"Is that script writing book you wrote considered by some akin to a
magician giving up his secrets for all to see? I know I can't wait for it
to come out this fall, and I intend to learn all I can from it when it
does. I was just wondering if some feel that there is an unwritten rule in
the writers guild (or something) that discourages releasing the details of
the scripting process to the general public?"

If that were the case, then given the massive numbers of scriptwriting
books out on the market on any given day, there would be whole *legions*
of writers at whom Guild members were honked off.

So the answer, basically, is no, for many reasons. For starters, the
bottom line truth is that there really aren't any secrets, any mysteries,
any tricks, any secret handshakes...it comes down to good writing, or what
someone in a position to hire considers good writing, in combination with
persistence and a certain amount of luck. There's really nothing *to*
give away.

Additionally, I've met a number of working writers who broke in and credit
the writing book I did with a measure of responsibility for their success.
A person has to learn the essentials somewhere, after all.

(BTW, the new and expanded edition of The Complete Book of Scriptwriting
is due out in October from Writer's Digest. I can give the full info if
so desired.)


jms