A Review of Marc Rosenberg's The Screenplay Tree

When I picked up The Screenplay Tree by Marc Rosenberg early last Saturday morning to read with my coffee, I hadn’t intended to read it straight through. But, that’s exactly what I did. I got totally engrossed and bagged all my other projects and didn’t quit until I had read the lecture and the screenplay portion of the analysis. On Sunday morning, I read the screenplay portion and the associated analysis. Man, what a revelation. This wasn’t just a book on how to write a screenplay, it was complete class on how to tell a story. I have always kind of written the conclusions first and worked backward thru the story, writing whatever scene struck my interest next. The writing style professed by Rosenberg in The Screenplay Tree brought the whole technique into clarity for me. Now, I know a little better what I’m doing. I would recommend this screenwriting tutorial to any writer, screenplay, short story, or novel, as a different point of view on story development. I have always felt that writing a screenplay in conjunction with writing a novel to be a form of writer’s cross training. Thanks Marc, for clarifying so much of the remaining mystery. Jeff Bailey, author of the novel and screenplay Not On My Watch.