The two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter, William Goldman, passed last Friday in New York after losing his fight with colon cancer and pneumonia. He was 87. Even if you don’t know Goldman’s name (though if you’re a screenwriter, it’s likely you do), you certainly know his films like Misery, inspired by the book by Stephen King, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid that starred Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and the Marathon Man, from Goldman’s own novel. Many people consider The Princess Bride, also based on his own book, a perfect, if not their favorite, film.
Classic screenplays can teach you story structure, they can teach you technique, and they can help you draw conclusions about why certain aspects of story have gone out of fashion, why some remain, and why others should make a comeback.
Everyone knows a compelling hero is central to a good script. Writers spend hours thinking through our hero's back stories. We grace them with inspiring goals and bedevil them with fascinating flaws. But the real secret to a good hero is a good villain.