J. Michael Straczynski

Straczynski's book is overwhelmingly comprehensive, and looks at every angle of scriptwriting. Look, no one can teach innovation or individuality: as a teenager I remember being thoroughly disgusted with every scriptwriting book I devoured, because they all focussed on becoming a freelance "Law & Order" writer; offering advice on churning out formulaic scripts, and how to fit your thoughts into existing characters and pre-packaged situations. In retrospect, I acknowledge that a) being a scriptwriter is likely to involve some of this just as any job involves taking what you can get, and b) you need to learn the basics to innovate.

Straczynski goes far beyond the call of duty here, though, delivering a guide written with clarity and intelligence, which will remind you that learning the art is just the first step in being your own writer. Highly recommended.… (mehr)

NOT Recommended both due to length and to an utter lack of likeable/embraceable characters you actually want to spend that much time reading.

Take the "frozen in WWII and revived in the modern era" trope from Captain America and apply it to twelve different "heroes."

Then watch JMS stretch less-than-meaty plots across so many pages as to make them seem pointless meanderings like he too is waiting to see what his point is.

I will NOT be bothering to finish this story in Volume 2 because it's unlikely JMS could pull together enough story for 4 issues, let alone 12.… (mehr)