Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Screenwriter Biographies -- Introduction -- 1. Inspiration -- A Conversation with Randall Wallace -- 2. Story -- What Makes a Great Story: A Conversation with Bill Wittliff -- Steven Zaillian on Where the Story Originates -- Peter Hedges on Crafting Story -- Lawrence Kasdan on Story and Theme -- 3. Process -- A Conversation with John Lee Hancock -- Sacha Gervasi on Getting Started -- The Basics with Nicholas Kazan -- Advice from Bill Wittliff -- Anne Rapp's Writing Routine -- Caroline Thompson's Writing Process -- Lawrence Kasdan on the Challenges of Writing -- 4. Structure -- Structure and Format: A Conversation with Frank Pierson, Whit Stillman, Robin Swicord, and Nicholas Kazan -- Caroline Thompson on Structure -- Lawrence Kasdan on the Rules of Script Formatting -- Visual Storytelling: A Conversation with John August, John Lee Hancock, and Randall Wallace -- 5. Character and Dialogue -- Building Characters and Mapping Their Journeys: A Conversation with Lawrence Kasdan and Anne Rapp -- Nicholas Kazan on Writing Characters -- Crafting Characters: A Conversation with Lawrence Kasdan -- Dialogue and Finding the Voice: A Conversation with John August and John Lee Hancock -- 6. Rewriting -- Writer's Block: A Conversation with Bud Shrake and Bill Wittliff -- Bill Wittliff on When to Let Something Go -- Steven Zaillian on Defining Scenes: What to Keep In, What to Leave Out -- Anne Rapp on Keeping the Writing Fresh -- Nicholas Kazan's Rewriting Process -- On Rewriting: A Conversation with Daniel Petrie Jr., Peter Hedges, and Sacha Gervasi -- Lawrence Kasdan on How You Know When You're Done -- 7. Collaboration -- A Conversation with Steven Zaillian -- Peter Hedges on Collaborating -- Lawrence Kasdan on Writing with a Partner -- Randall Wallace on Working with Other Writers -- Go Forth.