Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting
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- Create Date：2021-06-11 09:54:03
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Robert McKee
- ISBN：0413715604
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Summary
Story provides insight and inspiration for screen and television writers， novelists， playwrights， journalists - anyone with a story to tell。
'In difficult periods of writing， particularly with structure， I often turn to Robert McKee's wonderful book， Story， for guidance。' -- Dominic Dunne， novelist of Another City， Not My Own， The Two Mrs Grenvilles。
'。。。stimulating， innovative， refreshingly practical。' -- Lawrence Kasdan， screenwriter/director of The Accidental Tourist， The Big Chill， Body Heat， The Empire Strikes Back
'McKee is the arch defender of story; his book is a revelation。' -- Griffin Dunne， screenwriter/director/producer of After Hours， Addicted To Love， Running On Empty， Chilly Scenes Of Winter
'An amazingly important course。' -- John Cleese
'Since I first attended Robert McKee's course， I have sold four screenplays and two novels。 I could not have done so without the wisdom and inspiration he provided。' -- Tim Willocks， novelist/screenwriter of Bad City Blues， Green River Rising， Swept From The Sea
'In difficult periods of writing， particularly with structure， I often turn to Robert McKee's wonderful book， Story， for guidance。' -- Dominic Dunne， novelist of Another City， Not My Own， The Two Mrs Grenvilles。
'。。。stimulating， innovative， refreshingly practical。' -- Lawrence Kasdan， screenwriter/director of The Accidental Tourist， The Big Chill， Body Heat， The Empire Strikes Back
'McKee is the arch defender of story; his book is a revelation。' -- Griffin Dunne， screenwriter/director/producer of After Hours， Addicted To Love， Running On Empty， Chilly Scenes Of Winter
'An amazingly important course。' -- John Cleese
'Since I first attended Robert McKee's course， I have sold four screenplays and two novels。 I could not have done so without the wisdom and inspiration he provided。' -- Tim Willocks， novelist/screenwriter of Bad City Blues， Green River Rising， Swept From The Sea
Reviews
Marilyn Jess
，
Screenplay WritingI wanted to know what it took to write a good screenplay。 Turns out， the process is more complex than I thought。 Story is considered a classic in this topic。 Now I understand that if the screenplay isn’t written well or compellingly， it won’t deliver its message or hold the audience’s attention。 This book explains why most screenplays don’t work so well。 Will save me a lot of frustrating viewing time。
jennet wheatstonelllsl
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Kz
Joshua Wilson
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If some of y’all knew about this book before and didn’t tell me about it I’m never talking to you again。
Andrew
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As mentioned in Gametek。 As mentioned in Gametek。 。。。more
Jose
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Ensalza abundantes autores de cualquier país excepto hispanoamericanos。 Para McKee， la literatura hispanoamericana o no ha existido jamás o es absolutamente intrascendente。Sus aportaciones para guiones o escritura en general están muy sesgadas y no son en absoluto objetivas。
Tashrika
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I don't agree with all of it， but it has good sentences to help you check in with yourself while writing。 I don't agree with all of it， but it has good sentences to help you check in with yourself while writing。 。。。more
Anita Rodgers
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Although "Story" was written 24 years ago， it's as relevant today as it was when first published。 McKee is a master at craft and doles out non-stop pearls of wisdom and technique， tips and tricks of the writer who wants to be the best storyteller he or she can be。Written specifically for screenwriters， much of the information and advice offered in Story is applicable to any form of writing and any writer would benefit from reading and studying this book。In my opinion， Story， should be one of any Although "Story" was written 24 years ago， it's as relevant today as it was when first published。 McKee is a master at craft and doles out non-stop pearls of wisdom and technique， tips and tricks of the writer who wants to be the best storyteller he or she can be。Written specifically for screenwriters， much of the information and advice offered in Story is applicable to any form of writing and any writer would benefit from reading and studying this book。In my opinion， Story， should be one of any writer's go-to references on craft。 。。。more
Peter Maurer
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A pretty good book at showing you some of the gears of what makes stories work。
Daniel Aguilar
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Amazing， I feel better than I've ever felt before about what I wanna do because this book provided great knowledge， an amazing insight into screenwriting， and a lot of examples to analyze if I'm ever dedicated enough to search for。 Amazing， I feel better than I've ever felt before about what I wanna do because this book provided great knowledge， an amazing insight into screenwriting， and a lot of examples to analyze if I'm ever dedicated enough to search for。 。。。more
Poetaprecaria
