Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting: Difference between revisions

''Story'' borrows heavily from older texts, most specifically Aristotle's ''[[Poetics (Literature)|Poetics]]''; McKee not only notes this, but often suggests the older work is essential if a true understanding of narrative techniques is desired. Many of the tropes found on [[This Very Wiki]] are detailed at great length; notable emphasis is placed on [[Three Act Structure|Act Structure]] ,<ref>that is not limited to the three act variety</ref>, [[Genre Tropes|Genre Conventions]], [[Conflict]], and the relationship between [[Characters|Character]] and [[Plot]].

{{quote| ''The writer, for example, may decide that [[War Is Hell|war is the scourge of humanity]], and pacifism is the cure. In his zeal to convince us all his good people are very, very good people, and all his bad people are very, very bad people. All the dialogue is [[Captain Obvious|"on the nose" laments about the futility and insanity of war]], heartfelt declarations that the cause of war is "establishment." From outline to first draft, he fills the screen with [[Squick|stomach-turning images]], making certain that each and every scene says loud and clear: "War is a scourge, but it can be cured by pacifism... war is a scourge cured by pacifism... War is a scourge cured by pacifism..." until you want to [[Do Not Do This Cool Thing|pick up a gun]].''}}

* [[BLAMNon Sequitur Episode|BLAM Movie]]: Acceptable under Antiplot structure if the point of the work is to say that life does not make sense.

* [[Captain Obvious]]: Any form of "on the nose" writing (writing subtext onto the text itself or pointing out the obvious) is strongly advised against.

* [[ClicheCliché]]: The result of a writer's lack of research, calling upon how similar events happened in other stories.

* [[The Climax]]: According to [['''Story (Literature)|Story]]''', this is where the [[An Aesop|Controlling Idea]] is most expressed.

* [[Did Not Do the Research]]: Some of the scene examples for [[Star Wars]] and [[Kramer vs. Kramer (Film)|Kramer vs. Kramer]] don't entirely match up to how they happen, but after reading the book, it turns out [[Fridge Brilliance|they follow McKee's theories more than his own examples]].

* [[Flat Character]]: Encouraged for bit parts and one-off characters. Endowing one-off characters with too many traits makes audiences wonder [[What Happened to Thethe Mouse?|what happened to that character]].