Patrick Charsky
5/15/2019
The action film has never been analyzed as good as in William C. Martell’s book Secrets of Action Screenwriting. Martell has been a screenwriter for many years and has many screenplays produced into films. He is known as the Robert Towne of made for cable movies. His book Secrets of Action Screenwriting is considered a classic of how to write a screenplay. Martell was born in California and works in Hollywood.
Secrets of Action Screenwriting is a nuts and bolts book about how to write an action screenplay. He talks about everything you would need to know to write an action screenplay. From rugpulls to sidekicks he goes through everything you need to know about an action screenplay. Martell is experienced in how to write action screenplays. He has at least 17 action screenplays produced.
The best aspect of the book is that it is easy to read and understand. Where some screenwriting texts are high minded and go over the heads of readers this book is down to earth and explains the little details in easy to explain examples and and ideas. The book explained ideas such as reverals and rug pulls in easy to understand language. Anyone could understand this book.
The next best aspect were the examples the book used. I was enflamed with a passion to study action films after reading this book. From Die Hard to Lethal Weapon the examples were illustrative of the ideas that Martell presented. They made the book easy to understand and and learn from. The examples used to illustrate points were well chosen.
There were few negatives to the book. The humor, examples, and ideas were all used well to present the secrets to action screenwriting. Perhaps the book could have been more theoretical, but then it would have been harder to understand and less well understood. I haven’t read a screenwriting book that was as informative and easy to read as Secrets of Action Screenwriting.
The book will appeal to working professionals like screenwriters, directors and others. It is a great text that shows how to write an action screenplay. Maybe action screenplays aren’t for everyone. For anyone with an interest in action screenplays it’s a can’t miss. It shows how to write an action screenplay in all it’s detail.
