Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting Hardcover – November 25, 1997

I have two copies of "Story" to ensure it is always nearby.

Out of a dozen or so books on writing, I found McKee's "Story" thoroughly enlightening.

It can be a challenge to comprehend in places - but worth the extra effort!
In terms of characters driving narrative, review chapter 7 and examine writing w/in "the gap".

I found it easier to grasp McKee by writing one paragraph summaries of each chapter as I progressed.
It may be helpful to think of each chapter as a separate vignette of knowledge.
I suggest reading the chapters in this order: 1-3, 8, 4, 7, 5-6, 15, 9, 10-11, 14, 18, 12-13, 16-17
(the above order was suggested to me in fact by L.S.)

Also, try reading "Save the Cat", contrast/compare w/ "Story" and refer to the "Bible" by Trottier.

On a side note, the slip cover is absolutely awful. Throw it away.
The hardcover book w/out the slip cover is a tasteful blue-purple w/ STORY and McKee in gold print.
(see attached photo)

For me _Story_ by Robert McKee is an incredibly useful book in terms of analyzing stories after the fact. If you read a popular, well-crafted book or view a movie or TV show with those qualities and want to understand how it works, what makes it tick, you would be hard pressed to find a better book, and you should just order this book now -- you're in for a treat.

If you're an aspiring writer, _Story_ may be extremely helpful for you (as evidenced by the many glowing reviews here), but it might also be problematic in ways you don't expect. It's from this perspective that I'm writing this review. Writing fiction is an incredibly personal experience, so to be clear I'm not saying that people who love this book as a writing how-to are wrong. I think if you have a certain mindset or approach to writing, this book will be extremely helpful to you. But if you don't, you may want to approach _Story_ with some caution (which I'll explain in a minute).

Some fiction writers employ a very methodical, intellectual approach, putting stories together like watchmakers carefully constructing a complex timepiece, creating detailed outlines first and using them as blueprints to build their stories. This is a completely valid way to work -- in fact, I'm envious of such writers and wish it worked for me. If you already know that you are this sort of writer, you should just order _Story_ right now, because you almost certainly are gonna love it and find it incredibly useful.

Some writers employ a more organic, intuitive approach, where creating a story is an unstructured process of discovery (the so-called "pantsers", because they work from "the seat of their pants"). In my view this is also a perfectly valid way to work, not inherently better or worse than being a dedicated outliner. If you know that you're this sort of writer, you may find _Story_ intellectually compelling (because it surely is), but it might also mess with your head (see below).

I personally am neither a hardcore outliner nor a committed pantser. I am finding that I produce my best, most satisfying work when I bounce back and forth between the two approaches. I can't go full organic because I get lost in the work and find that I constantly have 16 ideas that I can't choose between, and each one of those leads to 16 other ideas, and so on. On the other hand, for me employing a rigorous outlining approach is too intellect-driven. I feel I lose the creative spark and fascination that made me want to write the story in the fist place. Instead, deliberately or not, I find myself "solving" my story structure like a sudoku puzzle, overtaken with concern about hitting the right points in the right way at the right time, and things like, losing control of my story that way.

Which brings me back to _Story_. As someone else here said, McKee isn't telling you, "These are rules! You must follow them!" He's describing principles of storytelling he's developed over years and years of experience and analysis. The thing is, his approach is extremely methodical and intellect-driven, it has a gravity that's going to pull you in that direction. It's so intellectually appealing it's like your brain can't let go of it. Like I said earlier, if your writing mindset and approach are on the same wavelength as what McKee teaches, this is gonna be awesome for you and you're going to love it. If you're not, this can really mess with your head and your writing for a bit.

That said, this is good material even for someone like me, and I am glad I read it. There are useful ideas here, and it's good to be aware of them even if you're not going to go about building stories the way McKee teaches. But if you go about putting McKee's tools into practice and it just doesn't work for you, or you're simply not that kind of writer to begin with, don't panic if it feels like your brain has been taken over by McKee for a while. :-) This too shall pass, and afterwards you will probably feel like you have learned things that will be useful to you at some point down the road.

I'm a fiction writer and found this to be an excellent resource. There's very little in here that doesn't apply to ALL writing. I'd recommend reading through a simpler book first (i.e., James Scott Bell's "Plot and Structure"). If you're serious about your writing, read this book!

This material moves fast. I had to listen to it several times, but that's OK, too :-) McKee is a great primer and that's what I used this for. I love to listen to material in my car - this is my most prolific setting for listening/learning - and I needed a good primer on screenwriting as I'm new to it, have bought a bunch of books, but realize its hard to know who's "right." McKee has the fruit on the tree with regard to his reputation, but I saw him listed as Story Consultant as recently as BRAVE, so his know how is apparently worth some dough. For 20 bucks, I simply put listened to this all the way through, absorbed as much as I could, and then went back and listened to each disc multiple times. Its amazing the depth of his insight, and easy to miss on first, second, and even third listen. These CD's really can be studied. What I've come to realize after going through some of the other books I purchased is that, no one is "right" when it comes to the craft of Story. Certainly, some are way more right than others, but because Story is paradoxically personal and impersonal, and the essence of good story writing so hard to capture in prose, then an author/teacher becomes very valuable by becoming poetic, enlightening, and inspirational amidst the more technical explanations. McKee is good at this. His "attitude" during his reading of the material doesn't seem particularly passionate, but it does seem personal. He has a great vocabulary and depth of reading/watching which makes for an enjoyable "no-pandering zone," intellectually, which, more and more, becomes a welcome respite in the Idiocracy. If you want to be a writer, and aren't sure where to start - but particularly, if you're an avid audio learner, you can't go wrong with this purchase for twenty bones.

You can't go wrong with a book by Robert McKee. He is the Dean of Screenwriting and the mentor for many screen and fiction writers. He is clear, concise and maybe too simplistic for some readers. Don't let his simplicity fool you. He knows what he is talking about. if you want to write a story or a screenplay, this is the book for you.

Engaging, in-depth exploration of what makes a good story, showing such an impressive wealth of knowledge and experience. It has great advice for writers of all kinds (not only for the screen) but equally makes for a fascinating read regardless of whether you are a writer or not.

He is brilliant. Has been teaching this for a long tome and really knows his subject.

Very inspiring for a new 'wannabe' author like me. Some great advice right from the start.