Drawing on contemporary histories of film and screenwriting, as well as American screenwriting manuals from the 1910s and 1920s, this volume breaks new ground in thinking about the nature of screenwriting and its shape as a particular kind of practice. The author examines such topics as the notion of the script as blueprint, the emergence of the screenplay, and the politics of writing for the screen. Bringing an accessible academic approach to practitioner-oriented discussions of craft, the book provides new perspectives on auteurism, processes of funding, digital technology, and the future of screenwriting. Focusing primarily on American style and practices, this book builds on a wide range of writings by filmmakers and screenwriters and the work of different critics and theorists, including Sergei Eisenstein, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Janet Staiger, and Dudley Nichols. Arguing that the study of film has yet to come to terms with screenwriting and the script, this work will be a vital contribution to debates on film and the critical analysis of screenwriting.