Диалог. Искусство слова для писателей, сценаристов и драматургов

by Robert McKee, Роберт Макки

Цитата "Коренное различие между болтовней и диалогом заключается отнюдь не в количестве, выборе или расстановке слов. Различаются они содержательностью. Диалог концентрирует содержание; праздный разговор растворяет его. А значит, даже в самых реалистичных обстоятельствах и жанрах достоверный диалог не повторяет действительность".
Роберт Макки
О чем книга
О функции и технике ведения диалога, распространенных ошибках этого жанра, о поиске слов и построении сцены, а также многом другом в контексте книг и популярных кинофильмов

Почему книга достойна прочтения
По признанию самого автора, эта книга - своего рода GPS-навигатор для авторов. “ Если вы новичок в этом искусстве и чувствуете, что зашли в творческий тупик, "Диалог" наставит на путь к совершенству; если вы опытный писатель, но сбились с курса, эта книга приведет вас туда, куда надо”.
Сюжет романа или киносценарий могут быть избитыми, канва повествования унылой, а картинка скучной, разбавляют все это диалоги. Лишь они способны вдохнуть жизнь в героев и прибавить выразительности, считает Макки.
Книга поделена на 4 части, каждая из которых поэтапно приближает читателя к совершенству в искусстве ведения диалога. Роберт Макки обращается к различным определениям понятия “диалог” и рассматривает каждое из них, поясняя теорию примерами из шедевров драматической прозы, фильмов и телепередач. Через эти цитаты он демонстрирует два основных правила хорошего диалога: первое - каждый обмен репликами в диалоге создает действие и противодействие, двигающие сцену; и второе - хотя действия находят выражение во внешних проявлениях или в речи, источник действий персонажа невидим и скрывается в подтексте.

Для кого эта книга
Адресована профессиональным и начинающим писателям и сценаристам, а также всем тем, кто интересуется кинематографом.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Film, Crafts, Audiobook, Reference, Art

318 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Robert McKee began his show business career at age nine playing the title role in a community theatre production of MARTIN THE SHOEMAKER. He continued acting as a teenager in theatre productions in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. Upon receiving the Evans Scholarship, he attended the University of Michigan and earned a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature. While an undergraduate, he acted in and directed over thirty productions. McKee's creative writing professor was the noted Kenneth Rowe whose former students include Arthur Miller and Lawrence Kasdan.

After completing his B.A., McKee toured with the APA (Association of Producing Artists) Repertory Company, appearing on Broadway with such luminaries as Helen Hayes, Rosemary Harris and Will Geer. He then received the Professional Theatre Fellowship and returned to Ann Arbor, Michigan to earn his Master's Degree in Theatre Arts.

Upon graduating, McKee directed the Toledo Repertory Company, acted with the American Drama Festival, and became Artistic Director of the Aaron Deroy Theatre. From there he traveled to London to accept the position of Artist-In-Residence at the National Theatre where he studied Shakespearean production at the Old Vic. He then returned to New York and spent the next seven years as an actor/director in various Off-Broadway, repertory and stock companies.

After deciding to move his career to film, McKee attended Cinema School at the University of Michigan. While there, he directed two short films - A DAY OFF, which he also wrote, and TALK TO ME LIKE THE RAIN, adapted from a one-act play by Tennessee Williams. These two films won the Cine Eagle Award, awards at the Brussels and Grenoble Film Festivals, and various prizes at the Delta, Rochester, Chicago and Baltimore Film Festivals.

In 1979, McKee moved to Los Angeles, California where he began to write screenplays and work as a story analyst for United Artists and NBC. He sold his first screenplay, DEAD FILES, to AVCO/Embassy Films, after which he joined the WGA (Writers Guild of America). His next screenplay, HARD KNOCKS, won the National Screenwriting Contest, and since then McKee has had over eight feature film screenplays purchased or optioned, including the feature film script TROPHY for Warner Bros. In addition to his screenplays, McKee has had a number of scripts produced for such critically acclaimed dramatic television series as QUINCY, M.D. (starring Jack Klugman), COLUMBO (starring Peter Falk), SPENSER: FOR HIRE and KOJAK (starring Telly Savalas).

