Customer Reviews

Power Screenwriting: The 12 Stages of Story Development

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We've all suspected it, but Walker reveals definitively how and why movies spring from and reflect our wildest dreams and aspirations, as well as our deepest fears and nightmares. It may seem obvious to many, but somehow with the insights and invaluable techniques he offers and explains in detail, he makes the film writer feel the weight of the world's problems squarely on their shoulders-- and that the ability to remedy them lies within the wordsmith's mind and craft, as well.

When I bought the book after a personal book signing appearance and lecture I thought was merely adding to my already extensive collection of screenwriting guides. I've noticed every time I hit a wall in my thought and development process I would buy another book. What I found with Power Screenwriting was much, much more. Here was the exact process of 'worrying' a story into completion before me. I didn't have to stop and turn to a thousand different manuals or discarded workbooks. I felt I could do my thing and then when I was stuck I could turn to this brilliantly laid out 12 stage approach and find the exact answer I was looking for. Plus,Power Screenwriting encourages and shows you how to write stories from a deep psychological and archetypal level, so that your stories have the greatest impact on the mind of the moviegoer possible. Walker places the onus of social evolution and conscious thought on the screenwriters, mythmakers and storytellers of today, and that writing for film is not just some casual extracurricular past time, but a noble 'calling' for the greatest creative engineers of each generation. I wholly concure and with this book believe I can really achieve so lofty a goal.

Also recommended: The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri The Courage to Create by Rollo May

This book serves up what I believe every good book on writing technique should: a smorgasbord of useful recipes and theories to experiment with and blend into your own writing.

I found Mr. Walker's buffet to include 12 delicious dishes, some more delectable than others.

Choice number one (he calls them stages) is Theme. Yes, he calls it "Theme". That word seems out of vogue these days with other writers refering to this concept as "the controlling idea", "subjective story argument", "premise" or "story's promise". We are talking here about what you are trying to "say" or better yet "prove" in your story. This is the steak behind the sizzle.

Mr. Walker does a fine job of helping us organize this concept using a sentence structure like "blank - leads to - blank". A simple and straight-forward way of looking at the idea behind your story, much akin to McKee's "controlling idea".

Next is the three act structure. Not much new here except his recommendation that you use the subjective story theme sentence (blank - leads to - blank) as an overlay on the three-act template in order to get an idea what each act in your story will primarily be about.

Third he discusses "premise", and it is the concept of premise I most agree with. The premise as "external" story-line. Using the word "when" to preface the inciting incident then an active verb and the result of that action you can develop what some call a "logline" for your story; the story in a sentence. I found this to be a quite helpful chapter.

Fourth Walker delves into the "heroes journey" ala Vogler/Campbell with several original and inciteful twists. This section on the story's structure is brilliant and worth the price of the book by itself. It was my absolute favorite part of the book.

The fifth stage is internal structure, covered in depth with many details regarding the character's inner flaw, desires, motivations, background (he calls this shadow), and growth through conflict.

Sixth we have a short chapter on character relationships, not as tasty as the preceding chapters.

Next is writing a working treatment; ditto to the above.

Eighth is a long and useful chapter on choosing and developing the world of your story, the setting. I really enjoyed this one and got many new ideas for my own work from Mr. Walkers incites and suggestions of how certain settings better reflect and compliment certain themes.

Next is a fairly lengthy and somewhat interesting discussion of genre. I didn't find this as useful to my own work or inciteful/new as the previous chapter.

Tenth is a short chapter on research ... hohum.

Next a short chapter on image systems.

And finally a couple pages about breaking the story down scene by scene. This is a very important stage, and I have read much more detailed advice in other books. I wish this one was longer.

Walker wraps up with a short troubleshooting section.

To sum up the sections on theme, premise, the hero's journey (a fresh look) and setting are wonderful, and worth the price of the book alone. I recommend "Power Screenwriting" and think every screenwriter (or fiction writer) could benefit from at least one new concept in this book.

And as I said in the beginning, this is what I feel is the mark of a truely great and "useful" book on writing craft.

Thumbs up to Michael Chase Walker - "Power Screenwriting" is definitely a keeper.

I have literally read thirteen books on screenwriting technique and story development and this one easily trumps every single one of them. I have used his guide on every screenplay I've ever completed, one of which is already in development.

If you are looking for a book which can expand your ideas into full-length screenplays without having to write to Hollywood's block-buster market, "Twelve Steps" will arm you with the perspective, creativity, courage and form to do so.

Among other things, Walker engages his readers in the creative process, developing one's own voice, and structuring that voice around ancient story-telling techniques (like the warrior myth). In twelve steps, you can easily expand a phrase like "tampering with nature | leads to | nature getting out of control" into an entire film like Jurassic Park. Piece by piece, bit by bit.

Don't get me wrong, the writing process is still long and does require substantial effort, but if you are committed and looking for a guide to take you to the next level, Twelve Steps is the only choice. Everyone has an idea, but unless you know how to cultivate it, it will never see the light of day.

