Well, I feel like I’m about to explain a lot about something that doesn’t require much explaining. (What does that say about me as a writer? Oh well, let’s press on.) We find ourselves buried in books on HOW TO WRITE, and when I review them, I try to own up to my responsibility to inform you about which aspects of the skill set are emphasized, from what angle the author approaches the writing process, what individual styles and tastes it might cater to or not, etc. Here, we have a very different specimen. Tough Love Screenwriting: The Real Deal From A Twenty-Year Pro by John Jarrell is about BEING A SCREENWRITER. That’s a different matter entirely, and the title couldn’t possibly do a better job of stating exactly what you’re in for.

Maybe you’ve picked up a few vague tips and pointers about the film/TV business as the closing thoughts or afterward of other screenwriting books; clues about making sales, getting writing assignments, and networking in general, but don’t they all seem to have a “from the outside, looking in” flavor (begging the question of whether or how often the authors have actually achieved these feats)? Enter John Jarrell, a man who’s been there, done that, and is generously (?) willing to dish it all out, raw and unfiltered.

Jarrell pops the hood, pulls the curtain back, gives us a peek through the keyhole, pick your cliche, exposing the Hollywood screenwriting mechanism exactly as he’s experienced it. Tough Love‘s tone is playfully brutal and the veracity is beyond question. Nothing with this disorderly blend of starry-eyed triumph and gut-wrenching, disillusioning, debacles could possibly be made up. All of this, combined with Jarrell’s sharp, snarky delivery, and you could say that the entertainment value alone is worth the price, but that’s not nearly the crowning virtue of this book, not for anyone who wants into the business.

The true value here is the insights into the Hollywood system. All of the stuff you haven’t thought of yet – the anatomy of deals, the influence that one person’s mental disorder can have on a production, the system for deciding who gets writing credit on a movie and why it matters, how to conduct yourself in the face of clueless and vindictive development execs, and a host of other survival skills that you won’t find mentioned in any other screenwriting literature I know about.

But don’t take all of this to mean that it’s all abstract, “down-the-road” stuff. There’s plenty for us aspirers to chew on as well. This book induced me to incorporate several extremely beneficial things into my writing education and habits. Among them, I read Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field, studied and gained a greater understanding of craft from the Training Day screenplay, and began using the classic note card method. These examples alone have immeasurably moved my writing forward.

And that about does it. I warned you about the over-explaining. If you want the straight dope from someone who is where so many of us want to be, this one is not to be missed.