In 1983, McKee, a Fulbright Scholar, joined the faculty of the School of Cinema and Television at the University of Southern California (USC), where he began offering his now famous STORY SEMINAR class. A year later, McKee opened the course to the public and he now teaches the 3-day, 30-hour STORY SEMINAR to sold-out audiences around the world. From Los Angeles (where his course is only taught two times a year) to New York (two times a year) to Paris, Sydney, Toronto, Boston, San Francisco, Helsinki, Oslo, Munich, Singapore, Barcelona and 12 other film capitals around the world, more than 50,000 students have taken the course over the last 15+ years.

Through it all, McKee continues to be a project consultant to major film and television production companies, as well major software firms (Microsoft, etc.), news departments (ABC, etc.) and more. In addition, several companies such as ABC, Disney, Miramax, PBS, Nickelodeon and Paramount regularly send their entire creative and writing staffs to his lectures.

In 2000, McKee won the prestigious 1999 International Moving Image Book Award for his best-selling book STORY (Regan Books/HarperCollins). The book, currently in its 32nd printing in the U.S. and its 19th printing in the U.K., has become required reading for film and cinema schools at such top Universities as Harvard, Yale, UCLA, and USC, and was on the LOS ANGELES TIMES best-seller list for 20 weeks.

Reviews

[Bran Gustafson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you write stories, you'll probably want to read this book on dialogue. I've been a big fan of McKee's "Story" for a while, which in my mind is probably the best book about writing stories I've read.

Like "Story," "Dialogue" eschews easy answers and formula and goes deep, explaining the hard work you'll need to do to write good dialogue. Ironically, for me it's actually made writing dialogue harder--not easier--because I've realized I'm not putting the proper thought and work into it. With McKee "easy" is never the point. Excellence is the point.

[G.H. Eckel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't like this book at the start. It's very scholarly, academic and overly complicated--pretty far from the actual experience of writing a novel. A writer just wants to know how to write better. Don't give me a jigsaw puzzle with 2000 pieces. This book seemed like reading a PhD thesis on how to swing a golf club. Great but it won't improve your game. It takes hacking at the ball to improve.



My opinion changed part way through. I found that i was picking up a few good nuggets here and there: the conversation about "on the nose" writing, about the different kinds of conflict--little tips that let me see my own writing better. The best books allow you to see your own writing (and the writing of others) more precisely, just a a neurosurgeon sees a brain in infinite more detail than I can, even though we're looking at the same thing.



McKee includes in the book the kinds of things you talk about when scrutinizing a novel in a college classroom. Good but again, talking ABOUT is different from DOING. Still, i ended up admiring the book. 90% will be lost to me. But the 10% i will retain will be helpful. Some passages in the book really did help me see my writing in a new way, with more precision. And while knowledge in an of itself, does not make great writing, just as knowing how to swing a golf club does not make your swing great, I will take away some new means of evaluating my writing and that will make it better.

So, if you're a writer, give this one a shot. You're liable to grow in your craft as a result.

[Nelson Zagalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert McKee é uma das maiores autoridades do guionismo de Hollywood, sendo o seu livro “Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting” (1997) considerado uma espécie de bíblia para quem escreve para o meio audiovisual. “Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen” (2016) é assim além da sua primeira publicação em 20 anos, um verdadeiro sucessor de “Story”, capaz de aprofundar toda a componente da escrita de diálogo. Entretanto McKee passou todos estes anos envolvido nos seus famosos workshops, aquilo que confessa mais gostar de fazer porque segundo ele: “Life is absurd. But there is one meaningful thing, one inarguable thing, and that is that there is suffering. Fine writing helps alleviate that suffering – and anything that puts meaning and beauty into the world in the form of story, helps people to live with more peace and purpose and balance, is deeply worthwhile.”

