The Screenwriter's Fairy Tale: The Universal Story Within All Movie Stories (a very brief fable) [Kindle Edition]

Todd Klick (Author)

Book Description

Klick shows writers, through the use of a clever fable, new insights on how the archetypal story pattern works in each act of a screenplay. An ideal tool for developing any story or treatment.

Product Details

• File Size: 94 KB
• Print Length: 13 pages
• Publisher: WriterWrench Productions; 1 edition (April 13, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007U6D0CM
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #296,575 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Powerful and Entertaining Tool April 19, 2012

By Art Holcomb

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Seldom do you find a book amongst the forest of writing how-to efforts that so simply and concisely lays out such real story structure help in such an entertaining and easy-to-understand manner. Klick's simple little tale is one that my students and I will refer to again and again. It is a great complement to such classics as Larry Brook's Story Engineering and Pilar Alessandra's Coffee Break Screenwriter: Writing Your Script Ten Minutes at a Time

Get it NOW!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars nothing new here June 19, 2012

By Carolyne Aarsen

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Though $2.99 is not going to break my bank account I thought I could come away with something more worthwhile than a short (very short) retelling of the screenplay structure. It was okay. Fun to read, but if you've read other screenwriting books, I don't think you'll find anything new here.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Occam's Razor April 14, 2012

By MC

Format:Kindle Edition

The simplest answer is always the better one. With both a quick read and a quintessential demonstration of film story structure, Mr. Klick has done it again! With this follow up from his best-selling previous work "Something Startling Happens," he brings you on a brief journey which inspires and acts almost like an outline for your own treatment. Just replace his narrative with your characters and plot and you have the groundwork of your own story laid down for you! Thanks again, Mr. Klick!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant insight! October 20, 2012

By James

Format:Kindle Edition

I have been studying the patterns in movies for a bunch of years now... comparing one movie to the next to work out the most popular beats and structure frameworks -- but I never got THIS detailed! This book is awesome! It's SO simple but SO accurate! I've read most of the major books on screenwriting and they are all great, from Robert McKee to Michael Hauge to Richard Walter... I've even had terrific personal consultations with Pilar Alessandra, and now Todd adds one more piece to the puzzle. Thanks again for pointing out these finer details of which I was unaware! VERY HELPFUL!!! A MUST READ!
James from OZ

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Short but Sweet June 14, 2012

By Tessa Apa

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a gem. Small and perfectly formed. Well worth reading and keeping in mind as you write. I know I will.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Nicely Done. May 15, 2012

By The Pirate Pug

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I recently purchased this book and found it to be very nicely written. It is short, but too the point. For those of you looking to understand how stories are created from an idea, this is an excellent way to look at it. I've used a much shorter version of this for years, but this version of simplified story is very nicely done. It's fun to read and has a great example of putting it into practice.

And, it breaks down nicely into the Hero Goal Sequences of another great book. (I'll not mention it here so as not to corrupt this review with another well done book.)

If you are interested in understanding how to take a story idea and test to see if it will work as a movie, look no further. This short guide will help you!

4.0 out of 5 stars Will This Formula Work for Other Writers? June 24, 2012

By Geni J. White

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Some books about how to write stories list the structural parts of a tale in general terms such as `beats', scenes, plot points, climax and so forth. Klick lists his structural outline in human terms such as `the boy', the bully, friends and enemies, the adversary and the mentor. He includes important emotional moments in the main character's milieu.

This may make the process of writing a story with a winning structure easier, although some basic factors are not explained by Klick's formula.

He doesn't talk about formative parts of a character's life--background, status, family influences and similar facts that help bring a story alive, even if not overtly mentioned in a tale. When an author knows this sort of data the character becomes more real to reader because he is real to the writer.

Klick has apparently diligently researched movie plots in developing his outline and his success says his method works especially well-- for him. The real test of this book will be whether the method also works very well for other writers.

5.0 out of 5 stars SCREENWRITING DOES NOT HAVE TO BE GRIMM April 17, 2012

By Movieprod

Format:Kindle Edition

I started reading and couldn't stop - this is a simple fairy tale that will make any writer think in a positive way about his work and life, and I'm all for that. If you leave it out, your friends will pick it up. And if they read it, they'll have a little more respect for the writer in you. In fact, you'll have more respect for yourself. I love this little book.

More About the Author

Writer and producer, Todd Klick, is the #1 bestselling author of Something Startling Happens: The 120 Story Beats Every Writer Needs to Know and The Screenwriter's Fairy Tale. Todd's stories earned accolades with the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship and the PAGE International screenwriting competitions. In addition to selling and optioning numerous scripts for stage and screen, he inked two deals to develop stories for the London and Broadway stages with music mogul, Guy Holmes (Cirque Du Soleil/Beatles' LOVE) and Motown songwriting legend Lamont Dozier, as well as Maurice White's Kalimba Productions (founder of Earth, Wind and Fire). Todd is a frequent speaker and guest panelist at screenwriting symposiums, contributor to The Huffington Post and MovieMaker Magazine, and has also appeared on Dateline NBC and NPR to promote his work.