Mastering Screenplay Form and Style

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by Mick Hurbis-Cherrier

Type

Didactic

Subject

Technique > Scriptwriting

Keywords

scriptwriting

Publishing date

2025 (May 30, 2025)

Publisher

Routledge

Collection

A Focal Press Book

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 264 pages
7 ¼ x 9 ½ inches (18.5 x 24 cm)

ISBN

978-1-138-66642-9

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Book Presentation:
Mastering Screenplay Form and Style shows you how professional screenwriters actually write scripts. This reference manual explores all aspects of the form, from essential format requirements to the expressive, literary qualities of screenplay language. Organized in three parts, this book systematically reveals the full essence of the screenwriter’s craft.
- The Ground Rules: Make a deep dive into the fundamental rhetorical concepts for dramatizing a story for the screen - the craft and style concepts that underpins everything working screenwriters use.
• The Industry Standards: Master the professional norms for script formatting and language, including the function and correct use of the six screenplay elements for common, advanced, and challenging narrative situations. Learn methods for indelible character introductions, and managing story and screen time on the page.
• Expressive Screenwriting: Understand how precise visual writing can infuse your scripts with cinematic energy, dramatic tone, POV, and narrative flow. You will also learn when, why, and how screenwriters bend and even break screenwriting conventions for dramatic impact..

Mastering Screenplay Form and Style is the ideal text to guide screenwriting students and aspiring professional screenwriters to move beyond technically “correct” scripts, to truly captivate readers through compelling screenplays with a distinctive style and voice.

About the Author:
Mick Hurbis-Cherrier teaches screenwriting, story analysis, and film production at Hunter College in New York City. Professionally, he has worked as a screenwriter, script consultant, director, cinematographer, and editor. His films have garnered prizes at many festivals. He is the co-author of Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics (2020), now in its sixth edition, and Voice & Vision: A Creative Approach to Narrative Filmmaking (2025), now in its fourth edition.

Press Reviews:
'"Mick is an expert of the first order. I can attest to that personally ― as can the many other writers he has mentored over the years. Whether I’m writing a feature or a TV series, I discuss every project with Mick to get his insights. And now he’s created this excellent style manual that fully reveals how screenplays are written today. Mastering Screenplay Form and Style explains not just the how-to, but the when-to and why-to. From the novice to the professional, screenwriters of all levels will undoubtedly benefit from having this book on their desk.''

William H. Collage, Screenwriter (Emancipation, Assassin’s Creed, Allegiant)

''Finally, a screenwriter’s style manual that reflects how professionals write. Mick Hurbis-Cherrier understands the careful balance a screenplay must strike between practical function and creative expression. If you have the story, this book will take you the rest of the way.''

Gabrielle Mahon, Producer (Succession, Ben is Back)

"Hurbis-Cherrier’s approach to craft embraces the form’s full capacity for expressing style, tone, imagery, and emotion. This is an essential guide for serious writers and is the first textbook I’ve ever assigned in my screenwriting classes."

Dave Monahan (Professor of Film University of North Carolina Wilmington, Author of Looking at Movies)

See the publisher website: Routledge