A análise continua com largos pedaços retirados do texto para ilustrar alguns dos conceitos que considerei mais relevantes, servindo de sumário ou síntese da obra. Pode ser lido na íntegra no VI em https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.com....

[Reza Qalandari · Rating 4 out of 5]

خلاصه و مختصر: هر داستان‌نویسی باید این کتاب رو بخونه. چه فیلم‌نامه و نمایشنامه می‌نویسید، چه داستانِ کوتاه یا یا بلند، این کتاب آموزه‌های بسیاری داره که قطعاً به کارتون خواهد اومد. نویسنده انواع دیالوگ رو دسته‌بندی و مقایسه کرده، ده‌ها مثال از کتاب‌ها و فیلم‌ها و سریال‌ها زده و همه رو ریز‌به‌ریز بررسی کرده. تازه، درباره‌ی خود روایت هم که عملاً اون هم دیالوگه، چه وقتی راوی داره با خودش صحبت می‌کنه و چه با مخاطبش که ما باشیم، به نکته‌های بسیار خوبی اشاره کرده.

من این کتاب رو دو بار خوندم اما دلیل این‌که بهش ۴ دادم، نه ۵، اینه که حس کردم گاهی داره با نویسنده و نویسندگی ماشین‌وار برخورد می‌کنه؛ انگار که نویسنده‌ی خوب ‌موقع نوشتن می‌آد تک‌تک خطوط رو متر و اندازه می‌کنه و هیچ‌چیزی به‌شکل طبیعی از درون خود نویسنده و تجربیاتش و شناختش از شخصیت‌ها و داستانش، جاری نمی‌‌شه و باید همه‌چیز اول محاسباتش انجام بشه و بعد بیاد رو کاغذ. اما به‌هرحال بخونیدش که خیلی کتاب مفیدیه.

[Paula Cappa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art of dialogue. How does a writer get it just right to be effective, yet original, dramatic but not too dramatic, captivating and satisfying, and most important of all convincing? The thrust of this book is how McKee spends time on characterizations and the art of the subtext—vital to thrilling and effective dialogue. McKee explains how subtext works, the thinking behind it, shows you its most effective moments, why it works well or poorly, and gives you the tools to make it work. The result: amazingly clear insight. No kidding, if you want to fully understand subtext and sharpen your skills, this is the writing book to get.

Conflict in dialogue, turning points, even sentence designs techniques. McKee describes the “suspense sentence” and the “periodic sentence.” Because prose is a natural medium for storytelling, you will learn how Charles Dickens used ‘counter pointing exposition’ and its effectiveness for the reader. I hadn’t seen this kind of hook in writing before, hadn’t heard this term before. Very powerful technique; of course none of us writes like Dickens, but what an example on how to swoop the reader in. What’s one of the takeaways in Dialogue by Robert McKee? “Quality storytelling inspires quality dialogue.” Which inspires a read of McKee’s other remarkable craft book “Story”—a great companion read as both books belong on any serious writer’s bookshelf.

[Winnie Thornton · Rating 3 out of 5]

McKee is smart and he offers helpful insight and tips (for which I'm grateful), but he breaks his own best rules of dialogue:

- BE INTERESTING.
- Say things economically.
- If you want to hold people's attention, put the most important concept/word at the END of the sentence.
- Avoid passive voice, dead constructions, and fluffy prepositional phrases.

McKee followed none of his own advice. He's brilliant, but also a hypocrite. Unkind, or just a bad writer?

This is one obnoxiously chewy book. For a book on dialogue that is actually fun and readable, try Writing Dialogue.

[Amirhossein · Rating 3 out of 5]

به خوبی 《داستان》نیست، اما مک‌کیه دیگه! و قطعا خیلی چیزا بهتون اضافه می‌کنه. این‌که می‌گم به خوبی کتاب قبلیش نیست، از این بابته که یه سری چیزا رو خیلی تکرار می‌کنه. و بنظرم می‌تونست با نصف این حجمی که الان داره، همین کارایی رو داشته باشه.