Professional screenwriter Michael Chase Walker (The Last Unicorn; Earthman's Burden; The Arrow and the Lamp; Seven Years in Tibet; Siddhartha; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; Love and Anarchy; The Poet and the Tsar) draws upon his many years of experience and success to write Power Screenwriting: The 12 Stages Of Story Development, a structural, methodical, step-by-step, "how to" guide to . Breaking down the process in simple yet essential steps, screenwriting professor and author Michael Walker demonstrates his craft for aspiring screenwriters of all experience levels. A superbly practical, down-to-earth guide to basic screenwriting traditions, Power Screenwriting is not only recommended reading for aspiring or practicing screenwriters for television or film, but would be of profound interest to storytellers in any for of literary or artistic expression.

There are only a few how-to books in life that resonate so completely on your inner knowing, instincts, inspiration and ambitions. Power Screenwriting is one of them.

I bought one through Amazon.com because I needed help desperately on a College of Santa Fe student film project and Walker had been a prof. there for a number of years, so there was a lot of "great buzz" about his story-telling classes and theories.

I never expected what I found. Just pure inspiration on a hundred different levels from everyday life, the struggling artist/student bit, but most of all a whole new way of looking at movies and life itself. Awesome! Besides that the 12 stages he writes about really work! I mean, I'd read everything
from Linda Seger to Syd Fields, and I was still stymied. Power Screenwriting set me straight and I soared through Film school because of it!

This book is so cool! I can't recommend it enough.

I am jamming through my second year of Film school, and already starting to get pretty bored. I love the technical end, but as far as the creative side of things the professors are either so anti-hollywood establishment, or so enamored with it, it's hard to get an unbiased P.O.V. to reflect upon. Then I had the uncanny opportunity to hear Walker's "Master Class" featured on screenwriter.com, and what he had to say blew me out of the water.

His claim that storytellers are the creative engineers of every culture, time, and epoch is food enough for thought, but then he goes out and proves it through the myriad examples of archetypal
story structures, such as the Hero myth, the Outlaw myth,and for me, the most profound of all, the Messiah myth, are once in a lifetime, life-changing epiphanies. I began to question the relevancy and veracity of all these so-called religious notions that influence our lives and culture so completely. Walker's decree for the aspiring artist/filmmaker to concern himself with not "what was true once, but what is true always" has become my own motto to live by.

I definitely believe that reading this book will make me a better film director, I never counted on it inspiring me to become a wiser human being!

Without a doubt, this is the best book I've ever read on the subject of screenwriting, and perhaps it's the best I've read on the entire subject of writing fiction. It's the 13th book I've read on screenwriting. Before that, I devoured 8 or 10 on the craft of novel writing (and I won a national award for my first novel). If you want to hone your screenwriting skills, there's no better way than giving your attention to this extraordinary book.

Notwithstanding that the author is an authority on screenwriting (reading this book will tell you that much!), I found it too much about lists of things, items, gewgaws, bric-a-brac, shelfware, tchochkes, and the assorted important point. The message gets obscured continually by 12-item lists of examples in literally every paragraph (and in the margins, too). Sure, examples are important and may legitimately be organized into a rather lengthy appendix or two ... but the core message of the book should have been compressed to about 50 pages (and also leaving out things about the author that have nothing directly to do with the art or science of screenwriting).

The editing was horrendous; the copy editor should have been fired or sent back to school. Far too many times I had to read and reread many sentences just to get the gist of the author's point. Sure, that alone may not be important enough to keep someone from dunning the book, but when the author points out--multiple times--the value of agonizing over each and every word in a screenplay, it seems ironic at best not to have followed his own advice.

As I said, the author seems more interested in giving you his qualifications and experience as a screenwriter, and I think I'm sold as far as that goes, but then I'm not hiring him to write for me. What I want to know is how to go about writing a screenplay, being an almost total noob. Just like everyone reading this review.

As content, the author's 12 steps to a successful screenplay are important and useful, though in truth you can stop reading once you get past about #8 or so, because the remaining points are either self-explanatory or commonsense. Overall I found the book acceptable, but too long, and with too many lists. Call me a naysayer, but I would recommend Cynthia Whitcomb's The Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay: How to Write Great Screenplays for Movies and Television well ahead of this monster.

There are only a few how-to books in life that resonate so completely on your inner knowing, instincts, inspiration and ambitions. Power Screenwriting is one of them.

I bought one through Amazon.com because I needed help desperately on a College of Santa Fe student film project and Walker had been a prof. there for a number of years, so there was a lot of "great buzz" about his story-telling classes and theories.

I never expected what I found. Just pure inspiration on a hundred different levels from everyday life, the struggling artist/student bit, but most of all a whole new way of looking at movies and life itself. Awesome! Besides that the 12 stages he writes about really work! I mean, I'd read everything
from Linda Seger to Syd Fields but I was still stymied. Walker set me straight and I soared through Film school because of it!

This book is so cool. I can't recommend it enough.

I had the great fortune to study under Michael Walker at the College of Santa Fe. He is definitely one of the brightest lights around - a teacher and writer of the first caliber. If you have any access to his mind, via lecture, this book, online, or otherwise, and you have a true desire to write and write well, take that opportunity. Power Screenwriting (then in a mimeographed and spiral bound form) was the first book I was exposed to on screenwriting and it continues to be the ONLY one that I refer to again and again. Well done, Michael!