Reviewed by Charles Deemer

 

HOW TO WRITE IT, HOW TO SELL IT

by Linda Palmer

St. Martin's Griffin, 1998

300 pages, $14.95

ISBN 0-312-18726-2

 

 

Here is the only screenwriting book I've seen that includes an exercise

program.  Here it is, which the author calls "The Writer's Strength and

Stamina Exercise Routine":

 

"I don't care what exercise you choose - the point is that for fifteen

minutes a day, five days a week, you exercise  while reciting the

following:

 

"'I am a writer.  I am exercising to be strong mentally and to increase

my stamina because I need both mental strength and physical stamina to

have a career as a writer.'" (pp6-7)

 

My University screenwriting class, it must be said, did not embrace this

routine with warmth, and you may not either.  One student pointed out that

his cousin, a successful screenwriter, used gin for the same purpose. 

Gin, of course, is a politically incorrect methodology for acquiring

strength and stamina, while the author's routine above has a fashionable

New Age ring to it.  But I don't belabor this to endorse or poke fun

at Palmer's suggestion but rather to illustrate how much of her own

personality goes into this book, which is both its strength and its weakness.

 

Palmer is trying to do two things here, teach craft and teach marketing. 

She has the credentials to know about both:  a published novelist, a

former VP at Tristar, a produced screenwriter.  However, as a teacher,

she does the second half of her goal better than the first.

 

Her chapters on craft can be misleading and, when she quotes from her

own work, sometimes contradictory.  For example, at one point she writes,

"Here are some examples of the various genres" (p140), but then goes on to

discuss only romantic comedy, farce, parody and satire (pp140-142).  The

beginner who rightfully questions if this is all one can say about genre

and who turns to the index to learn more will be disappointed because

the book has no index.

 

Palmer cautions against long single-spaced descriptions in the action element,

which instead need to be broken up into smaller paragraphs, adding white

space to the page, advice which most screenwriting teachers would endorse. 

Yet her own descriptive writing frequently contradicts this advice, where

plush prose and long paragraphs sound more like her novelist-self.

 

Palmer frequently presents the basics of craft in a straight-forward and

readable way.  Some useful tools are provided: examples of the worksheets

readers use to provide coverage; a complete step outline of MIDNIGHT RUN;

structural examples from many movies.  But it is when she turns to

marketing advice that Palmer shines.

 

This book, more than others, looks into the craft of writing query letters

and pitching concepts.  She provides a detailed guide to writing effective

query letters - and a good one it is.  She gives examples.  She spends

a lot of time discussing pitching strategy and method (phone, fax, email,

letter?).

 

Palmer also draws on her professional experience to provide a behind-the-scenes

look at the business of Hollywood.  Occasionally her focus drifts to gossipy

chit-chat rather than to matters a student can use, but the stories are

always interesting.

 

I recommend this book, then, primarily for the HOW TO SELL IT part of its

title.  Palmer presents an individual, sometime eccentric, voice here, but

she is worth listening to, even if you are politically incorrect enough

to prefer gin to exercise.

 

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Charles Deemer teaches screenwriting at Portland State University and is

the author of "Screenwright: the craft of screenwriting."