A screenplay is just a mystery waiting to be solved.

Working with the idea that writing a screenplay is a process of discovery, Stalking the Story uses the world of the detective, that prototypical master of observation, as the stage for story planning. The detective's whole reason for being is to discover bits of seemingly unrelated facts, observations, and hearsay and fashion them into a narrative that lays out whodunit. Replace detective with writer and whodunit with his story, and it's evident that the writer and the detective have more than a little in common.

In this clever and unique writing manual, Jay Douglas puts the reader in the position of a detective, searching for a missing story, then guides him-with the assistance of some classic TV sleuths-through the experience of finding that story, the story that is central to the screenplay he wants to write.