Writing the Romantic Comedy

From the slapstick shenanigans of Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby to the sexy repartee of Shakespeare in Love, romantic comedies have delighted filmgoers-and challenged screenwriters- since the early days of Hollywood.

Writing the Romantic Comedy is the first screenwriting guide to focus exclusively on the mechanics of this ever-popular genre. Whether you're a firsttime screenwriter, an intermediate marooned in the rewriting process, or an armchair enthusiast looking for an insider's perspective on what makes the genre tick, this thoroughly charming and insightful guide teaches you everything you need to know in order to craft a winning script. All of the romantic comedy basics are covered-from setting up an interesting and inventive story concept to creating characters that set off sparks, laughs that go deep, and dialogue that gets right to the heart.

Written in a refreshingly accessible style, Writing the Romantic Comedy is a lively guide to the essentials of character, theme, and plot development. It features case studies drawn from classic and contemporary romantic comedies as well as field-tested writing exercises that will short-circuit potential mistakes and spark inspiration.

Billy Mernit teaches "Writing the Romantic Comedy" and four other courses at the UCLA Extension Writers' Program. During his many years in the entertainment industry, he has worked as a script consultant and served as a story analyst for Universal Studios, Sony, and Paramount; written for NBC's Santa Barbara; and composed songs recorded by Carly Simon and Judy Collins. With his wife, Claudia Nizza, he is the coauthor of That's How Much I Love You.