Three books on screenwriting

By Greg Pak

Three books I've found enormously helpful over the years:

"Four Screenplays," by Syd Field

Field is best known for his ubiquitous book "Screenplay," but I found "Four Screenplays" more helpful. The book provides in-depth structural analysis of the screenplays of four successful movies: "Thelma and Louise," "Terminator 2," "The Silence of the Lambs," and "Dances with Wolves." Practical and extremely helpful.

"The Art of Dramatic Writing," by Lajos Egri

One of the classics. Egri's writing about all dramatic writing - meaning many of his examples are drawn from theater. But it's all applicable to screenwriting. Most helpful is his exploration of "premise."

"Story," by Robert McKee

McKee can come off as a bit of a blowhard in print (and apparently in person, if the depiction of him in "Adaptation" is to be trusted), but I thought just about everything in his book was right on the money.