A Story is a Promise & The Spirit of Storytelling [Kindle Edition]

Bill Johnson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This new, revised and updated edition of A Story is a Promise includes a section titled Deep Characterization and The Spirit of Storytelling. Where Deep Characterization explores what happens when story characters are an extension of authors, Spirit of Storytelling suggests techniques for authors to create characters with fully realized inner lives; characters who are vibrant, dynamic, and resonate with readers.
The book includes a link to an outline of The Lovely Bones and a diagram for developing the dramatic truths of characters, and new reviews of popular movies, including Inception, and detailed reviews of Romeo and Juliet (the play), The Heidi Chronicles (play), The Shawshank Redemption and The Usual Suspects (movies). These reviews are meant to help writers understand the underlying process that creates popular stories.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 464 KB
• Publisher: Blue Haven; Fourth Edition edition (April 2, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004V020N0
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,280 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #71 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Arts & Entertainment > Performing Arts

More About the Author

Bill Johnson is author of A Story is a Promise and The Spirit of Storytelling, a writing workbook. He's a produced playwright who has served for many years on the board of the Northwest Playwrights Guild. He's the office manager for Willamette Writers, a non-profit writing group based in Portland, Oregon, with over 1,650 members. Bill leads workshops on writing around the United States. He reviews popular stories to explore principles of storytelling at his website, (www.storyispromise.com).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank You Bill Johnson, August 19, 2011

By 

JAD - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Story is a Promise & The Spirit of Storytelling (Kindle Edition)

I have never reviewed anything on Amazon before but I feel so indebted to Bill Johnson that I have to give him a review. I went to a big name film school for college and throughout the entire 4 years and thousands of dollars, I never learned more about storytelling then I did reading this 3 dollar kindle book. Bill Johnson really gives you the map to the maze. After 6 years of making movies, I had some idea on what made a story work and what didn't, but Bill Johnson really gives the theoretical groundwork to what makes a story resonate with an audience. Not only did the book corroborate some ideas that I already had but enriched them and gave me so much more to think about. Thank You Bill!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bill Johnson gets to the core of storytelling, November 20, 2011

By 

Carolyn J. Rose "Mystery Writer" (Vancouver, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Story is a Promise & The Spirit of Storytelling (Kindle Edition)

Bill's work made me take a longer look at what matters to readers - and what matters to me as a reader - at the emotional core. I feel my characters are deeper and more memorable because of what I learned.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Help, January 22, 2012

By 

Mark Chapman (Taiwan) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Story is a Promise & The Spirit of Storytelling (Kindle Edition)

This is an excellent book. The author shows why some novels are page-turners, and why some are not. He talks about a novel's promise and premise, and how to make these work. I highly recommend this book to all new fiction writers - and to some not so new writers.