Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting

Hannah Greendale

Rating: really liked it
Click here to watch a video review of this book on my channel, From Beginning to Bookend.



A superb book that illuminates the purpose of writing stories and the most effective approach to penning tales that transcend the ordinary.

A.J.

Rating: really liked it
I think this is the first time where I read a book solely based off a scene in a movie. The scene can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VseQe...

Lines like, "You cannot have a protagonist without desire! It doesn't make sense! ANY. F****NG. SENSE!" and "WHY THE F*** WOULD YOU WASTE MY TWO PRECIOUS HOURS WITH YOUR MOVIE? I DON'T HAVE ANY USE FOR IT! ANY. BLOODY. USE FOR IT!" more or less had me drooling. For those of you who don't know anything about Robert McKee, he's the writing teacher you wished you had all those years when you were sitting around listening to some other flaccid asshole mumble nonsense about Freudian tropes and postmodern deconstructionism when all you wanted to know was why the hell you were reading a thirty-page story about a guy counting raindrops on a window.

Successful playwrights, screenwriters, and novelists across the globe have made him a fascinating staple of the fiction community. His premise is pretty simple: storytelling has gone to hell for a number of reasons, but one of them is that we no longer teach the fundamentals of story construction. We learn about books from the outside in, never the inside out. There's a reason works like Hamlet, Casablanca, and Star Wars all have an endearing quality. They all have something in common. And that something is story.

But at risk of sounding like a cultist, I'll forego summarizing his whole approach and simply mention a few things. If you're looking for the answer to the question of What makes good writing, keep looking, because it isn't here. McKee doesn't claim he can polish a turd into Dune, but he can provide you with a very practical way to examine your own work, and a way to think about your story that puts things in perspective. If you happen to be in the editing stages of a project and just can't seem to figure out what's missing, you might find some useful tools here to see your way through.

Whether or not you buy into McKee's 'system,' you can't argue his passion. This is a book filled to the brim with insight, heart, and common sense. McKee talks Story from the heights of Shakespeare to the grit of Reservoir Dogs, discussing what works for every form of storytelling, why it works that way, and how a prospective writing talent can tap into forms, not formulas, that have worked for centuries. And he loves it all, what's more.

I can't claim any sort of midnight conversion. I haven't given my heart to McKee. But I sure as hell would shake his hand and say, Thank you, sir, for being one of few people who talks about the single, unarguable, undeniable, Lord-on-high most important part of writing: telling a story. A good one.

A very useful book. If you give a hoot about storytelling, I'd suggest you give it a glance.

Josh

Rating: really liked it
YES! It took me six months, but I finally, finished this bitch.

The reason it took me six months was that Story is incredibly dense, and in the best possible way. If you want to understand what makes for a good story, and how and why they work, this is the book to read. But you'll need to read it slow because this is the kind of dense where you'll want to stop and think about what you just read after every few pages to make sure it really sinks in.

Though oriented primarily towards screenwriting, the material is universal enough to address other storytelling mediums as well.

In fact, I actually think it covers stagewriting more effectively than a lot of other books I've read about writing for the stage. Or maybe that's just because Mr. McKee says all the same things I said back to my professors when they critiqued my plays in stupid ways.

But whateva. Read it.

Spencer Orey

Rating: really liked it
Excellent. Aimed at aspiring screenwriters but with a ton for everyone else too. It makes a strong argument about an approach to writing that's really clear and seems possible. There's a slightly dated tone that comes across as kind of art bro'y, but if you can get past that there's some gold here.

It's also the rare writing book where I learned something major in every chapter.

I almost wish there was a companion volume of other writers talking about this book. Seems like it warrants some big discussions.

Trevor

Rating: really liked it
In a past life I did a professional writing degree for my undergraduate BA – half of which was in script writing. I wish we had been taught the stuff that is contained in this book. This is such a good book it is hard to praise it too highly. The advice is clear and all of it good. From avoiding adverbs and adjectives in your treatment to the psychology of interesting characters this book has many very important things to say to anyone thinking about writing a screenplay (or anything else, if you ask me).

