Story

A great book.

This book is a confidence builder. It's about as complete a text as possible on what it means to be a writer, and what demands that makes of the individual. There's no doubting the author's credentials, he is one of the heavyweights of Hollywood. He pulls no punches in pointing out the many (in his eyes) flaws in modern screenwriting. Some of the concepts are a bit hard to follow, but hey it's a book you can always re-read when it comes to preparing your masterworks. My only niggle with the book is he does cite the French New Wave - Brunuel, Godard as well as Ingmar Bergman an awful lot. The only American writer who gets a look in is Robert Towne. Perhaps McKee doesn't rate any of the Scorseses or Spielbergs but it would have been good to at least get his take on their (immensley successful) approaches to story. Despite all the self-analysis, smashing of preconceptions, and an awful lot of honest (are you sure you can do this?) talk, McKee has crafted a text that spurs the budding writer on. It builds confidence by presenting the tools, saying 'Look, this works' and then setting you free. His parting message is to be courageous. Something that I have learned and will be putting into practice today, and everyday from now on.

I’ve read other books like Story before. Books that tell writers how to structure that winning screenplay or write the thriller that will sell millions. So how does this particular book differ from the others? It’s harsher than most. He holds mediocre scripts in high distain and says that a screenwriter should take more than a few years to learn his/her craft. In the opening chapters he describes why stories, good stories are so important for any society and how they reflect human nature as a whole. Those looking for a book that will tell them how to make a quick buck from screenwriting should look elsewhere. It is a wonderful piece of work. Full of useful bits of information and persuasive arguments, it’s certainly a insightful book. But what really cuts through is the writers passion for his subject. His inability to accept anything less than the the best from writers and stories rubs off on the reader. I can imagine a struggling novelist or screenwriter re-reading a few of these pages and feeling elated, inspired and ready to take on the world. I just can't help wondering if really takes a long as he says to become a scriptwriter.

This is a difficult read, especially the first few chapters, but I gained a lot from this book. Keyes knows his stuff and the two abiding lessons I have learned from this book is (a) the conflict of character's values and how they change over the course of the story and (b) the happiness/sadness roller coaster ride you should give your audience. For me, it's one of those books you have to have if you're serious about story-telling whether it be novels or scripts. The film Adaptation is one big endorsement of this book.

Fantastic

I've read a good few books on writing long-form stories, like Daemon Voices, Save the Cat, Into the Woods, On Writing, this is the best. I will be revisiting this book many times.

Well written and structured, this is deservedly very well respected. First section is about story structures, content, characters, characterisations, etc. Much of this you may feel you knew, but here it is rendered clear, citing many examples from popular films. It then examines the detail, again with examples. I read it steadily rather than quickly, to give each section due attention. It is an excellent choice if you are interested in the subject and want to achieve a better understanding.

Have only read the first hundred pages or so but is well structured with plenty of good advice. Also impressed with the packaging the book arrived in. The box offered good protection to its contents and I really like that the tear off strip to open the box also removed the part of the address label with my address, meaning I did not have to struggle peeling a sticky label off before putting it in for recycling. Only a small thing but it shows someone has given it some thought.