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Michael Tierno

Aristotle's Poetics for Screenwriters: Storytelling Secrets From the Greatest Mind in Western Civilization Paperback – August 21, 2002

by Michael Tierno (Author)

169 ratings

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An insightful how-to guide for writing screenplays that uses Aristotle's great work as a guide.

Long considered the bible for storytellers, Aristotle's Poetics is a fixture of college courses on everything from fiction writing to dramatic theory. Now Michael Tierno shows how this great work can be an invaluable resource to screenwriters or anyone interested in studying plot structure. In carefully organized chapters, Tierno breaks down the fundamentals of screenwriting, highlighting particular aspects of Aristotle's work. Then, using examples from some of the best movies ever made, he demonstrates how to apply these ancient insights to modern-day screenwriting. This user-friendly guide covers a multitude of topics, from plotting and subplotting to dialogue and dramatic unity. Writing in a highly readable, informal tone, Tierno makes Aristotle's monumental work accessible to beginners and pros alike in areas such as screenwriting, film theory, fiction, and playwriting.

Print length

191 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Hyperion - Acquired Assets
Publication date

August 21, 2002
Grade level

8 and up
Reading age

13 years and up
Dimensions

5.25 x 0.48 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0786887400
ISBN-13

978-0786887408
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This earnest how-to puts a new spin on Aristotle as the master of philosophy, calling him not only the "greatest mind in western civilization," but also the "world's first movie story analyst." Asserting that Aristotle's Poetics has become a standard for constructing movies that reach audiences (and studio heads), Tierno, a director and Miramax story analyst, shows how to apply the basics of the great work to one's own screenplay. He introduces the "Action-Idea" as the way to understand the demands of the story, and debunks the belief that, in Poetics, Aristotle mandates a three-act structure. He also lays bare how people misread Aristotle's advice to employ the "imitation of a serious action." Tierno stresses the importance of ditching subplots for a story featuring "one complete action" and constantly supports his points with examples of successful films, such as Titanic and Rosemary's Baby. The frequent capsule plot summaries of favorites including The Godfather and Gladiator make Aristotle's instructions concrete, and Tierno helpfully breaks the movies down into plot essentials. Throughout, he is respectful but informal toward Aristotle. Tierno praises Aristotle for representing "beautiful truth," although the breeziness and the eager tone he takes may, at times, put off more serious readers. Still, screenwriters looking beyond the "three-act structure" mantra will find applicable strategies, and those who dismiss Aristotle as old hat will find their perceptions set straight with Tierno's modern movie examples.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A clever approach to screenwriting." -- Library Journal

"Makes the precepts accessible with easy comparisons to contemporary hits." -- Variety.com

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hyperion - Acquired Assets; 1st edition (August 21, 2002)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 191 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0786887400
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0786887408
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 years and up
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 8 and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.48 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #150,966 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #92 in Handwriting Reference (Books)
- #116 in Screenwriting (Books)
- #159 in Research Reference Books

Customer Reviews:
169 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		76%
4 star		12%
3 star		8%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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Anthony R. Kassel

The title says it all, worth you time an enjoyable read.

Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2014

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I loved it, short and sweet a lot of good ideas, looks at the subject of screenwriting from a perspective a historian like myself will find enlightening. I had read Aristotle's poetics when I was in high school, this was a good refresher. I am an aspiring screenwriter and can use all of the help I can find. When reading books on screenwriting I always pay close attention to the bibliography and recommendations for further reading from the authors. This book was recommended by several of them and it is now in my library.
It is an easy read, I found it quite useful, well written and a book worth savoring, you need to read this one chapter at a time and then think about what Mr. Tierno is saying and how it applies to you and your writing. Enjoy the read.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Rich Duisenberg

An important read

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2018

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A little basic, but a should read for any person going into theater or screenplay writing. This is an ancient, basic step by step guide on how to develop a dramatic or comedic production. While a little basic and archaic, it's one of the guides that most accomplished drama writers use.

One person found this helpful

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Planter

Less than I expected. More a review of select ...

Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2017

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Less than I expected. More a review of select movies than anything substantial about Aristolean worldview of literary tradition. Go to the source, i.e. Poetics in an English translation for the real deal.

5 people found this helpful

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Catherine Norris

Fantastic Read.

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2020

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A wonderful book for anyone in the throes of writing a screenplay. Helpful text to compare your work against. Might be a little difficult to totally understand for a writer who has never written before, but for someone like me who is transitioning from novelizing to screenplay writing, Poetics for Screenwriters will be a great aid. Thanks to Michael Tierno and Aristotle! It was fun to be able to easily connect to a wise and ancient mind through this book. Loved the part about the chorus.

Helpful

Kindle Customer

Fantastic. Down to Earth. Insightful.

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2016

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A fantastic, down to earth, insightful explanation of Aristotle's principles of Story & Drama and how they practically correspond to the craft of modern-day storytelling. Tierno gives excellent examples throughout the book of the secret success behind many famous films in cinema which follow the same principles as Aristotle articulated thousands of years ago. I would highly recommend this to any teacher or student in the narrative /dramatic arts.

One person found this helpful

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Stef

A must read for all screenwriting majors

Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2019

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The principles of western storytelling

Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2017

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Very inspiring and clarifying. Easy to read, short chapters. Unfortunately, almost every chapter ends on the same note about your screenplay winning an academy award. But otherwise, quite useful and well thought out.

One person found this helpful

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sexy dancer

Dated.

Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2018

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Dated. Get the newer books on screenwriting.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Heather Smith

A Screenwriting Essential

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 21, 2020

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Wonderful, of course. Aristotle took comedy seriously, and rightly so.
Essential reading for screenwriters of all genres.

Amazon Customer

Essential reading for screenwriters

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 25, 2020

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Essential reading for screenwriters

Glen M

Brilliant.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 23, 2019

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A MUST READ for any writer.

bigpic

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 15, 2015

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Good insight into story/screening writing to have a better chance of success

Your Mum!

Poetic Licence.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2011

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I read Poetics back when I was at university and I can't say it enlightened me much as I found the terminology to be somewhat lost in translation, not to mention time. So I welcomed a modern interpretation of the ancient work, especially with screenwriters in mind. Michael Tierno's book however does not seem to shed much light on Poetics as much as give him a platform from which to spout his own academic brand of screenwriting theory. Each Poetics quote is lifted and then manipulated into something that is questionable at best and downright contradictory at worst. What results is not a real interpretation of Peotics at all, and I frequently stopped reading, saying "I don't agree with that at all". It's also a meagre book of 167 pages of large print and space - not that that would matter if the content were enlightening at all. But it isn't, and I think books like this do more harm than good for new screenwriters. I've read enough and written enough to know nonsense when I read it, but young students and screenwriters might think they are missing something mystical in here that they just aren't. I've given this book 2 stars for the simple reason that I managed to sift some salient points from the text which weren't "interpretations" of Aristotle's Poetics, but as for the latter, forget it.

5 people found this helpful

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