Overview

"Uniquely inspired by the work of mythologist, Joseph Campbell and psychologist Jean Houston, ""The Soul of Screenwriting"" demonstrates how the ""screenwriting by numbers"" approach that offers templates into which the writer may mechanically drop his or her story idea is fundamentally incomplete. Keith Cunningham maintains that in doing so, one ignores the process of writing. Screenwriting is a long journey and even the most gifted screenwriters get lost along the way. Getting lost, too, is part of the process.What the writer experiences in the act of writing has never been taken into account, yet this is where the screenplay comes from: the writer's here-and-now experience while working on the story. Information - left-brain concepts and techniques about plot structure, character development and orchestration, the dynamics of scenes and sequences - is all necessary. But it is what one does with the information that makes a truly great screenplay. In this book, Cunningham demonstrates that good screenwriting is more than hitting the big plot points with exciting action. Good screenwriting also has integrity and authenticity. It has a voice, and because of this it speaks to the audience.To gain a voice, the writer needs the heat of creative imagination: passion, commitment, enthusiasm, a drive to know the truth of the characters and an urge to get to the core of the dramatic conflict without resorting to escapism. These are qualities of the heart, and as Cunningham argues, screenwriting can indeed be a path with heart."

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9780826428684

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Keith Cunningham's The Soul of Screenwriting: On Writing, Dramatic Truth, and Knowing Yourself...offers an unusual survey inspired by the mythic approach of Joseph Campbell and tinged by the psychology background of Jean Jouston, providing a survey of the act of screenwriting and how the writer's brain and experience juxtaposes to influence technique, character development, scene dynamics and results. It's a scholarly analysis recommended for any film or drama collection. -Midwest Book Review, (The Bookwatch), December 2008

Mention -Book News, November 2008 Mention --Book News, November 2008 Mention Book News, November 2008 [This book] demonstrates that good screenwriting is more than hitting the big plot points with exciting action Writers Forum, November 2008 Keith Cunningham's The Soul of Screenwriting: On Writing, Dramatic Truth, and Knowing Yourself...offers an unusual survey inspired by the mythic approach of Joseph Campbell and tinged by the psychology background of Jean Jouston, providing a survey of the act of screenwriting and how the writer's brain and experience juxtaposes to influence technique, character development, scene dynamics and results. It's a scholarly analysis recommended for any film or drama collection. -Midwest Book Review, (The Bookwatch), December 2008

Author Information

Keith Cunningham is a screenwriter and consultant based in Chicago, Illinois and Munich, Germany.

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