For aspiring and seasoned professional screenwriters alike, Syd Field, "the most sought-after screenwriting teacher in the world" ("The Hollywood Reporter"), offers the ultimate trouble-shooting guide to screenwriting, expertly illustrating what makes a screenplay work--and what makes it bomb faster than you can say "Action!"
All writing is rewriting. But what do you change, and how do you change it? All screenplays have problems. They happened to Die Hard: With a Vengeance and Broken Arrow-and didn't get fixed, leaving the films flawed. They nearly shelved Platoon-until Oliver Stone rewrote the first ten pages and created a classic. They happen to every screenwriter. But good writers see their problems as a springboard to creativity. Now bestselling author Syd Field, who works on over 1,000 screenplays a year, tells you step-by-step how to identify and fix common screenwriting problems, providing the professional secrets that make movies brilliant-secrets that can make your screenplay one headed for success...or even Cannes. Learn how to:

-Understand what makes great stories work
-Make your screenplay work in the first ten pages, using Thelma & Louise and Dances With Wolves as models
-Use a "dream assignment" to let your creative self break free overnight
-Make action build character, the way Quentin Tarantino does
-Recover when you hit the "wall"-and overcome writer's block forever