The best of this is a quote from Hitchcock about his finishing writing the script for a film and then putting in the dialogue. Hitchcock was fairly obsessed with this idea, saying somewhere that a good film is one where the sound could be turned off and you would still know what the film was about. Film is about images. Perhaps this is going a little too far (although, too far is hardly far enough sometimes). This book is at its best when it explains how scenes need to have beats and that these beats need to be the natural beats of emotion between characters in conflict and in change. He explains this with reference to a number of films (including one of my all time favourite films, China Town). He also uses Kramer Vs Kramer (one of the least impressive films I’ve ever seen) discussing the French toast scene (sort of slapstick masquerading as drama) and even the ‘Use the force, Luke’ scene from Star Wars. Beats is a really interesting way to think about drama and I will use this stuff when teaching.

There is also wonderful stuff about writing films from the inside out – that is, get the story right before you get the scenes or dialogue right. His point being that those ‘great scenes’ you have written will stop you being able to write a great film. Why? Because great films are so much more than great scenes. A great film is a whole and all of it works to build that whole. This guy knows his Hegel (even talks about the negation of the negation at one point, and qualitative and quantitative change). Change is the key here, change that leads to completeness. I know that is sounding vague, but his point is that you should know the end of your film before you start writing and then write the film to get to the end. Everything in the film should lead, of necessity, to that end – but the paradox is that the end should also come as a surprise.

He suggests you do this by focusing on two fantastic questions. The first is, what is the worst of all possible things that could happen to my central character – and yet at the same time how could this end up being the best thing that could have happened to them? And the second is, what is the best thing my character could hope for and then, when achieved, how could that end up being the worst of all possible things?

The other fantastic advice he offers is to not have any ‘bad guys’ in your films. Like every character in Shakespeare (except possibly Iago) every character must be real – must make decisions based on what is real to them and in their own best interests. As he says, you have to like all of your characters. By liking them you allow them to have wants and needs and if you drive the action of the film by expressions of these characters’ wants and needs – how could you possibly go wrong?

He also has a wonderful metaphor of a film as solar system - based on a central star and other characters being like planets around the star and minor characters revolving around the planets like moons.

But the best advice is – if you can say it without dialogue, then do. This is actually great advice for any kind of writing. It is the ‘show, don’t tell’ advice with some substance added to it. Because sometimes you can’t show – sometimes you do need to use dialogue – but you never need to ‘just tell’, there is always a better way.

This is a text well worth reading, not just if you think you have a film in you, but also if you want to enjoy film more or you just want to write better in general. The advice that 90% of what you write is written to be thrown away is the best advice on writing you are ever likely to read.

K.M. Weiland

Rating: really liked it
I can't believe it's taken me so long to read this book. I expected more of the same: structure, story elements, character tips. And those are certainly there. But Story actually deserves its tremendously broad title, because that's exactly what this book is: a discussion of *story.* It's theory and practicality all wrapped up into one module. McKee presents ideas I've never seen elsewhere, backed up by solid example after solid example and all in an extremely engaging and absorbing way. This is deep stuff, but McKee makes it thrilling.

Ksenia Anske

Rating: really liked it
This is not a book. This is like a school in a book. A master's degree. The amount of notes I took got out of hand, so I decided to just outright buy it, to have it handy. The best parts are the scene analysis chapters, which are pretty much the same for novel writing and screenwriting. Seeing a scene broken down into manageable bits has made it clear for me how to rewrite my scenes to make them better. Because if I can't write excellent scenes, I can't write an excellent book, period. So glad I have revisited this book. It was like reading a guide to self-critique that doesn't sound like a guide but rather like a friend. And in the end it moved me to tears—the truth of it was overwhelming.

Graeme Rodaughan

Rating: really liked it
Putting this re-read aside - other priorities - still an excellent book.

