★★★★★ 5
It's All Right Here. All of it.
Format: Hardcover
I shouldn't even be writing this review because doing so only creates my competition. I'm writing it for Robert McKee out of respect and love for him as one of the best instructors I've never met. I have both STORY and now, DIALOGUE in hardcover, on my Kindle, and the audio version (he narrates his books) in my headphones. I read it, I listen to it and take it with me when I travel. Sometimes I listen and read at the same time. Most nights I listen to the audio version in my sleep. In other words, I eat, sleep and breathe this book. I did the same thing with Story, his other book. I may go to my grave never fully comprehending the vast wealth of knowledge contained in these two books. That's OK. What I can tell you is this. With nothing but STORY as my guide, my very first screenplay took seven months and thirty-five drafts from start to finish. But. That screenplay became a Hallmark Movies and Mysteries feature film. The producers liked it so much they gave me another assignment. That one took six weeks, and they bought the first draft. I'm now working on my fifth script; this one is in the six-figure category, with five figures upfront just for the Treatment. And I owe it all to everything I've learned from studying Robert McKee, supplemented by what I learned from everyone else. Over the past thirty years, I’ve studied with forty plus instructors and highlighted hundreds of books and listened to dozens of recorded seminars. All that information is summed up and thoroughly explained in Robert McKee's two books STORY and now DIALOGUE. I won't live long enough to absorb everything he teaches. And I still study two hours a day as a warm up for my writing. I’d recommend Aaron Sorkin, Warner Hertzog, William Goldman (both Sorkin and McKee say he's the greatest), Blake Synder, Chris Vogler, Michael Hauge, William Akers, and anybody else you can find who’s willing to share their knowledge. Because you never know when a concept you didn’t realize you didn’t understand or needed is going to show up. Especially when presented from a different perspective. Having said that, if you are serious, and I mean dead serious, about becoming a working screenwriter, or any other kind of fiction writer for that matter, then you have no choice but to study McKee like your literary life depends on it. Buy the hardcover, buy the Kindle version, and buy the audio version of DIALOGUE and STORY. And supplement these two works with any other material that speaks to you. If you do this, you will become a first class screenwriter or novelist or playwright, because all three genres are only different ways of presenting a Story. If you can’t commit to this, unless you’re a genius or prodigy, you’re wasting valuable time which could be spent following your true life calling. But if your heart’s desire is to become a working writer, then sooner or later you’ll have to know everything in McKee’s two books. So, you might as well bite the bullet and jump in head first. It's all right here in STORY and DIALOGUE. All of it. Thank you, Mr. McKee. You, sir, changed my life.-- Jimmy Hager
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Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2016
