Eugene Vale

Eugene Vale (11 April 1916 – 2 May 1997) was a best-selling American novelist. He was also a screenwriter, a playwright, and the author of an influential volume on screenwriting, titled "The Technique of Screen & Television Writing". In this book Vale provided many rules for writing screenplays to include the admonition that the "primary purpose of every film scene is to transition into the future" - Start with a goal in the future, then you need a motivation for a future event, then you create an intention on the part of the actor or actors: throughout the script one must create smaller intentions drawing the viewer closer to the main intention. Writing novels Mr. Vale thought emotions where the main event - whether it be fear, laughter, compassion, hatred or empathy. This the arbiter against which every scene must be judged.

His debut novel, The 13th Apostle (pub. 1959) was reviewed favorably in the New York Times. The reviewer said in part "Mr. Vale is the only contemporary novelist of recent years, to my knowledge, who has made so ambitious an attempt to encompass in a single fabric every clue to modern man's devious retreat from engagement.

The novel immediately following, Chaos Below Heaven (pub. 1966), was a best seller also.

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