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Es la poética de Aristóteles aplicada a la narrativa cinematográfica。 Buen manual para lanzarse a la escritura de guión。
Katie Clark
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I’ll start by saying that there is plenty of good knowledge and insight to take away from this book on crafting story but I did not enjoy reading this and wouldn’t recommend。 It is a slog to get through。 If you do choose to read this book prepare yourself for a heavy dose of narcissism and some highly questionable taste; the main example of good storytelling referred to repeatedly throughout centred on a revelation of incest。。。 The obsession with this and some of the other examples chosen made m I’ll start by saying that there is plenty of good knowledge and insight to take away from this book on crafting story but I did not enjoy reading this and wouldn’t recommend。 It is a slog to get through。 If you do choose to read this book prepare yourself for a heavy dose of narcissism and some highly questionable taste; the main example of good storytelling referred to repeatedly throughout centred on a revelation of incest。。。 The obsession with this and some of the other examples chosen made me deeply uncomfortable。 There were also mistakes and misquotes （for Star Wars of all things！） which given how highly recommended this book is was just strange。 In summary， plenty to gain from extracts of this book which are conveniently in bold font but the reading experience is unpleasant。 。。。more
Arnaldo Neto
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Simplesmente a Bíblia do Storytelling。Obrigatório para qualquer roteirista， escritor ou amante de boas estórias。
Martin
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Brilliant。
George Bartlett
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“God help you if you use voice-over in your work， my friends。 God help you。" - Robert McKee， Adaptation （2002） “God help you if you use voice-over in your work， my friends。 God help you。" - Robert McKee， Adaptation （2002） 。。。more
A。H。 Kim
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Haiku review:Pantsers， read this bookSmart advice for screenwritersWorks for novels too
Laurence
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I read this book as an aspiring writer （without the "screen" prefix） and therefore skipped a good chunk of it。 The nuggets that I did find however were immensely useful and a real breath of fresh air compared to the usual "cut the adverbs" and "give your protagonist a flaw" you find in books on writing。 Some of McKee's personal opinions could have been left out because they felt more like poorly disguised rants rather than actual teachings。 But if you manage to overlook those and make a selectio I read this book as an aspiring writer （without the "screen" prefix） and therefore skipped a good chunk of it。 The nuggets that I did find however were immensely useful and a real breath of fresh air compared to the usual "cut the adverbs" and "give your protagonist a flaw" you find in books on writing。 Some of McKee's personal opinions could have been left out because they felt more like poorly disguised rants rather than actual teachings。 But if you manage to overlook those and make a selection for yourself from his many pieces of advice， you're golden。 。。。more
Santiago Guerra Arrangóiz
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If you want to be a screenwriter， this book is essential reading。It will walk you through， step by step， through the basics of storytelling and character with excruciating detail。Being a person very interested in this craft， this book was very helpful to me， with vivid examples of every topic and many diagrams that I’ll for sure scribble later in my notes for future projects。The downside， however， is that it will spoil the hell out of some movies to explain its points of view and that， of course If you want to be a screenwriter， this book is essential reading。It will walk you through， step by step， through the basics of storytelling and character with excruciating detail。Being a person very interested in this craft， this book was very helpful to me， with vivid examples of every topic and many diagrams that I’ll for sure scribble later in my notes for future projects。The downside， however， is that it will spoil the hell out of some movies to explain its points of view and that， of course， it doesn’t talk about more recent films。 Also， it has a methodical approach， as many of this books do， that are understandable to disagree on。 But overall， a very interesting， explanatory read for every person who is a film buff or wants to become a screenwriter！ 。。。more
Lorraine McCann
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Very much required reading if you're any kind of scriptwriter， and yet you do wonder why。 McKee， basically， is obsessed with Chinatown （the film）。 Weird。 Having said that， this is a good place to learn about structure via the medium of mid-20th century American cinema。 Very much required reading if you're any kind of scriptwriter， and yet you do wonder why。 McKee， basically， is obsessed with Chinatown （the film）。 Weird。 Having said that， this is a good place to learn about structure via the medium of mid-20th century American cinema。 。。。more
Isabella Vidal
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A must-read。 Read it before anything else。 Right now。
Jed Richardson
