Robert McKeeCritiques

Well-written, insightful and well-supported, a masterpiece that's hard to find in this genre.

this book is very interesting about stories.

very good ideas and really useful for writers, but quite a chore to read.

Fundamental para todos los interesados en la creación literaria, y concretamente en la redacción de un guion, este libro de Robert McKee es una vigorosa punta de lanza cuando el aspirante a guionista no sabe por dónde comenzar en los intrínsecos caminos para crear historias y personajes. Mckee escribe sobre los engranajes que mueven una historia, ejemplifica con guiones clásicos sus lecciones, e incluso sugiere algunos ejercicios para que el lector articule una historia en 3 actos. Además de funcionar como un manual para la creación, el texto ayuda al análisis del guion de cada película visionada, enriqueciendo la experiencia. Gurú de guionistas y artistas audiovisuales, el autor desmenuza las características de los géneros cinematográficos, redacta sobre la ambientación y construcción de escenas, definiendo desde las primeras páginas conceptos muy básicos del guionismo, lo que vuelve al libro digerible, placentero y de segura consulta recurrente en el futuro.

Top 5 books out there on the craft! A soup-to-nuts guide to the art of storytelling, providing writers with unique insights into the principles of plot, character development, and dialogue. Using detailed analysis of successful films and literature, McKee offers timeless and invaluable advice for crafting engaging and meaningful stories that audiences fall in love with.

The Old Testament story of Abraham and the trials he endures. Commanded by God to lead his family to the promised land of Canaan with the promise that if he does so, his descendants will become a great and numerous tribe. His obedience, as well as that of his children and grandchildren, is severely tested as they prove their faith to God. (fonte: Imdb)

Un par de ideas interesantes bajo una montaña de autoayuda mal escrita y que produce vergüenza ajena.

This book was hard going at first. Forgive me if a book aimed at helping writers loses some credibility for me if it's not well written. Nor did the in-your-face typography help. But I stuck with the book, and it taught me a lot about how to "read" a film: character (including text vs. subtext), value (or would it be clearer to call it valence?), inciting incident, turning points, challenges, crisis, climax, resolution. Perhaps I could have learned some of this from Aristotle, but he was even harder for me to read. And McKee earns one of the three points of my rating by his cameo in Adaptation.

Interesting analysis of principles of writing. Eventually becomes too specific to screenwriting to be of further use.

There's a lot of shouting at young people but I have no interest in screen writing so I don't mind that much. It's all very preachy and the author is very sure of his rules despite them being so vague that you can apply them any which way you like and still be right. If this is meant to be guidance for young screen writers I can't see what possible help this would be.

I don't get the world of entertainment. It's not a blight like marketing but I'm lukewarm on it.

It took me months to finish this book. Not because it is boring, but because it is so full of knowledge, so dense with useful information about how to create good stories. I'm sure I will go through it again and again and learn something new every time. If you're creating stories, I think you can't miss this book.

Helpful examples fill this book, showing what works, what doesn't, and why.
Robert McKee is smart, experienced and knows how to make a point.
Good reference for writers in any medium - don't let the page count overwhelm you. Take it in small bites.

The book does a great job showing you the importance of good dialogue in all fiction mediums.
I grew to have a deeper appreciation for it and after reading just a few chapters I found myself paying more attention to dialogue wherever I could find it.

Combined with Story (by McKee) it becomes a powerful package for amateur writers.
I'll have to re-read both of them in the future since they pack a condensed punch of useful information and insight.

I've dabbled before into articles, blogposts, youtube videos about screenwriting and wrongly believed this book would act merely as a refresher of knowledge. Boy was I wrong.

It started off on shaky grounds. It quoted too much, gave too many references and used examples where it could have left them out.

The interesting bits start out after 1/4 of the book. It becomes more about the nuances of screenwriting. It made me realize screenwriting is more intricate, with more depth than I previously thought, and I had a great deal of admiration for screenwriters to begin with. It made me want to pick up screenplays of my favorite movies and read them, which I'll probably gonna start doing this year. Great read for anybody interested in knowing more about screenwriting or wanting to write themselves.

A screenwriter's Bible, this tome deconstructs and explains all aspects of story and storytelling. Though originally designed for screenwriters, any writer of stories in any form can learn from this book. Excellent reference book as well.

Story is the insightful and thorough guide to crafting a storyline to consistently engage the intended audience. I actually learned about this book from a class about creating business slides. Though it’s primarily focused on screenwriting, which does have some nuances unique to that medium, it’s still a top choice to inform any type of storytelling. Reading this book will make you see why some movies work and some don’t. If there’s one criticism I’d have, it’s that few people will have watched so many of the films referenced as examples. McKee at least explains the plot or other important information enough that the lesson can stand on its own. This is an excellent book that I wish I’d read sooner.

Diferente de outros livros, Story é sobre forma, não fórmula. Empregando exemplos de mais de cem filmes, McKee usa uma filosofia que vai além das regras rígidas para identificar os elementos mais elucidativos que distinguem estórias de qualidade das outras. Começando com definições básicas - o que é um beat? Uma cena? Uma sequência? O clímax de ato? O clímax do filme? McKee não apenas desvenda os mistérios da estrutura padrão de três atos, mas desmistifica estruturas incomuns como as de dois, sete e oito atos. Expõe as limitações de cada gênero, ressaltando a importância do tema, ambiente e atmosfera, e enfatiza a diferença de personagem versus caracterização. Recheado com exemplos de filmes como ''Casablanca'' e ''Chinatown'', Story disseca cenas clássicas, guiando-nos passo a passo para revelar não somente como uma cena funciona, mas por que ela funciona. Indo além dos fundamentos da composição para os valores duradouros e conflitos que separam os clássicos do clichê.

