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| Acknowledgments | |
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| Introduction: What can screenwriters learn from Shakespeare? | |
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| The Great Plays | |
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| Hamlet: 'To thine own self be true": Creating psychological depth in your characters | |
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| Romeo and Juliet: "Parting is such sweet sorrow": Climaxes should be inevitable (but not predictable) | |
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| Macbeth: "Out, damned spot!": Why we love obsessed characters | |
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| Othello: "These words are razors to my wounded heart": The power of personal tragedies | |
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| King Lear: "More than kin and less than kind": Want to create a classic drama? Destroy a family | |
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| A Midsummer Night's Dream: "As luck would have it": A good comedy requires at least one accident, coincidence, or ironic twist | |
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| The Taming of the Shrew: "The course of true love never did run smooth": Or, nobody wants to watch a happy couple | |
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| Henry V: "Some have greatness thrust upon 'em": Flawed heroes are the only ones worth caring about | |
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| Julius Caesar: "An honest tale speeds best": How history proves that creativity is overrated | |
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| Richard III: "Action is eloquence": Or, show me, don't tell me | |
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| The Winter's Tale: "Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall": Why character arcs matter | |
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| Antony and Cleopatra: "All the world's a stage": Setting and tone aren't just background | |
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| Much Ado about Nothing: "Brevity is the soul of wit": How to write comedy that's actually funny | |
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| The Merchant of Venice: "If you prick us, do we not bleed?": The more your characters suffer, the better | |
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| The Big Picture | |
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| How Shakespeare Creates Unforgettable Heroes: Hamlet, Henry V, and Othello | |
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| Reverse Engineering Shakespeare's Supervillians: Iago, Macbeth, and Richard III | |
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| Unlocking the Secret to the Greatest Love Story Ever Told: Romeo and Juliet | |
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| Absolute Genius: Shakespeare's Sources of Inspiration | |
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| Why Shakespeare's Stories Stand the Test of Time | |
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| Final Thoughts | |
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| Shakespeare's Greatest Lesson: Break the Rules | |
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| Summaries of the Great Plays | |
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| Credits for Referenced Movies | |
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| About the Author | |