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I don't know。Don't think I got a lot out of this， other than the feeling like I should probably watch Chinatown and Kramer Vs Kramer finally。 I don't know。Don't think I got a lot out of this， other than the feeling like I should probably watch Chinatown and Kramer Vs Kramer finally。 。。。more
Bernie Anderson
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Loved this book so much。 I did the audio book。 And am now getting an analog version because it's that important。 I'm not a screenwriter -- and have no intention of becoming one -- but I feel that studying this book will help us tell better stories， no matter what the medium。 Loved this book so much。 I did the audio book。 And am now getting an analog version because it's that important。 I'm not a screenwriter -- and have no intention of becoming one -- but I feel that studying this book will help us tell better stories， no matter what the medium。 。。。more
Ietrio
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15 Mars:I have seen so many people referencing this book as an important book I decided to make an effort and go through all of it。 From the first page McKee marks himself as an incompetent bureaucrat with an overinflated ego， the sort that makes undecided people follow him。 Nearly every page has some idiotic observation about the good old times。 Overall the signal to noise ratio is almost zero and page after page the text flows McKee telling the reader what they should NOT do。 And when the old 15 Mars:I have seen so many people referencing this book as an important book I decided to make an effort and go through all of it。 From the first page McKee marks himself as an incompetent bureaucrat with an overinflated ego， the sort that makes undecided people follow him。 Nearly every page has some idiotic observation about the good old times。 Overall the signal to noise ratio is almost zero and page after page the text flows McKee telling the reader what they should NOT do。 And when the old flatulence does bring some advice， the quality is low meme style:> Anxious， inexperienced writers obey rules。 Rebellious， unschooled writers break rules。 Artists master the form。So it's easier how this diarrhea might seem as useful。 See， some inexperienced writers might not do that， but certainly the flatulence， in his mighty experience， knows that inexperienced writers who are also anxious do that。Part of the confusion is that people who seem to review this volume positively are much too used with the governmental school system and are happy not questioning anything。 Hence， "obey rules" means something vague。 A minimal critical approach would ask what rules， because so far McKee has only listed dumb obedience to whatever grammar guide as the only law。 To give an example: Stephen King also "obeys rules"。 On a more advanced level， breaking rules is in itself "obey rules"， the rule of breaking other rules。 Now 'artists'， precisely in this context， is a hysterical term void of any rational meaning。 It simply means whomever McKee might like this morning。 As for the form， it also means nothing。 Or it means anything as each reader will have a slightly different take。Or:> Story is about the realities， not the mysteries of writing。The so called "mysteries of writing"， whatever they might mean， as McKee doesn't manifest the brain power to define his voo-doo， are themselves realities for the person experiencing them。 Now， "the realities" might mean just another meaningless trick to pose as deep。Sometimes the guy's thought flatulence is hilarious:> Today's would-be writers rush to the typewriter without first learning their craft。So I assume "artists" rush to their MacBooks。Or:> It's surprisingly rare， in fact， to find a beautifully crafted story with bad dialogue or dull description。Meaning it can be up to 75% which is surprisingly rare compared to 100%。21 Mars:At a certain point I just started marking only the more moronic remarks of the guy。> In an ideal world art and politics would never touch。Yea。 Right。 All stories are made to push an agenda， even if that agenda might be lost with the passing of the years。 And the clown continues:> In reality they can't keep their hands off each other。 So as in all things， politics lurks inside the story triangle: the politics of taste， the politics of festivals and awards， and， most important， the politics of artistic versus commercial success。How about direct intervention of the government in the film production？ From restricting the subjects， to making State owned studios， to giving subventions or taking less in taxes。How about the private beliefs of the producers？ Or the writers？ Himself McKee， in all the crap and farts， gives only three concrete references to technique: Archer， Rowe， and Lawson。 And they all happen to be associated with Communism and had a quite definite Collectivist stance。 So much for separating politics from writing， his own choices are just from one side of the political spectrum， apparently *the only* possible choice。> The vast majority of human beings cannot endorse the inconsistent realities of Antiplot， the internalized passivity of Miniplot， and the static circularity of Nonplot as metaphors for life as they live it。This is a phrase good for a Postmodernist text generator。 Compare this crap with the clarity of a YouTube clip with Tarantino talking about film making。> This may be the most demanding time in history to be a writer。 Compare the story-saturated audience of today to that of centuries past。 