Coffee Break Screenwriter Breaks the Rules

Pilar Alessandra’s popular book, The Coffee Break Screenwriter, taught writers how to outline quickly, write efficiently, and rewrite creatively. It is the “go-to” book for getting one’s story on the page. But now that same writer may be doing a final pass on a project, working with a producer, or coming up with a new project only to be hit with . . . RULES! Should the writer respond to this random list of do’s and don’ts pertaining to structure, characters, dialogue, and formatting? Nope.Who says you have to follow the screenwriting rules? In this book Pilar reviews the rules writers assume they should follow, discusses why they’re there in the first place, and then shows you ways to creatively break them!Rules evaluated include those addressing: storytelling devices like flashback and voiceovercharacter rules such as empathy and backstorydialogue faux pas such as writing on the nosestructural issues such as nonlinear writing and act-break placementformatting sticking points involving emotion and visualsFor every “rule” that’s discussed, Pilar covers:1. Why the rule exists.2. Why writers should break the rule.3. How writers can break the rule.4. How breaking the rule can break bad (so break with care).