[Quicksilver Quill · Rating 4 out of 5]

He’s back . . .

If you’re familiar with Robert McKee, you’ve likely already pored over his magnum opus Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting, or perhaps even attended one of his famous three-day story seminars.

One thing is certain: this man is serious about storytelling—and he knows a thing or two about the craft that he’d like to share with the rest of us scribblers, screenwriters, moviegoers, bibliophiles, or curiosity seekers as the case may be.

Now, nearly twenty years after he delivered his revelations on the principles of film storytelling in book form, McKee returns with a new book dedicated solely to the art of dialogue.

In many ways the book is long overdue. For while the craft of storytelling can seem somewhat abstract and largely invisible to the reader/audience, dialogue is more apparent—the icing on the cake applied only after all the hard work of plotting, subtext, and character has laid a firm foundation.

Dialogue is what we do hear and what we are most aware of. Ergo, it would seem to demand a proper explication for the student of storytelling.

And who better to delve into this subject than McKee himself? For according to the author, the two disciplines are most certainly intertwined. As McKee says: “Quality storytelling inspires quality dialogue.”

Thus we have Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen. What occupied the space of less than a chapter in Story is now expanded into a full book of its own—and it’s an enlightening read.

Here McKee is in top form, displaying his virtuoso abilities to analyze and explain everything you ever wanted to know about the spoken—and even unspoken—word in films, plays, and novels.

Thorough as ever, McKee covers a lot of ground in these pages, ranging from his own definition of what constitutes dialogue to its variations in different forms of storytelling. He includes quick fixes for lame chitchat and troubleshooting for insidious problems such as the ever-annoying ‘on-the-nose’ dialogue.

Of course, the book would not be complete without McKee’s trademark in depth scene analyses. To wit, he slices and dices scenes from a handful of popular stories, deftly wielding his analytical instruments, unveiling the meaning and implications of dialogue from plays, novels, movies, and TV shows.

It’s quite revelatory. And while now and then you might get a feeling of hairsplitting, there is no doubt that a master is at work.

The book does contain a few throwbacks to Story and McKee occasionally treads over familiar territory. One example is a somewhat lengthy recap of his storytelling principles. Depending on your point of view and whether you’ve read Story, this is either a good refresher of that material, a good introduction to it, or something of a distraction from the task at hand, i.e. learning about dialogue.

Personally, I found it to be a good review, and since the two subjects are so closely connected, it seems worthwhile to regain a firm footing on all aspects of the art of story.

That said, as a teacher of storytelling and dialogue, McKee can seem a formidable taskmaster. Of writers, he demands an exacting and exhausting devotion to their art, and a relentless perfecting of their craft.

Consequently, there is perhaps a risk of analysis leading to paralysis—the idea that if you overthink and overanalyze your work to such an extent as he recommends, perhaps it will never get written at all.

On the other hand, there is also the greater risk of not knowing what the hell you’re doing with your writing and lacking the awareness and skills required to create entertaining art.

So perhaps the task must be left to the writer to judge for himself how much analysis he will imbue into the creation of his dialogue, and how much of his own creative instincts he will ultimately choose to follow.

Like Story, Dialogue is a book that invites multiple readings and careful study to grasp its many lessons. Indeed, with such a wealth of information to absorb, you can sometimes feel a little lost in an ocean of ideas.

Nevertheless, Dialogue is an enjoyable, entertaining, and illuminating master class by Robert McKee distilled into book form, and any writer who wants to understand great dialogue—and improve his ability to create it—will benefit from this read.

[Anna Richland · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. I was listening to the audiobook, and the narrator had one of those slightly condescending, slightly nasal, very "measured" voices that just grated on me. It bordered on soporific, and my mind wandered the whole time. I tried multiple different times to listen, I skipped ahead, but the material did not overcome the dull narrator.

