Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting » (1st Edition)

Robert McKee teaches his 3Story Structure2 class annually to sold out auditoriums in Los Angeles, New York, London and film capitals throughout the world. A Fulbright Scholar, this award-winning film and television writer has also served as project and talent development consultant to major production companies such as Tri-Star and Golden Harvest Films. He lives in Los Angeles and Cornwall, England.

For more than 15 years, Robert McKee's students have been taking Hollywood's top honors. His “Story Seminar” is the world's ultimate seminar for screenwriters, filmmakers, and novelists. Now, Robert McKee's Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting reveals the award-winning methods of the man universally regarded as the world's premier teacher on screenwriting and story. With Hollywood and publishing companies paying record sums for great stories, and audiences clamoring for originality, McKee's Story gives you the strategies you need to win the war on clichés.

Story is about form, not formula. McKee's insights cut to the hidden sources of storytelling, the decisive differences between mediocrity and excellence.

This audio goes well beyond the essential mechanics of screenwriting and is packed with examples from such film classics as “Casablanca” and “Chinatown.” Then, scene by sequence by act, he illuminates the principles of story design that take a writer's vision to brilliant realization. Story elevates the craft of screenwriting to an art form.

Take it from the pros; if you're serious about your writing, this is the audio that will help you to get your story from page to screen.

PART 1: THE WRITER AND THE ART OF STORY 3
Introduction 3
1: The Story Problem 11

PART 2: THE ELEMENTS OF STORY 31
2: The Structure Spectrum 31
3. Structure and Setting 67
4. Structure and Genre 79
5. Structure and Character 100
6. Structure and Meaning 110

PART 3: THE PRINCIPLES OF STORY DESIGN 135
7: The Substance of Story 135
8: The Inciting Incident 181
9: Act Design 208
10: Scene Design 233
11: Scene Analysis 252
12: Composition 288
13: Crisis, Climax, Resolution 303

PART 4: THE WRITER AT WORK 317
14: The Principle of Antagonism 317
15: Exposition 334
16: Problems and Solutions 346
17: Character 374
18: The Text 388
19: A Writer's Method 410
Suggested Readings 421
Filmography 423
Index 457