This title offers a step-by-step guide to writing a screenplay, from the initial idea through to pitching a screenplay in the real world and selling you final draft. Based on, and inspired by the two authors' professional experience and their workshops, the book is written for both the first-time screenwriter and the established writer seeking to change direction or overcome a block, as well as those in other disciplines in the industry. Topics include an emphasis on the essential creative basis of all writing and American cinema with a strongly European perspective. Checklists to help writers focus on the various aspects of the writing process are included plus exercises to encourage the application of techniques and to clarify their use. The book is jargon-free and offers a glossary of frequently used terms that often mystify.