( 7 reviews )
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Posted: Dec 11 2008
Are you are a Big Fan of Romantic Comedies? Take this three question quiz! Which Director of the Romantic comedy "the more the merrier" went on to direct "Giant" with James Dean A) Preston Sturges B) George Stevens C) Elia Kazan Which actor hasn't stared in separate movies directed by Preston Sturges AND George Stevens A) Bill McCrea B) Peter Lorre C) Charles Coburn Who has starred with Meg Ryan more times? A) Billy Crystal B) Tom Hanks If you guessed B all the way down the line, have I got the book for you! How to write a Romantic Comedy is a fun breakdown of the various devices and structures that go into making a Romantic Comedy great. With ideas, exercises and meditations culminated from the UCLA extension class taught by Mr. Mernit himself, this book will entertain the screenwriter and romantic Comedy Buff alike. Rather than a how to book on Comedy, HTWARC takes scenes and plots from movies and dissects them illustrating the principles within each chapter. Movies like Tootsie and The Lady Eve are broken down by spine and scene to reveal ideas about sex appeal and imagery in comedic cinema. Anyone would get a kick out of this book in that kind of "watch how a magician reveals his tricks" kind of way, and Mernit speaks with the tender zeal of a true enthusiast. The only section strictly devoted to screenwriting is the last 30 pages. Mernit has been a Studio reader for many years and I learned things about writing that I hadn't learned before and could apply immediately. There aren't any hard and fast rules, just tips to improve performance. Three sentences on sentences structure towards the end completely changed my writing style. (Hopefully for the Better!) If you are a screenwriter tired of people cramming books like save the cat, Syd Field's Screenwriting, or Story down your throat, take a walk off the beaten path and give this book a try, the least you will have is a good time.
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Posted: Jan 30 2008
Truly an excellent guide to the romantic comedy genre and how to write within it. Perfect for an intermediate writer who wants to branch out into this kind of screenwriting; could even be useful for short stories and novels, because the ideas translate well. Very well written, entertaining, never boring, and always enlightening. Loved it and consider it a must-have in my screenwriting/writing library.
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Posted: Sep 19 2007
I recommend this book for all writers - not just screenwriters. He has a way of making it so clear all the clever ways not to fall into the usual traps of a typical scene. Whether you are writing a book or a movie the information he presents how to establish relationships between characters is tremendous. It's also a fun read. I refer to it often when building characters, relationships, and their world.
