This ultimate insider's guide to screenwriting is designed to get you past the fiercest gatekeepers in Hollywood: the Hollywood script readers. This small army of freelancers will be among the first to read and evaluate your script and then to recommend it — or not — to the studios, directors, and stars.

Designed for quick and easy access, these 500 points are a step-by-step recipe. They cannot guarantee success, but failure to follow them can almost certainly guarantee failure. Tips include:

* Get your foot in the door: 23 ways to make a good first impression on the Hollywood Reader

* Screen talk: why it is essential to write dialogue that looks good on the page

* Your goals in each act: how to make your story unputdownable from beginning to end

* Specific genre issues: writing a romance? a mystery? a thriller? Learn their special requirements and pitfalls

* The final scenes: how to go out with a bang that will wow the Hollywood Reader

* Still didn't get positive coverage? Inside info on what to do and how to do it

Written by an industry insider who has recommended scripts that have sold for as much as one million dollars, this is the only book to show you what the Hollywood Reader wants to see. Clear, smart, and completely authoritative, 500 Ways to Beat the Hollywood Script Reader is by far the simplest, most practical book ever to hit the entertainment shelf.

Introduction

Part 1: Writing to Sell

Scripting It Like the Pros Do

A Reader May Judge Your Script by Its Cover

23 Ways to Make a Good First Impression on a Reader

Eliminating Page 1, 2, 3 Tip-offs That You're Not Yet a Pro

Putting It on the Page

Pulling the Reader out of Her Office and into Your Story with Setting

Burning Your Characters into the Reader's Imagination

Screen Talk That Looks as Good as It Sounds

Style That Turns On a Hollywood Reader

Creating a Concept and Characters That Will Sell Your Script

20 Tips on Creating a Concept That Sells Itself

Characters the Hollywood Reader Recommends to Top Stars

Create a Protagonist and Antagonist Who Will Start a Casting War

Part 2: Acts 1-3: Writing for the All-Important Audience of One

Act 1 Goals

Goals to Achieve in This First Act

Setting Up Your Story for Success in Act

Grab the Hollywood Reader with Your Opening Sequence and Don't Let Her Look Back

Fulfilling the Reader's Expectations as You Open Your Genre

Conflict: A Reader Can't Recommend a Screenplay That Doesn't Have It

Prevent Reader Whiplash: Handle the Backstory with Care

Your Act 1 Checklist

Act 2 Goals

Goals to Achieve in This Second Act

Structure Tips to Help You Scale the Mt. Everest of Your Script

Tips to Keep Subplots Working Hard for Your Story

How to Avoid the Second Act Story Stall

You Don't Have to Fall into These Act 2 Genre Traps

Stay One Step Ahead of the Reader with Your Act 2 Story

Avoid Common Flaws That Show Up in Act 2

Your Act 2 Checklist

Act 3 Goals

Goals to Achieve in This Third Act

Wowing the Reader as You Pay Off Your Story

It's Do or Die for Your Characters

The Kind of End That Can Get You a Reader Recommend

Your Act 3 Checklist

Correct Common Flaws Related to Genre

Part 3: Epilogue

Feedback-Driven Revision

Still Didn't Get Positive Coverage?

Conclusion