Story

This was the first story theory book I read and it was hugely influential on me, because it is probably the definitive work in terms of a formulaic, structural approach to story.

This book gave me a depth of knowledge of the traditional approach to story theory, but also a clear understanding of how people in the film industry are going about their work today. It is all wrong, in my opinion, but it is also the truth of what is going on.

It is wrong because a story does not begin with structure. A story begins in the mind,… show more.

I had been writing professionally for over two decades when I first picked up this book, and it left me kicking myself for not picking it up years ago. Not only did it make me understand why I do many of the things I do when I’m writing fiction, it raised my game as a storyteller. Robert McKee has clearly done a lot of thinking about the mechanics of how stories work, and he explains them with crystal clarity. It is the best book on storytelling I have ever read, and essential reading for anybody who wants to do it… show more.

Substance, structure, and style featured on the cover of this book and the word structure drew me to it immediately. NLP is the study of structure and although this book is about screenwriting, it is a metaphor for life. Storytelling features in many of my sources here and features in my style of training and coaching. And this book inspired me so much that I could barely read more than a few pages at a time as I felt so inspired to use what I was reading in some way before I continued. And I quote, "The love of the… show more.