Long passages of "speech" from decades-old literary fiction were used to illustrate various types of dialog. While that may work in the book form, where the speech is indented and the human eye can pass over it more quickly than the human ear can listen, in audiobook the length of these passages made it impossible to keep in mind the concept McKee was trying to illustrate.

I write genre fiction, specifically romance, and dialog is a key component of our stories. I did not feel like genre fiction was the target for the type of writing McKee is extolling and dissecting.

[Mostafa Azizi · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب بسیار خوبی ست اما ترجمه‌ی فارسی آن به دلم ننشست. وقتی تازه این کتاب منتظر شده بود دیدم محمد گذرآبادی که به خوبی سال‌ها پیش داستان مک‌کی را ترجمه کرده بود دست‌به‌کار ترجمه‌ی این کتاب هم شد اما دیگر از ایران آمدم نفهمیدم چه بر سر ترجمه‌ی آن آمد دوستی این را برای‌ام فرستاد.
البته ترجمه‌ی این کتاب بسیار دشوار است چون بحث کلامی در آن وابسته به زبان انگلیسی زیاد صورت گرفته. شاید هم محمد نخواسته شهرت خودش در ترجمه‌ی اول را ضایع کنه.

[Rafael Isidoro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quero reescrever todos os meus diálogos depois de ler esse livro.

Amei a forma como o autor aprofunda na concepção do que é o diálogo e nos vários formatos que ele pode assumir. Os estudos de caso no final do livro fecharam a obra com chave de ouro.

Recomendo demais para todes que gostam de escrever.

(Superou o Sobre a Escrita para mim)

[Alissa Hattman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thorough and comprehensive book on dialogue that is also entertaining. McKee offers wonderful insight and practical tips to the the difficult and often elusive art of writing compelling dialogue. In particular, I found Chapter Three, where McKee details "The Said," "The Unsaid," and "The Unsayable," fascinating.

[Christine Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone who writes should read this.

[Lucas Mota · Rating 5 out of 5]

NOTA: 5

McKee entende de narrativa como poucos, mas tem a capacidade de transmitir seu conhecimento que nenhuma outra pessoa no mundo tem quando se trata de estudos narrativos. É conciso, direto e claro.
Aqui ele propões estudos mais aprofundados sobre a construção e análises de diálogos. Ele defende que as falas dos personagens são mais importantes do que se pensa. Eu sempre acreditei na força do subtexto, sempre ouvi muitos colegas falando a mesma coisa, mas foi a primeira vez que vi uma estudo prático de como aplicar o subtexto a uma história, mais especificamente, a um diálogo. Assim como "Styory", o outro grande livro sobre narrativas de McKee, "Diálogo" merece o status de indispensável para qualquer um que escreve ficção.

"Diálogo mal escrito tende a ser literal; ele quer dizer o que diz e nada mais. O diálogo bem escrito, por outro lado, indica mais do que diz; ele coloca um subtexto abaixo de cada palavra."

[Ksenia Anske · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Like a hand in the dark, guiding you to writing great dialogue and encouraging you along the way. The kind of book that feels like your very own private teacher who's always there for you. And what insights! I didn't want it to end. More, please.

[Davide Di Tullio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Naturale approfondimento del giustamente blasonato "Story", "Dialoghi" rappresenta la vera ciliegina sulla torta di un'opera monumentale, che ogni buon appassionato di scrittura con qualche velleità di "professionalità" dovrebbe leggere e studiare.
Il manuale (termine sicuramente riduttivo ma che in parte rispecchia la vera funzione di questo testo) si presenta come un compendio di quanto di meglio si possa riconoscere nel campo della scrittura dei dialoghi.
Dando un taglio di forte pragmatismo, tipico della cultura americana, Mckee offre suggerimenti concreti su come gestire uno degli aspetti più importanti di un testo narrativo.
Non offre scorciatoie, questo deve essere chiaro, ma solo indicazioni di buon senso su cosa non deve mancare in un buon dialogo, tenendo sempre in conto il fatto che non c´è tecnica di costruzione dei dialoghi che tenga senza una buona storia e una buona caratterizzazione dei personaggi alle spalle.
Corredata da esempi concreti in grado di esemplificare concetti non sempre immediati, questo manuale/saggio trasforma lo studio delle buone pratiche di scrittura in una vera e propria riflessione antropolgica sulla natura umana. Un aspetto imprescindibile se si vuol provare a scrivere qualcosa di buono.