It contains tidbits of especially sage advice. I believe this book is useful for writers of tales of any type. Recommended.

This is one of my highest recommended writing books. Every scene should have a progression is the biggest takeaway that's improved my writing.

(Original review, 1997-11-30)

Aristotle's observations of drama, is very far from the early dramaturgy as 18th century Lessing for instance. In the twenties when dramaturgy started to become a subject on its own in Central Europe (where it started) there was already in the beginning two different approaches, the Pièce bien fait approach (which mostly is today's melodrama) and an agnostic approach basically used by Brecht (not in the sense of V-effect, but his approach to story - like in "Kleines Organon für das Theater") and many others where the approach follows the what he called "Mach und Dach" - first you do something - then you analyze what you have done and then build from that. The idea is that it is artistically weak to use tools of analysis as tools of creation as Eisenstein teaches for instance, who emerges as a slightly more important figure in the field of drama than Mr. McKee. McKee is no fool, but really is no help unless you already has what it takes to be a scriptwriter. For a talented person alone on the ocean of creative fear he might appear as a savior, but what he teaches might lessen the possibilities that always lies hidden or dormant in a potential dramatic proposal. Not everyone can be a scriptwriter unfortunately.

That McKee finds himself "The Aristotle of Our Time" is just indicating the level of understanding of what Aristotle was. The society in which he worked and lives was so fundamentally different from ours that comparisons cannot really be made with what Aristotle thought, but rather how we believe that we understand the meaning and content of these texts, as most scholars dealing with the history of ideas will tell you. That other language-user and guru, Johnny Carson, once advised "It's funnier to say things funny than to say funny things". And I think there's an analogy to be drawn from that insight with how stories should be told.

I was in a writer's group with a very scholarly type once, and we were all sent off to write up an analysis of a script, in the format a reader would present to someone higher up the script-assessment food chain (role-playing game). What he came up with was certain proof that many of the scholarly struggle to see the wood for the trees, and worse, think they're superior beings as a result of this shortcoming. The art of movie writing is to concoct a script that will get made into a film with a multi-million dollar budget. Scripts that don't get made don't count. In the context of this contest, scholarly insight is essentially useless, but an ability to name the parts is essential. Musicologists revere the Beatles (or at least they should) and yet the Beatles' intellectual musical training consisted of living their lives while listening to and playing the kind of music they loved. I suspect that this is how films are made too. To paraphrase a nice line from a fine film - the code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules. Arguing with McKee as an intellectual is futile. He is who he is, and he's achieved what he's achieved - the thing defines itself by being whatever it is. "The Aristotle of our time" Sounds a bit silly... worse... pointless. He's Mckee, innit?

Here's my suggestion for what qualifies as true greatness - you write something that has popular appeal, meets the demand of and catches the wave of its time, and subtlety and cunningly woven into it is your personal message to the world, the credo that you wish to express. It changes the way people see things, and the world becomes a better place for it. If you have managed that, respec'. No cash could trump that achievement. Here’s another piece of advice for what’s worth: Write sober and then ruminate on it at about 9pm with alcohol and/or weed and a notepad. Write down all the crazy ideas and possible sentences that come to you (but don't touch the actual writing, obviously. You'll regret that the next day).

NB. Funny thing is, McKee's never really written anything of note. Maybe I’m just confusing two completely different skillsets, writing and teaching. I do that sometimes…

I finished! It took me 3 months, which is actually better than I thought. Yeah, this is a textbook. Just sayin'. But it is a very good textbook. There were several 5-star parts, but the bulk of the book was more 4-starish. That said, those 5-star parts changed the way I think about writing. Particularly "the gap". I would say it was well worth all the time/money I spent on it.

BTW, this was very geared toward screenwriting (yeah, I know it says that right in the title). I hoped to apply it to novel writing, and I was not disappointed, but there were certain concepts that didn't apply to novel writing. Still, he's really good about differentiating between the story formats and how they apply, and I would suggest it for anyone who deals with story in any form.

Very good book on how to write and movie script. Also usefull for those who love movies and want to know better how it works.

Unfinished

Mckee has some strong views about films and he’s not going to let you learn about the nuts and bolts of story without beating you over the head with those views every chance he gets. European cinema? Load of rubbish, last 20 years of cinema? Load of rubbish, Hollywood & Asian cinema? The only people who can make “proper” films i.e. films that tell stories properly. The nuts and bolts are there and I didn’t pearl rule it but lost interest a little less than half way through. The examples he uses are mostly films I’ve not seen (Obviously I’ve been watching the rubbish films instead) and the style is both dry and overwrought. In the end this book goes onto the discard pile.

Overall – The style is not for me but there are useful things to glean½

One of the best breakdowns of storytelling I've ever read. McKee breaks down the essence of story and presents it directly, without that shroud of artistic ambiguity that seems to come with creative writing books. Nothing here is formulaic; instead, he approaches story from the stance of classical form, while teaching you how to to accomplish each step.

Story is nominally written for screenwriters, but the lessons here are applicable for any fiction writer.

Covers every aspect of the craft. Feels like getting a glimpse behind the curtain of the art. Engaging writing, with plenty of good illustrative examples.