How many times a year did educated Victorians go to the theatre？How many times in a week would eat the average Victorian writer？ Just because Dickens had a nice home， doesn't mean the others were having the same life。 Worse: the kings in those days were living literally shittier lives and with average room temperatures that would amount to a death wish for the 21st century Western writer。His classifications are probably copied from somebody else。 But it's wrong， as the ”modern epic” as in his version> the individual vs the stateis more common in the previously mentioned separate category of ”western”。> Compare that flat pattern to James Bond。 Three seems to be the limit on Rambos， but there have been nearly twenty Bond films。 Bond goes on and on because。。。Not only the guy is an ignorant， he would throw you back a lot simply to fit his ego。 On the mindless surface， sure， the statement is true。 Now， go only a little bit below the surface and compare the money that went in the Bond series compared with the Rambo series。 Compare the number of writers that were involved in one way or another with the production of one series vs the other。By this imbecile measure， the Fast and the Furious is an absolute masterpiece giving the number of films。 Yet it is not。 It is simply part of a larger trend of passing traits commonly associated by simpletons like McKee with TV into feature films and traits of the feature films into TV。 By this measure， the Bond series was anticipating the later trends。> 。。。revelation of a deep character that contradicts characterization。Against the simple observation of a very simple mind。 Like Batman， Bond is a different character each movie。 And a different actor most of the time。 Simply because they all share some of the back story doesn't make bond the same character the way Harry Potter is over 8 movies。> The function of character is to bring to the story the qualities of characterization necessary to convincingly act out choices。Lajos Egri， Kurt Vonnegut Jr。， Stephen King can express what this fraud can't even understand。 > Structure and character are interlocked。Not really。 A stereotype promoted by people who don't read much。 Classical Russian writers get nothing out of structure， but most consumers are impressed by the characters。 Most early 20th century crime novelists employ flat stock characters， yet the structure can be amazing。> A revered Hollywood axiom warns。。。The guy is chock full of trivia。 Only he does not understand much。 Like the joke with the tiger and the running shoes， he only needs to know a little more than the victim of his scam。**The resolution was that a certain pile of books I would read from cover to cover。 This is the first volume。 I'm about a fourth in and it's turning out to be an exercise in pain。 So many pages and NOT ONE SINGLE statement that would help。** 。。。more
Irina Rekhviashvili
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Убедилась， что я не сценарист - наш чукча， конечно， читатель。 Но узнать профессиональную кухню было невероятно интересно。 И увидеть， как действует хороший сценарий на зрителя， где эти крючки， которыми， помимо прочих， меня много лет так крепко держит кино。 Отдельная тщеславная радость - я смотрела 90% фильмов， на которые must watch ссылается автор。
Giulia S。
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Un bel viaggio nel cinema e nella scrittura。Tanti suggerimenti， spunti e riflessioni che ti aprono un mondo。
Dilbag Singh
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One of the best book to learn and wright a screenplay。 A must read
Mr O'Neil
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Shook me up。
Ahmet F。
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Güzel olur diye özellikle PLATO yayınını （2。Baskı Aralık 2007） aldım ama maalesef çevirisi hiç iyi değildi。 （Eisenstein， Einstein olarak çevirilmiş， üç kez。 Yazarların/editörlerin kötü çevirinin yanında konuyla alakalarını da bu örnekten tahmin edebilirsiniz。 İyi senaryonun göreceliğine kötü bir kelime şakasıyla gönderme yapılmış sanırım。） Umarım sonraki baskılarda düzeltilmiştir。 Onun dışında kitap， konuyla ilgili başyapıt niteliğinde。 Kesinlikle okunması ve en küçük parçasına kadar sindirilmes Güzel olur diye özellikle PLATO yayınını （2。Baskı Aralık 2007） aldım ama maalesef çevirisi hiç iyi değildi。 （Eisenstein， Einstein olarak çevirilmiş， üç kez。 Yazarların/editörlerin kötü çevirinin yanında konuyla alakalarını da bu örnekten tahmin edebilirsiniz。 İyi senaryonun göreceliğine kötü bir kelime şakasıyla gönderme yapılmış sanırım。） Umarım sonraki baskılarda düzeltilmiştir。 Onun dışında kitap， konuyla ilgili başyapıt niteliğinde。 Kesinlikle okunması ve en küçük parçasına kadar sindirilmesi gereken bir başucu， ders kitabı。 İyi okumalar。 :） 。。。more
Amy
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I found this book very helpful in truly understanding how to move things forward in multiple mediums。 It had made me more strategic and tactful in everything I write。 I highly recommend it。
JohnnyxH
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It took me a long time to finish it。 It was。。。a lot of text。 It's basically a textbook。 But it had a lot of great insight and tips on how to make your writing more engaging。 It took me a long time to finish it。 It was。。。a lot of text。 It's basically a textbook。 But it had a lot of great insight and tips on how to make your writing more engaging。 。。。more
Patrick
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