S*TsOrRe¥ STORY SUEOMRENG Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting ROBERT MCKEE — - ReganBooks An Imprint of HarperCollinsPablishersStony. Copyright © 1997 by Robert McKee. All rights reserved, Printed in the Unhed States of America, No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any ‘manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quota. ons embodied in erica articles and reviews, For inforination address Harpe Collins Publishers, In. 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY ross. HarperCollins books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promo tional use. For information please write: Special Markets Dy ecial Markets Department, Harper- Collins Publishers, In., 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY toozs, ms Designed by Laura Lindgren brary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McKee, Robert, .941— ‘Story : substance, structure, style, andthe principles of screemwritin, Robert McKee er Pan Includes bibliographical references and index, ISBN: 0-06-0391685 ¥. Motion picture authorship. 2. Motion picture plays —Tech, : fe plays —Technigue. I. Tite PN1996.M465 1997 808.2 3—dear _ 808.23 op aang 06 /RRD 40 39 38 1 dedicate this book to the happy memory of my parents who, in their very different ways, taught me the love of story. When I was first learning to read, but not always behaving appro: Driately, my father introduced me to the fables of Aesop in the hope that these ancient cautionary tales might improve my deport ment. Each evening, after working my way through the likes of “The Fox and the Grapes,” he would nod and ask, “And what does this story mean to you, Robert?” As I stared at these texts and their handsome color illustrations, struggling to find my interpretations, 1 slowly came to realize that stories mean much more than words and pretty pictures, Later, before entering the university, I deduced that the best possible life includes as many rounds of golf as possible, and there- fore, I would become a dentist. “Dentist?!” my mother laughed. “You can't be serious, What happens when they cure all teeth prob- lems? Where will dentists be then? No, Bobby, people will always need entertainment. I'm looking out for your future. You're going into show business.”CONTENTS Acknowledgments / ix Notes on the Text / xi parti: THE WRITER AND THE ART OF STORY Introduction | 3 1, The Story Problem {11 part 2: THE ELEMENTS OF STORY . The Structure Spectrum J 31 Structure and Setting / 67 Structure and Genre / 79 Structure and Character / 100 . Structure and Meaning / 110 varr 3: THE PRINCIPLES OF STORY DESIGN 7- The Substance of Story / 135 8. The Inciting Incident / 181 9. Act Design / 208 Yo. Scene Design / 233 M1, Scene Analysis | 252 - Composition / 288 - Crisis, Climax, Resolution / 303 part 4: THE WRITER AT WORK 14, The Principle of Antagonism / 317 . Exposition / 334 Problems and Solutions / 346 17. Character / 374 18. The Text / 388 19. AWriter’s Method / 410 Fade Out / 418 avawpy Suggested Readings / 421 Filmography / 423 Index / 457