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Story Guide To Screenwriting (Hardcover)

by Robert McKee (Author) "Imagine, in one global day, the pages of prose turned, plays per , films screened, the unending stream of television comedy and drama, twenty-four-hour print..." (more)

4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (108 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Hardcover: 480 pages
Publisher: Harper Entertainment; 1 edition (Nov 13 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060391685
ISBN-13: 978-0060391683
Product Dimensions: 23.9 x 15.5 x 3.8 cm
Shipping Weight: 794 g

Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (108 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #12,639 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in these categories:
#4 in Books > Reference > Writing > Play & Scriptwriting
#6 in Books > Entertainment > Movies > Screenwriting

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Product Description

From Amazon.com

Writing for the screen is quirky business. A writer must labor meticulously over his or her prose, yet very little of that prose is ever heard by filmgoers. The few words that do reach the audience, in the form of the characters' dialogue, are, according to Robert McKee, best left to last in the writing process. ("As Alfred Hitchcock once remarked, 'When the screenplay has been written and the dialogue has been added, we're ready to shoot.' ") In Story, McKee puts into book form what he has been teaching screenwriters for years in his seminar on story structure, which is considered by many to be a prerequisite to the film biz. (The long list of film and television projects that McKee's students have written, directed, or produced includes Air Force One, The Deer Hunter, E.R., A Fish Called Wanda, Forrest Gump, NYPD Blue, and Sleepless in Seattle.) Legions of writers flock to Hollywood in search of easy money, calculating the best way to get rich quick. This book is not for them. McKee is passionate about the art of screenwriting. "No one needs yet another recipe book on how to reheat Hollywood leftovers," he writes. "We need a rediscovery of the underlying tenets of our art, the guiding principles that liberate talent." Story is a true path to just such a rediscovery. In it, McKee offers so much sound advice, drawing from sources as wide ranging as Aristotle and Casablanca, Stanislavski and Chinatown, that it is impossible not to come away feeling immeasurably better equipped to write a screenplay and infinitely more inspired to write a brilliant one.--Jane Steinberg

From AudioFile

McKee, who reads his own book of advice for aspiring screenwriters, has given seminars based on this material. In an expansive, occasionally lecturing, tone the author addresses the principal ingredients of good screenwriting and amply illustrates his points with examples from classic films to modern ones, which is interesting. McKee sounds a bit lofty at times, and it's impossible to avoid the feeling that you're being warned about errors you're going to make anyway. However, McKee's advice is very apt and given in an interesting way: as though he is on a spot-lit stage delivering a well-polished presentation to a group of aspiring writers, among whom you are one. J.C.G. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
Imagine, in one global day, the pages of prose turned, plays per , films screened, the unending stream of television comedy and drama, twenty-four-hour print and broadcast news, bedtime tales told to children, barroom bragging, back-fence Internet gossip, humankind's insatiable appetite for stories. Read the first page

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	76% buy the item featured on this page: Story Guide To Screenwriting 4.6 out of 5 stars (108) CDN$ 27.69
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	6% buy Screenwriters Bible 4.6 out of 5 stars (41)
	4% buy Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting 3.6 out of 5 stars (51) CDN$ 13.87

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Customer Reviews

108 Reviews

5 star:		(87)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (108 customer reviews)

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22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars CHARLATAN MCKEE, Jul 2 2004

By	C. Hunter Coates "Book Addict" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I attended Roberth Mckee's the I've-Never-Written-A-Screenplay-In-My-Life-But-Here's-How-In-Three-Hours "workshop". We all sat back and watched the glory and splendor of a few well-lit scenes from Casblanca as McHack droned on and on about their cinematic significance. I found myself occassionally embarrassed at having to wipe the sleep drool from my face. (Luckily I was smart enough to sneak in and not pay $450 for it). The book was worse. The class reminded me more of a cinematography class back at ole USC film school than ANYTHING related to literary theory. I have had one screenplay optioned and directed a short which was at Sundance and gone through developement hell and worked with a good script consultant (Ann Zald - Schindler's List) on my recent script, etc., etc. I'm no Larry Gelbart, but I've been a working, represented writer in this town. McKee's text is more of a rambling, seething mass of amateur exploration than anything resembling the intricacies and time tested princibles of narrative theory and execution. You'll be more confused and stupid reading this text than any other from my estimation. He's a hack. Actually he's not up to the title of hack because he hasn't written anything. Therefore he's a charlatan. For more correct information in my humble opinion and experience, get your feet wet with: Seger's How To Make A Good Script Great, Lajos Egri's The Art of Dramatic Writing; Howard and Mabley's The Tools Of Screeenwriting, Iglesias' 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters; THEN get more serious with Michael Rabiger's Developing Story Ideas and Gerard Genette's Narrative Discourse Revisited. Of course even better than all that, read the few greats of all time (w/o Cliff Notes, or anybody else's interpratations/footnotes/opinions, etc.): ALL the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, ALL the plays of Shakespeare, ALL of Moliere's comedies, ALL of Tolstoy, Shaw, Twain, Ibsen, Dickens, Austen, Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller. I also found How To Read A Book by Mortimer Adler/ Charles Van Doren useful- originally published in 1940 (get the revised and updated edition). Great Writers are Great Readers- Great Comprehenders. I have a lot to learn and read from many geniuses. McKee is not one of them. "There's a sucker born every minute and some people love to be snookered." - PT Barnum

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars No good for real writers, Feb 12 2004

By A Customer

Ten years ago, I went to McKee's seminar--big mistake. Entertaining, unlike this boring book (so the man can't write--maybe that tells us anything?) but nothing new. The finale was a movie, Casablanca, which contradicted all his "teaching" (e.g. no flashbacks! first act no longer than twenty minutes! not too much talking!--Casablanca had a great flashback, a first act of plus 30 minutes, and almost nothing but dialogue--but for Moron McKee, it was an example... ???). Casablanca was written like a novel: based on characters, changing the screenplay everyday because of the characters, no-one knowing how it would end--until the end. That is real writing. Not: concocting plots, writing outlines and backstories before writing scenes and dialogue; putting your 'inciting incident' in the first ten minutes, and all those silly rules. This is all formula and no wisdom, coming from a would-be rehashing Aristotle and Egri. And then of course there's the fact that the first McKee screenplay(successful--if any) is still to be seen. Those who can, etc.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars INTELLECTUAL BS!, Aug 16 1999

By A Customer

I am a graduate of the USC film school and I thought I would really benefit for reading this book. But I was sooooooo disappointed. It's so intellectual that I could hardly get through the first chapter. I struggled and struggled, and finally gave up. Words, words, pompous words. Let's get real here!! Other books are much better: Syd Field's Problem Solver, (number one,) Linda Segar are more readable. Don't waste your time!

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A Balanced Review
Knowing story is like knowing life.

Everything he writes are also fundamentals of how the universe works. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Justin Achneepineskum

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for writers of any genre
I've read this book three times now, once for each of my own books, and it's been an inspiration every time. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Daniel Edward Craig

5.0 out of 5 stars The real thing . . .
I have now ploughed through seven different books on screenwriting. Robert McKee's "Story" distinguishes itself as the best in one significant way: It provides real... Read more

Published on Jul 10 2004 by stephen3984

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book on Writing Ever
Not an exaggeration at all. I've never read a better book on writing (and not just screenwriting either). This book transcends all forms of literature. Absolutely amazing.

Published on Jun 14 2004 by Boyd Neign