“I was a writer before I knew what a writer was.” -Joseph Dougherty
Joseph Dougherty has been a successful playwright and television writer, producer, and director for more than thirty years. He’s written for breakthrough series that have changed the way we look at television drama, from thirtysomething to Pretty Little Liars, winning everything from Emmys to Teen Choice Awards along the way.
In A Screenwriter’s Companion, Dougherty offers insights and advice both practical and nonpractical to writers and would-be writers.
Dougherty’s voice comes off the page with anecdotes about the writing process, hard-learned tips for survival in “the business,” and reflections on the influences that led him to a successful career. Honestly, entertainingly, without cynicism, he gives readers permission to embrace the writer they want to be, so they can experience the rewards and satisfactions of writing.
Beyond an insider’s take on story and structure, dialogue, action and outlining, A Screenwriter’s Companion is as much mentor as it is manual. With every insider observation about how to keep a potential producer reading till the last page of a script, there’s encouragement to explore your thoughts and memories, things a writer needs to embrace in order to become more than “a pro.” In short, to see writing not as merely a career, but as a way to greater self-understanding.
With a Foreword by Scott Ryan (thirtysomething at thirty: an oral history)
This book was selected by Foreword Magazine as one of the Best Gift Items of Fall 2022.
978194902439
A Screenwriter's Companion: Instruction, Opinion, Encouragement
The perfect book for any writer who needs advice and encouragement for how to write a book or screenplay from a professional who has written for film and television for over 30 years.
Joseph Dougherty is an Emmy and Humanitas Prize winner for his work on the groundbreaking series thirtysomething, he has written several movies for HBO including the remake of Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman directed by Christopher Guest, and the Emmy-winning noir/occult mashup Cast a Deadly Spell, which was nominated for a Ray Bradbury Award by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
His play Chester Bailey premiered at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where it was selected Outstanding World Premiere Play and Outstanding Production of a Play by the TBA Awards. It was subsequently produced at the Contemporary American Theater Festival at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and at the Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where it was a New York Times Critics’ Pick. He earned Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for his play Digby, produced by Manhattan Theatre Club, and wrote the libretto for the Tony-winning musical version of My Favorite Year, presented at Lincoln Center.
An Emmy and Humanitas Prize winner for his work on the groundbreaking series thirtysomething, he has written several movies for HBO including the remake of Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman directed by Christopher Guest, and the Emmy-winning noir/occult mashup Cast a Deadly Spell, which was nominated for a Ray Bradbury Award by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
He has contributed as a writer and director to many popular television series, including Judging Amy, Once and Again, and Saving Grace. He was a writer, director, and executive producer on the hit series Pretty Little Liars, cocreated the Pretty Little Liars spinoff Ravenswood, and helped launch Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. His books include Comfort and Joi, Trunk Piece, Psychopomp, and The Persistence of Phosphors, which received an AfterEllen Visibility Award as Best Book of 2013.