This is the most useful book in my writing library. I literally read and reread this book until I had absorbed it's messages into the marrow of my bones.

An endlessly valuable resource that informs the basic structures both large and small of the stories that I write.

Worth reading even if you have no ambition to write for the insights that it will give you into the nature of story and narrative.

Written to support the development of screenplays, but also completely adaptable to the Novel.

Jerilyn Marler

Rating: really liked it
As a freelance editor of any type of writing, I am always searching for insight, wisdom, guidance, illumination about the many forms of writing that cross my desk. I'd heard about McKee's "Story" but shied away because screenwriting is so far removed from my usual work. Or so I thought. I bought the digital version on a whim thinking that it might prove useful someday as a reference book. I was immediately hooked and read it straight through. Then I went back and highlighted many passages for future pondering.

It's densely written. You won't find this one tagged "light reading." Your commitment will be highly rewarded.

McKee sets your expectations with these section heads in the Introduction. "Story is about principles, not rules." "Story is about eternal, universal forms, not formulas." "Story is about archetypes, not stereotypes." "Story is about thoroughness, not shortcuts." "Story is about the realities, not the mysteries of writing." "Story is about mastering the art, not second-guessing the marketplace." "Story is about respect, not disdain, for the audience." "Story is about originality, not duplication." All true. These tenants apply to screenwriting, novels, non-fiction, poetry, short stories. McKee explains it all with the passion of a true believer who is also an expert..

I reveled in his diverse examples of movies that got it right and added some to my "gotta see" list. I was fascinated by the line-by-line analysis of a pivotal scene from Chinatown. I watch movies differently and enjoy my heightened awareness of why something is working. Or not. I'm a better writer and a more discerning reader because of this book.

I bought it thinking that it could be a useful reference for screenwriting specifically. I now know it is a valuable reference for writing anything.

Mathew Walls

Rating: really liked it
Holy shit, where to even start with this? It's bad in so many ways. The author comes across as a pompous, arrogant, narcissist who knows practically nothing and is even worse at communicating it. How is this guy so highly regarded? I feel dumber for having read this.

The actual content of this book, what little of it there is, is the most basic advice on writing mixed with the author's opinions on what makes a good movie (by which he clearly means what he personally likes, not what will make a popular or successful film), illustrations that actually make the text harder to understand, arbitrary classifications invented by the author, bizarre analogies, and endless examples of half-remembered films. How do you call yourself an expert on script writing and think the famous line is from Star Wars is "Go with the Force, go with the Force"?

McKee doesn't understand what words mean, he doesn't know what irony is, he doesn't understand metaphors, and he doesn't fact check anything. I mean, how difficult would it have been to get hold of a copy of Star Wars and see if you got the line right? Or maybe ask someone who speaks Chinese if it's true that the word for "crisis" is a combination of "danger" and "opportunity"? (It isn't)

All you'll learn from this book is which movies McKee likes, and I'll save you the time; it's Kramer vs. Kramer, Chinatown and Casablanca. There are pages and pages of transcripts and (bad, surface-level) analysis of films, and you'd think an expert on the medium could manage to find fresh examples each time, but in fact those three movies come up so often you'll feel like you've seen them just by reading this.

Oh, and he hates modern film and the modern world in general. Or rather, his warped idea of what the modern world is. "The art of story is in decay" he says; "contemporary "auteurs" cannot tell story with the power of the previous generation"; "more and more ours has become an age of moral and ethical cynicism, relativism, and subjectivism"; "the family disintegrates and sexual antagonisms rise". Children these days "[tyrannise their] parents", and whereas in the good old days families "[dressed] for dinner at a certain hour", now they "[feed] from an open refrigerator".

But it's not just film and the modern world he doesn't understand, it's everything: emotions; sex; cars; comics; families; music. If he talks about something you can guarantee he's going to say something bizarre about it. It's like he's an alien or a robot trying (very badly) to blend in with humanity. And at this point I've just got to quote some of the weird stuff he wrote.

