Nobody really knows how many screenplays are written each year. Reports are that some 40,000 scripts may be registered with the Writer's Guild West annually, which suggests many more are started and abandoned. And many have noted that nobody really wants to write the Great American Novel anymore; now everybody wants to write the Next Great Blockbuster (or "tentpole" movie, in the parlance of Hollywood). As William Goldman writes in Adventures of the Screen Trade, when he started screenwriting there were no books or format guides to consult; he had to learn simply by reading other screenplays.

That has changed. First there was Syd Field, whose books on screenwriting format brought clarity and the three act structure to the forefront. Now there are a host of screenwriting websites, magazines, books, gurus, and more, all looking to make a buck off aspiring screenwriters' hopes and dreams. Just writing a screenplay is big business anymore, and there are thousands of people looking for advice and insight into how to break into "the business." They devour Robert McKee's book on Story and they quibble on message boards over whether to bind a script with two brads or three, with every other question seeming to be: "So, do I have to move to L.A. to really hit the big time?"

Ask the Pros: Screenwriting is a fascinating little book. Not because it teaches screenwriting format, because it doesn't. If you want to read about format, there are plenty of books on the market, from the aforementioned (and ubiquitous) Story, David Trottier's Screenwriter's Bible, Denny Martin Flinn's How Not to Write a Screenplay: 101 Common Mistakes Most Screenwriters Make, and The Complete Guide to Standard Script Formats by Judith Haag and Hillis Cole. But Ask the Pros: Screenwriting does something else, something I think is exceptionally valuable for aspiring screenwriters.

It asks professionals - writers, agents, managers, producers, readers, and more - a host of "frequently asked questions," and records their answers. What I really liked about this book was the fact that on many points, there was disagreement among the professionals, or at the very least a difference of opinion about how to go about things. As an aspiring screenwriter who has bounced around the various screenwriting circles online, you frequently hear some "expert" spouting off about how there is only one way to do things. The problem is, many people end up believing that, and it isn't true; as the old saying goes, there's more than one way to skin a cat. And Ask the Pros highlights that fact.

Here's a question that many aspiring screenwriters ask: "Which books on writing are most helpful?" And the answers in Ask the Pros are across the board. Doug Wallace says "read everything you can . . . you never know when or where you might find a golden nugget." David Goyer says, "I find very few writing books helpful. Honestly, I can't think of any." Craig Moss says that Story helped him, while Robbie Fox says he has "no interest" in books on how to write, and adds:

I know people go on and on about that Robert McKee guy, but I really believe he's had the most destructive influence on Hollywood since the beginning of film. I swear, every project, every batch of notes, people start quoting to you what page the inciting incident has to go on and at what point this character must be challenged by something from his past.
The point is, the differences of opinion on this topic highlight the essential truth that writing and inspiration must be an individual pursuit, and sometimes those things which are helpful to one person are not always helpful to another (personally, I like McKee's book, but we're not here to talk about me). There is frequently far too much emphasis on formula in the circles of the "aspiring," as if writing can be broken down into a science experiment. Reading the responses of these pros to these questions one realizes that the only formula is to keep trying and keep growing as a writer and as a person.

Other questions have equally disparate answers, be it whether they write with specific actors in mind (some say yes, some say no) to how much preparation they make before writing a script (some are very meticulous researchers, others are not). As a father of four I was truly struck by Robbie Fox's response to a question about daily writing schedules:

My work schedule experience is divided up into two categories: before children and after children. Before children, I slept as late as my little heart desired, woke up fresh, made a few calls, took a swim, played some tennis, and then wrote into the wee hours of the morning - not for caffeine or bills, but for the sheer love of it and the need to express myself. Since children, I spend four or five awkward hours in bed with my wife, feeling rejected and claustrophobic, occasionally visited by a child who has had a bad dream or wet his bed. God forbid they sleep through the night, no doubt the stupid bird will have a bad dream and start squawking or the dog pisses in the house. So you wake up at like 6:00, and you go to Starbucks and you get this cup of coffee for three dollars and you have to treat it well, because you will refill that f**ker all day long, until midnight and maybe later, so that after all the calls are made and the bills are paid, and you pick the kids up at school and you remember to go to your in-laws for dinner and your wife spends every f**king penny you have on crap you don't need, then, and only then, can you write for about eleven minutes.

The questions put to industry insiders like directors and producers are, I think, quite valuable. Even there, there are frequently differences of opinion, be it about when they know a script "works" (some say by page 30, some say "page 2," and some say "the last page"), or whether an aspiring writer should worry about budgetary concerns (some say yes, some say no). Other sections take on agents and managers, attorneys, TV writers, and readers (yes, even readers get their own section).

I must admit that I wasn't quite certain what to expect from this book when I first saw it, but I was impressed by the breadth of its content and, as I already touched on, what I feel is its importance for aspiring screenwriters. Far too frequently, we hear only one voice (the voice of the "guru") telling us to go one way or the other. After a while, though, you start to realize that while format is important it isn't critical. And you begin to realize that differences of opinion aren't confusing; they just each represent a different perspective. I think it can be quite empowering to realize that there isn't just one way to go about breaking into "the business," and I think Ask the Pros: Screenwriting can help people try to determine which way works best for them. I think it's a very helpful resource, and a worthwhile investment for a writer who can't afford a screenwriting conference and wants to hear what the pros really have to say.

Ask the Pros: Screenwriting: 101 Questions Answered by Industry Professionals (Final Draft)
Howard Meibach
Book from Lone Eagle Publishing Company, Release date: 15 May, 2004