My rating parameter is not based on comparison to other books, but to how much I personally enjoyed this one, and what I got out of it. I read this entire book through in one sitting, staying up until 3am, with a smile on my face the whole time.

The author is making an argument for READABILITY. The bulk of that theme is taken up by technical details in formatting. The rest is how to tell a great story.

Basically Martin Flinn is telling you how to get your script into the right hands by making as few mistakes as possible in its readability. Many aspiring screewriters fail to appreciate that the producers, directors and actors they are hoping to impress will not even be aware of their script until it has passed through many sets of eyes first. The first readers are people who do nothing but read screenplays all day, so you don't want a bunch of technical mistakes getting in the way of your story.