Story
Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting
by Robert McKee · first published 1997
69% recommend25% neutral6% critical
Why HN recommends it
The standard guide to story structure, drawing on screenwriting principles like polar value changes in each scene; suits writers, screenwriters, and anyone wanting to understand how stories hold an audience.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
For the first time in book form, Robert McKee's Story reveals the award-winning methods of the man universally regarded as the world's premier screenwriting teacher. For more than 17 years, Robert McKee's students have been taking Hollywood's top honors. His Story Structure seminar is the ultimate class for screenwriters and filmmakers, playing to packed auditoriums across the world and boasting more than 35,000 graduates. With Hollywood currently paying record sums for great stories -- and audiences clamoring for originality -- this book is the weapon you need to win the war on clichés and to
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…Abagnale), Just for Fun (Linus Torvalds), Elon Musk, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! - How companies work: Creativity Inc (Pixar), In the Plex (Google) - On writing: Art of fiction/nonfiction by Ayn Rand, Story by Robert McKee, Save the Cat, Step by Step to Standup Comedy. - Other: The Selfish Gene, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Serious Creativity, Hackers & Painters, Hacking Growth, Angel (on…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite non-fiction books of all time?” ↗…it be of any value though? Meh. I understand the natural human desire to figure out how stories work, but this is not how it's done. On that topic, the best explanation I have ever read is the book "Story" by Robert McKee. I recommend it to everyone who is interested in the subject. It may still be imperfect, but he is very good at explaining things that are actually practically useful for writers and…
on “The Thirty-Seven Basic Plots, According to a Screenwriter of the Silent Film Era” ↗My field (programming) has been well covered so I'll share books about my side-field, writing. - On Writing - Stephen King - Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott - Story - Robert McKee (screenwriting) - Do the work - Stephen Pressfield (he's more famous for The War of Art but I haven't actually read that one yet) Also there are some great blogs out there - Terrible…
on “Ask HN: Which books are “must-read” for anyone trying to learn about your field?” ↗I am avid movie buff. For training, I would highly recommend reading Story by Robert McKee and look up information on how to do script coverage. There are plenty of information on that. I am happy to answer in more detail through email. saby83 at gmail
on “Ask HN: Why did you leave the tech industry?” ↗A respected book on this subject is McKee : Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting. The principle is simple, each atomic item (a moment / a beat etc.) in the story needs to represent a polar change in human values (e.g.…
on “Pixar offers free online lessons in storytelling via Khan Academy” ↗…Abagnale), Just for Fun (Linus Torvalds), Elon Musk, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! - How companies work: Creativity Inc (Pixar), In the Plex (Google) - On writing: Art of fiction/nonfiction by Ayn Rand, Story (and Dialogue) by Robert McKee, Save the Cat, Step by Step to Standup Comedy. - Grokking Deep Learning - by far the simplest and clearest introduction into deep learning, starts from scratch and takes…
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗I have the exact same problem. Never been good at telling stories. I have two recommendations for books: - Story Craft - Jack Hart - Story: Substance, Structure, Style - Robert McKee The first one focuses on non-fiction the other on fiction. I was partway through the second one when I got the first. My immediate…
on “Ask HN: How do I learn how to tell a good story?” ↗The takeaway point: marketing plans soon may have to describe how a startup will run marketing as a profit center. So when you're done (re-)reading On Lisp, you'll probably want to crack Robert McKee's Story, as it is the bible for screenwriting (e.g., sitcom design) :-)
on “"Startup comedy" on Hollywood's radar (view Land of OpportuniTV video)” ↗Start with Strunk and White, Elements of Style. Once you get that move on to literary devices. Try Mary Oliver, A Poetry Handbook, or Robert McKee, Story. There are all kinds of business-y books out there about copywriting for email marketing etc, but you will never learn the fundamentals from them.
on “The little-known secret of how to actually choose a web designer” ↗Two aspects: performance and content. For performance I concur with the other folks advice here to practice a lot. For content I recommend reading Story - by Robert McKee. There's lots of knowledge on how to hold an audience's attention.
on “How do I improve my storytelling?” ↗…Pine St.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_McDonald_(screenwriter) He is both an accomplished writer and excellent instructor for writers. I found his guidance to work well in tandem with McKee's STORY. His early works are of spectacular quality (e.g., White Face), and this reminds me to get caught-up on his more recent material.
on “Pixar's Rules of Storytelling (2013)” ↗…fiction. It forced me to think about how I'm telling stories, which then meant I had to think about how I constructed paragraphs, which then... you get the idea. Some great books I read: - Robert McKee's "Story," which analyzes how great screenwriting is constructed. You will view action movies in a totally different way after this. - Corbett's "The Art of Character," which focuses on how characters are created…
on “To find great remote employees, prioritize candidates with strong writing skills” ↗Robert McKee's book 'Story' has a wondrous second part to the poem. I look up it to whenever hit with this dilemma. (First, a retelling of the original) > High above the forest floor, a millipede strolled along the branch of…
on “The Centipede’s Dilemma” ↗http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramatic_theory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetics_(Aristotle) http://www.amazon.com/Story-Substance-Structure-Principles-S...
on “Eliezer Yudkowsky: That Alien Message” ↗…Anyone who claims to have discovered an objective standard of 'good prose' is selling you snake-oil; there is no definition of the former that includes both Dickens and Hemingway, never mind the whole history of all the literature in all the languages of the world. [0] http://www.amazon.co.uk/Story-Substance-Structure-Principles... EDIT: forgot footnote.
on “Stephen King's “Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully”” ↗