Writers have been publishing screenwriting books for over half a century now, full of "inside tips" on how to make it big in Hollywood. Titles suggest screenwriting is an art, a craft, a skill, a business, a talent, a knack, or most simply, the ability to tell stories. It is, of course, all of these.

What these books seldom do is take a complete novice though the steps of learning and understanding creative writing, be it for the Hollywood feature film or for the college video production. That is what On Screenwriting sets out to do.

This volume is a practical manual that...