Robert McKee is one of the great teachers of storytelling and script writing. He’s been connected to some of the greatest films in modern movie making. I absolutely adore this book and made it one of my recommendations in my post The 5 Best Copywriting Books: An Unconventional Guide I wrote for Freelance Switch.
Here is McKee’s take on what Story is and is not.
- Story is about eternal, universal forms, not formulas.
- Story is about Archetypes, not stereotypes.
- Story is about thoroughness, not shortcuts.
- Story is about realities, not the mysteries of writing.
- Story is about mastering the art, not second-guessing the marketplace.
- Story is about respect, not disdain, for the audience.
- Story is about originality, not duplication.
Great advice. I appreciate his staying true to classic story forms—the archetypal and universal. His talk of universal Forms is clearly a nod to the Platonic idea of Forms. These timeless Ideas lay the groundwork for what we perceive as reality and are the unconscious reference system that makes it possible for us to perceive beauty, pain, love, etc.
With regard to Story, we would do well to pay attention to Universal truths. There are reasons why The Hero’s Journey and the structure of classic myths and fairy tales endure as they do. It is precisely because they do speak to us in Archetypal language and that language stirs something deep within our unconscious.
We are who we are because or our myths, our stories. They are the context from which we know ourselves. Stories, even modern stories, continue to inform us in profoundly formative ways.
The master the art of Story. To truly perfect this as a craft is the role of every writer whether you’re selling a product or writing about the human condition.
Story always works.
I have this book and really like it as well.
Have you seen “Adaptation”? In it, Charlie Kaufman, who has writer’s block, puts McKee down a lot, but then attends one of his seminars and starts obsessively using this book as a guide. One could speculate all day about the (meta-)implications of the (real?) effects of the book on the second half of the movie, but whatever the case, it’s a great movie and the merging of the oddly complementary McKee and Kaufman sensibilities mesh well in it.
I have seen it. I’m sure McKee was ultimately quite proud. Great anti-product placement for the book or his “approach” to the process. But, what I really like is McKee’s unwavering dedication to classic ideas of telling great stories. The timeless pursuit of Archetypal ideas that can carry us forward in a tale well told.
In light of the Post-Jungian stuff I’ve been reading, like James Hillman’s Re-Visioning psychology, McKee’s core approach to narrative is welcomed. We need more great stories.