'Love relationships are political. An old Gypsy expression goes: "He who confesses first loses." The first person to say "I love you" has lost because the other, upon hearing it, immediately smiles a knowing smile, realizing that he's the one loved, so he now controls the relationship.' - p 182.

The understanding of how we create the audience's emotional experience begins with the realization that there are only two emotions-pleasure and pain. - p 243.

You escape into your car, snap on the radio, and get in the proper lane according to the music. If classical, you hug the right; if pop, down the middle of the road; if rock, head left. - p 290.

It's just like sex. Masters of the bedroom arts pace their love-making. They begin by taking each other to a state of delicious tension short of-and we use the same word in both cases-climax, then tell a joke and shift positions before building each other to an even higher tension short of climax; then have a sandwich, watch TV, and gather energy to then reach greater and greater intensity, making love in cycles of rising tension until they finally climax simultaneously and the earth moves and they see colors. - p 291.

They saturate the screen with lush photography and lavish production values, then tie images together with a voice droning on the soundtrack, turning the cinema into what was once known as Classic Comic Books. Many of us were first exposed to the works of major writers by reading Classic Comics, novels in cartoon images with captions that told the story. That's fine for children, but it's not cinema. - p 344.

Murder Mysteries are like board games, cool entertainments for the mind. -p 351.

Jesus Christ, can you imagine paying to hear this guy's opinions on anything? I'm really glad I managed to find a free copy of this book, because I'd feel robbed if I'd paid as much as 5 cents for it.

David Rubenstein

Rating: really liked it
I didn't read this book in order to be a good screenwriter. In fact, I have no ambition to write stories for film. Instead, as a film composer, I wanted to improve my understanding of how a story works. I wanted to learn about the arc of a good story, how scenes are constructed, and how characters work in a story. Most important, I wanted to learn how to distinguish a good story from a mediocre one, so that I could choose which films I would enjoy working on.

I was definitely not disappointed. This is a fantastic book about how good stories are written, how good films are made. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand how films work. There are three modern forms of storytelling; theater, film, and the novel. A story might work well with one of these forms, but probably not all three. Each of these forms has a different point of view, and tells a story in a different way. When we say "the book was better than the movie" (or vice versa), there is a good reason for that. It's not because the filmmaker is less talented than the novelist. It is because what works in a novel is much more difficult to communicate in a movie.

People argue which is more important, plot or character. Robert McKee claims that this is a silly question because they are both the same! But character is not the same as characterization. It makes no sense to say that a story is character-driven. That is because character IS the story. On the other hand, characterization is a necessary aspect what makes the plot believable.

I liked McKee's first commandment for all temporal art: "Thou shalt save the best for last." This makes sense; you want the audience to get up at the end of a story, enthused about what he/she has just experienced.

McKee talks a lot about character. A character must be empathetic. This means that a spectator must be able to feel the way a character feels. But this does not mean that a character should be sympathetic. For example, we should not need to feel sorry for a murderer.

McKee also writes about symbolism in a movie. Symbolism--even lots of it--can be present in a movie. But--and this is a biggie--symbolism should not be readily apparent; it should be subliminal.

What moves an audience? It is a reversal in values. It is a true change in character, especially a revelation.

Should a film have voice-over narration? The answer to this really surprised me. If a story is well-told without any narration--then it should have voice-over narration, as it serves as counterpoint.

The book has plenty of examples from well-known movies. Since the book was published in 1997, it does not include examples from very recent movies--but this doesn't matter, as he takes his examples from movies that movie-lovers should watch!

Mike

Rating: really liked it
McKee may be a great screenwriter, but I certainly hope his classes are less pompous and verbose than this book is. It's poorly edited, with too much preaching, and long lists of movie titles cited as examples of a particular point. Since the style is to use ALL QUOTES for titles, when he goes on for a third of a page it just gets annoying.
In his acknowledgements, he thanks someone for their omnivorous will to omit needless words - his wife. Obviously she was too close to it all to tell him to just shut up, then start slashing with her red pen.
That said, there are some rare blooms in there, but it's just too much work to wade through the swamp to find them. I managed to make it to page 100, then gave up. I'll put this on my list of books to be tried again later - maybe when I'm in a more patient mood.
Right now have too many books, and too little time to waste it on ones that can't hold me.

