Write a Book this Year!
Here is an ever-evolving TABLE OF CONTENTS with links to the most important posts on this site.
This page of links follows the format of the Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workbooks, chapter by chapter, in order, with links to expanded posts and videos. You can use it with one of the workbooks or without the books.
The writing workbooks Stealing Hollywood and Writing Love came out of the Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workshops I’ve taught for almost twenty years, now! throughout the US and internationally, and the film story structure class I taught in the film department of Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.
I developed the workbooks as a full course in writing to help authors of any level write and sell books and level up their careers, all in the most fun way possible: by using the structure techniques and storytelling tricks of their favorite movies.
And yeah - it all works for screenwriters, too!
This Screenwriting Tricks for Authors Substack is a place for me to go further — to do an even deeper dive into the concepts and material of the workbooks, to analyze new movies and TV that I think are great examples of these concepts and storytelling techniques, and to interact with other writers in person (kind of!) - something we just don’t do enough of since the pandemic.
If you start from the beginning links and work through to the end, there is a good chance that you will have written a book by the end of the year. Hundreds of writers I’ve worked with have done it.
Commit to just fifteen minutes a day. Seriously —
15 minutes of writing per day equals a book in a year.
I post new material on this Substack just about every week (with exceptions lately for ongoing world cataclysms).
And I’m always here to answer any questions you have, and happy to take suggestions of movies and TV that will help you write your book or script - just leave it in the Comments!
I know the world feels perilous right now. But we’re all readers and we know what a refuge a book can be.
It’s a million times more true when your refuge is the book you’re actually writing.
I hope this year is the year you write that book!
—Alex
Introduction:
PART ONE: STORY STRUCTURE
1. The Master List and Master Lists Book
2. What's Your Premise?
3. First, You Need an Idea
4. What KIND of Story is It?
Story Patterns: A Star is Born (Daisy Jones & the Six, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Babylon)
5. The Three-Act, Eight-Sequence Structure
The Three-Act, Eight-Sequence Structure – with VIDEO
6. The Index Card Method and Structure Grid
Get access to full archives with a paid subscription, or sign up for free weekly story structure posts
7. Act One
Inciting Incident/Call to Adventure: Something Has To Happen, Immediately
Theme and Image Systems: VIDEO
8. Hero/ine, Protagonist, Main Character
Hero/ine’s SPECIAL SKILLS or SUPERPOWERS
Hero/ine’s GHOST, WOUND or CORE TRAUMA
Hero/ine’s GREATEST NIGHTMARE
Hero/ine’s INNER and OUTER DESIRE
Hero/ine’s CHARACTER ARC
Protagonist Case Study: Jake Gittes. Chapter 9, Stealing Hollywood
10. What Makes a Great Villain?
Chapters 10 & 11, Stealing Hollywood
11. Villains, Part 2: The Forces of Antagonism
12. Act Two: What’s the PLAN?
13. Elements of Act Two, First Half
Act II: Part 1 Elements - VIDEO
Midpoint
The MIDPOINT Game Changer - VIDEO
14. Elements of Act Two, Second Half
Your Act II Climax: The Dark Night and the Dawn
(ALL IS LOST and the REVELATION)
15. Elements of Act Three
16. What Makes A Great Climax?
17. Story Elements Checklist
Stealing Hollywood - Chapter 17
18. Narrative Structure Beat Sheet
Stealing Hollywood - Chapter 18
19. Act Climaxes: Breakdowns and Examples
20. Story Elements: Questions and Prompts
Act II: Part 1 Questions & Prompts
Act II: Part 2 - Questions and Prompts
Act III: Essential Elements & Useful Tricks
22. What is "High Concept"?
Movie breakdowns
Both workbooks, Stealing Hollywood and Writing Love, have ten full story breakdowns of well-known movies in lots of genres, as well as shorter Act and Sequence breakdowns of others.
I’ve broken down more movies here: (listings in progress)
More useful movie/TV discussions (listings in progress)
Saltburn and others
All material ©Alexandra Sokoloff, Screenwriting Tricks for Authors.
Why subscribe?
Screenwriting Tricks for Authors is a reader-supported publication. Please consider contributing to this work by becoming a free or paid subscriber!
Get the workbooks!
The Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workbooks will help you work through your book or script, starting with your Premise, working Act by Act, Story Element by Story Element, with hundreds of examples from your favorite movies. Each includes ten full movie breakdowns from different genres.
Stealing Hollywood has all the material of the workshops, with story examples and elements from all genres.
Writing Love has all the material of the workshops, with more story examples and elements specific to romance and love stories.
Stealing Hollywood ebook, $4.99, also available as large format print workbook
Writing Love ebook, $2.99
Need some help? The Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workshop is available online, as a self-paced course with all the videos, assignments, movie breakdowns and personalized feedback you need to get that book written this year, 15 minutes at time.
In three parts, and you only pay for what you use.
If you have a first draft of a book or script already, or need more feedback, get targeted help getting you over the finish line in The Writers’ Room.
What authors say:
“Believe it or not, story-telling is an art as well as a craft, and Alex Sokoloff’s Stealing Hollywood is the owner’s manual that belongs in every writer’s toolkit. Alex dissects the elements of story-telling with clarity, wit and wisdom. Don’t thank me—buy the damn book!”
—Mary Kay Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of Ladies’ Night and Summer Rental
“I’d already written fifteen novels by the time I met Alex and discovered her unique approach to structuring fiction. She changed my entire writing process for the better. I couldn’t live without my three-act storyboard! Alex is a gifted and generous teacher and author, and Stealing Hollywood is a must-have book for new and seasoned writers alike.”
—International bestselling author Diane Chamberlain
“Stealing Hollywood has transformed the way I write my books. Whenever another author is struggling with their plot, I tell them to buy a copy. I can’t recommend it enough.”
—Cally Taylor, bestselling author of Sleep, The Island, The Missing, The Lie
There is no one better at story analysis than Sokoloff.
—Steve Cavanagh, bestselling author of Fifty/Fifty and Thirteen.
‘The best book on writing I’ve ever read. It made me think about story and structure in a whole new way, and it has been invaluable to me ever since I found it.”
—Doug Johnstone, bestselling author of Fault Lines, A Dark Matter, The Big Chill
“Sokoloff’s advice is spot-on, and her teaching style is direct and effective. A must-have book for authors and screenwriters.”
—JA Konrath, bestselling author of A Newbie’s Guide To Publishing