story

The Story: Read the Bible as One Seamless Story from Beginning to End
$14.99
I did notice that "The Story" leaves out some things from the Bible. For example, when Noah sent out a dove from the ark and it brought back an olive branch, is not even mentioned. On the other hand, if "The Story" included every single little detail, it would be a 1000 page book like the Bible itself. This 400 page book is much more manageable. As long as you realize this is a summary, I think "The Story" is completely acceptable.

Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies: The Screenwriter's Guide to Every Story Ever Told
$24.95
Blake Snyder's first book, "Save the Cat," is an amazing read. You can check out my review for it... Long story short, I was starting work on a feature-length script and decided to buy the book first. One of the best decisions I had made because it has helped me in ways I didn't even imagine.

Luckily for me, I also bought this one. And after I finished the first one I jumped STRAIGHT into this one. While this book is pretty standalone, its true value lies within reading it AFTER you read the first, because the first explains the terms and the methods and everything, and this is a list of examples of big, well-known movies.

If after the first book you thought "Are movies really that easily categorized?" then this book will answer your question big time. So if you read the first one and are considering buying this, do it. It goes hand in hand. If you haven't bought any, I suggest you get them both and read them in order. If not, just get the first one. Maybe I'm biased but I don't think this book does that well on its own.

The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller
$17.00
I think this book is really interesting and helpful if you take it with a grain of salt and just read it and try to answer some of the big questions. For instance:

Do the main character and the opposition actually want the same thing? If so, what is it?

How do subplots echo and enhance the main plot?

There's a bunch of good questions in here that I had never really considered asking myself before.

However, if you try to actually do EVERYTHING he says, you will go insane just trying to sort out exactly what it is he wants. The book is long and repetitive and not always entirely clear (mostly because I suspect he just started making stuff up at some level so that this would look original and he would seem like some kind of genius).

As many people have pointed out, he hasn't really applied the stuff himself to any great acclaim. He's created a system of deconstructing a piece AFTER it was written, which is what writing gurus all do. That is not at all the same thing as showing someone how to write a piece before they write it. As such, it gives you things to think about, but it is not exactly what it claims to be.

I would be much happier if he had just made a workbook with questions that I could follow and answer and thus be able to avoid wading through all the repetitive meandering.

Walt Disney Animation Studios The Archive Series: Story (Walt Disney Animation Archives)
$50.00
this is an interesting book to just sit down and look at or take the time to read...I had bought it hoping to better my drawing skills and I feel this book didn't do it...karen