there are a lot of screenwriting advice and technique books out there.

a lot of writers (and poseurs) make great sport of hating this one system or the other - syd field, the hero's journey, bob mckee, save the cat, dan harmon's story circle - you have heard all of them both extolled or mocked at one time or another.

to me, however, all these competing systems remind me of religions: the truly kooky bananas ones aside, most of them want the same thing, world peace, kindness among all, the golden rule, transcendental unity with the divine.

so it is with screenwriting books and techniques - they all want you to think technically about plot, character, theme, and story.

so use whichever one you want - what is important is that you become a maker instead of a consumer and in doing so seek mastery over the conventions of storytelling. ideally we all outgrow our first exposure to our craft, whatever that may be.

so go be a student, read as many or as few. what really matters is that you aren't just seeking to tick off boxes - what matter is that you want to express something in narrative form and are open to learning what that means.

proceed accordingly. here endeth the lesson.