Lena

Rating: really liked it
Robert McKee is the famous Hollywood screenwriting teacher gently poked fun at in the movie "Adaptation." Though that film could leave one with the impression that McKee teaches formula storytelling, this book is about how good stories transcend formula to become great art.

McKee has a masterful understanding of the fundamentals of story itself, and he writes with clarity about the basic story tools every writer must develop in order to move beyond cliche and into something original. Using examples from famous films, McKee educates us as to why some stories grip us to our toes while others leave us yawning within the first few minutes. Though written with the screenwriter in mind, this book contains excellent specific and practical guidance on how to craft compelling stories that would be of value to anyone who works in the narrative arts.

Paul

Rating: really liked it
If you're a writer of drama or fiction, you need to master these rules before you consider breaking them.

I knew from an early age that I wanted to write stories, but it wasn't till I was about 17 that I learned that there are actual methods, principles, and techniques involved in storytelling, when I received as a gift a copy of The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri. Wow! What a revelation! I read it greedily.

Flash-forward to 1990. I was 31 and now had my own TV series, The Odyssey, in development with the CBC in Canada. My writing partner Warren Easton and I were under pressure to come up with a pilot script and 12 more stories to flesh out a possible first season of the show. We'd bought a copy of The Golden Fleece by Robert Graves and The Complete Fairy Tales of Brothers Grimm, Volume 1 to search for story ideas for our mythologically based fantasy series, but were not really finding stories that would fill our action-packed half hours. One of the CBC executives offered to let me have a photocopy of a set of notes from McKee's workshop, taken by a fellow participant. I'd heard of McKee and so I gratefully accepted them.

Back home I started reading, and was immediately electrified. (The notes themselves were excellent, typed by this person on a laptop and capturing most of what McKee said.) Here was everything I wanted and needed to know: genre, character, structure, controlling idea, protagonist, acts, turning points, and much, much else. McKee came across as definite and authoritative. Here was no "well, some people say this, but on the other hand other people say this other thing...." As far as McKee is concerned, the principles of sound story design have long since been established; they are simply not widely known, and he sees his task as remedying that deficit as much as he can.

Years later I saw a copy of McKee's book in a store and snapped it up. It is well read and well highlighted. When I read Poetics I realized that McKee's work is essentially applied Aristotle. Aristotle regarded plot--story--as the most important element in contributing to the effects of the most powerful form of poetry at that time: tragic drama. He analyzed what makes for an effective story, and McKee has applied that analysis to the most powerful form of storytelling in our own time: motion pictures.

But while the book is aimed at screenwriters, the principles apply to all forms of storytelling, including prose fiction. I continue to study this book and keep striving to apply its principles. As observed by the late philosopher Mortimer J. Adler, it is knowledge of principles that transforms a knack into an art. This book provides such knowledge. As far as I'm concerned, if you're serious about telling stories, in whatever medium, you'll get much better results, much faster, if you get this book and apply its principles. This knowledge is what will separate you from the army of dilettantes.

Steven

Rating: really liked it
This is the text that went along with his three-day seminar that I attended. Although it is primarily focused on the screenplay, it is equally suitable for a novel, and there were quite a few novelists in attendance at the seminar. Although the focus is on traditional story structure—something McKee believes has become a lost art—his emphasis is so heavily on character, and writing from the inside out, that if well executed, a reader/viewer would not be consciously aware of the story's structure. The book is chock full of great techniques for ensuring that a well-told tale is created that evolves entirely out of character. The book is storehouse of stimulating ideas and techniques. His seminar was amazing. He's hardnosed about quality, and very inspirational. I left there wanting to write my ass off and armed with techniques to solve writing problems that had been driving me crazy.