Kill the Dog cover art

Kill the Dog

The First Book on Screenwriting to Tell You the Truth

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Kill the Dog

By: Paul Guyot
Narrated by: Paul Guyot
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £13.42

Buy Now for £13.42

About this listen

Kill the Dog is the first book on screenwriting written by an actual working professional screenwriter. Award-winning screenwriter Paul Guyot exposes the lies other screenwriting books have told, and presents authentic, essential instruction and motivation for anyone wanting a career as a professional screenwriter. This book provides all the answers, from what producers and studios actually want, to what makes one screenplay better than another, to why so many have been doing it wrong for so long. The author takes us inside the exclusive members-only world of professional screenwriters, from television writers rooms to meetings with producers and studio executives, to facts about formatting, structure, craft, art, and voice.

Every aspect of screenwriting is covered with an authority and credibility never seen in any book to come before. Told with honesty, humor, and vulnerability from the real-world perspective of a working, professional screenwriter, Kill the Dog reveals the secrets of what it takes to have a successful career as a Hollywood screenwriter.

©2023 Domestique Inc. (P)2023 Domestique Inc. Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV Screenwriting Words, Language & Grammar Writing & Publishing Entertainment Witty Fiction
All stars
Most relevant
Especially loved the chapter 'Wound your darlings' and glad he kept it in. I'm a UK screenwriter and I've had a lot of 'tools' drilled into me. I think they're so embedded in my subconscious that it would be hard to ever get them out. I'm not 100% that I would want to or that I agree wholly that none of it matters. But this book is a call to remember that the real power is already in you, draft, redraft, absorb the work you love. There are so many people out there that aren't writers telling writers how to write.

Really enjoyed this, perfect antidote

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
There isn't much 'craft' in this book, as in not much how-to. And after hearing the whole thing, that's no accident. Paul Guyot's belief is that writing of any kind can't come from secrets, hacks, or a series of steps. In that respect, I agree. A good writer is a good thinker, and there aren't many rules or techniques to get better at that. Effectively there's built-in talent, and the insight that comes from curiosity and wanting to get better. Very few will ever have that.

Parts of the book feel like a love letter to the author himself, a reminder of how things are. In a way, all communication has a bit of that, but at times Paul goes on an extended rant. And while it may be honest, it doesn't serve the audience.

Overall, although this could be a good book to read before all others, I think it's best as one of your final few. To quote a cliché, you have you learn the rules and then forget them. This sounds nonsensical, but there is some truth in it. You learn how things have been done, and why that works. And then you show us how there's a newer and better way. To do that takes true talent. This book doesn't give you that, but it will remind you to travel in that direction.

Kills the hype

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great to hear the perspective of a real screenwriter than a self proclaimed guru. Excellent.

The Truth

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book is awesome. To every screen writer out there. Don’t let this book pass you by. Read it immediately.

The passion in the author and the truth he tells.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Truly enjoyable and informative. This has a look behind the curtain in an accessible way. Great!

Brilliant - be ready for the real truth

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews