriting
by Rib Davis
(A & C Black)
Who is your character? What is he made of? This book looks into the soul of the fictional personality.
ISBN 0-7136-5802-9
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Dictionary of Troublesome Words
by Bill Bryson
(Penguin)
It's Bill Bryson so it's meaning with wit and quirks. A great book for solving a problem.
ISBN 0-141-00135-6
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The Empty Space
by Peter Brook
(Penguin)
This book made my imagination race - theatre mostly, but somehow it gave me insight into mood and character.
ISBN 0-14-013583-9
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Writing to Sell
by Scott Meredith
(Writer's Digest)
American energy, hard hitting and truthful. Plan! Plot! Don't slump!
ISBN 0-89879-750-0
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Shift Your Writing Career into High Gear
by Gene Perret
(Writer's Digest)
It's your career - recapture your enthusiasm, listen, sharpen your awareness.
ISBN 0-89879-539-7
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BFI Film and Television Handbook - annual edition
(BFI)
Writing's a business and it's worth finding out what the market likes, what has been successful, and market statistics.
Serious Creativity
by Edward de Bono
(Harper Collins Business)
This is a business book but it gets you thinking and experimenting with creativity.
ISBN 0 00 637958-3
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From Pitch to Publication
by Carole Blake
(Macmillan)
This might make you nervous but if you don't understand what you are getting yourself into...
A brilliant examination of selling the novel into the wide, wide world.
ISBN 0 333 71435 0
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Television and Children
by Roger Singleton-Turner
(BBC)
Working with children, and style, content, resourses. A must if you write for children - it's an education!
ISBN 0-948694-06-8
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How to Write for Children
by Tessa Krailing
(Allison and Busby)
Even if I didn't know Tessa, I'd still want this book. Great insight into how children view the world, and what works for them.
ISBN 0749002581
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The Hero with a Thousand Faces
by Joseph Campbell
(Fontana)
Myth, and understanding deep character. Essential reading for me.
ISBN 0 586 08571 8
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Research for Writers
by Ann Hoffmann
(A & C Black)
This book has always been around, and I hope it continues on. Information like this saves months of finding out where.
ISBN 0-7136-4156-8
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The Art of Fiction
by David Lodge
(Penguin)
I use these snippets of great writing whenever I need inspiration.
ISBN 0-14-017492-3
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Screenwriting
by Raymond G Frensham
(Teach Yourself Hodder Headline)
Can you teach yourself? This book contains lots of examples of script terms, and technical information - a good starter into the world of scriptwriting.
ISBN 0-340-60378-X
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Becoming a Writer
by Dorothea Brande
( Papermac - Macmillan)
This book is rescue from the slough of despond. Writers' block just dissolves away.
ISBN 0 333 34673 4
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