[Claudio De agostini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forse uno dei manuali più tosti che abbia letto fin adesso.
McKee non si limita ad analizzare i dialoghi tra i personaggi, ma qualsiasi genere di dialogo narrativo, sia esso nell'introspezione del personaggio, la prosa di un libro o la rappresentazione teatrale. Qualsiasi forma espressiva che racconta la storia viene dissezionata in base alle sue funzionalità.
Come in Story, è incredibile il modo in cui McKee riesce a scomporre tutto fino alle minime parti e a trovare un senso per ogni singolo elemento. Perfino la quantità di sillabe ha la sua funzione nella creazione del personaggio e della sua voce; non mancano poi le riflessioni ad ampio spettro sullo Show don't tell e tutti gli altri aspetti intermedi.
Si tratta di un manuale complesso che non consiglierei come punto di partenza.
Le informazioni contenute riguardano aspetti che richiedono le nozioni fondamentali e anche in quel caso si tratta di TANTE informazioni e ben pochi "fai così".
In questo manuale McKee non offre risposte, ma solo un'infinità di strumenti di analisi.

[Matt Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite excellent and a must read for all writers of fiction. Note: the book is NOT about how two characters converse with each other. This touches upon all aspects of prose, because even exposition is a type of dialogue between the narrative perspective and the reader.

The most useful part to me was the constant reiteration of how great works and complex characters use subtext. People rarely say what they mean or what they think. When your fictional characters do this, they come across as underdeveloped and one dimensional.

The price of the book is worth it for the in-depth analysis of several scenes from famous works at the end.

The beginning of the book is a bit mismatched for the intended audience. This book is not really suitable for introductory fiction writing, and so the basic material covered in the beginning is unnecessary and kind of slog to plod through.

[Kendall Grey]

This is the writing craft book I've been waiting for. Tightly written with tons of concrete examples for how to write dialogue in its various forms, this book might've saved my writing life. I listened to the audio, which was expertly narrated by the author, and I learned so much that I just purchased a hard copy so I can mark the hell out of it on my next re-read. Highly recommend this one for fiction writers especially.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly feel that anyone that spends the effort and reads through “story” and “dialogue” will have the ability and the confidence to produce a quality piece of fiction in some form. It’s a brilliant creative writing masterclass, and one that I encourage anyone with stories they want to tell to attend.

[Seeley James · Rating 5 out of 5]

McKee’s best

More relevant than STORY, more useful on a daily basis. This is the book I recommend to all beginning writers. I’ve now read it three times and will read it at least three more. I learn, relearn, and remember bits and pieces each time. It is one of three books that has made me the greatest writer of all time.*

*my opinion, anyway.

[Bill Powers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! It does cover much more than "Dialogue". It's one of those books that you'll go back to often.

[M.C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy bueno, como todos los libros de Mckee. Válido, además, para guionistas y autores literarios. Con ejemplos prácticos tanto de pelis como de novelas. Excelente redacción y sin irse por las ramas.

[Mohammad Mahdi Safi · Rating 5 out of 5]

کامل، جامع و کاربردی برای شناخت دقیق دیالوگ...

[Rachel Knox · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book on writing dialogue. McKee is always thorough, and I got so much more than I expected from this, e.g. writing different kinds of sentences, periodic - a sentence which withholds its core idea until the final word. McKee goes deep, so I may have to revisit some parts. I love the examples he gives too, which make it easier to embed the learning in your own work. I write fantasy where dialogue often has to be quite 'on the nose,' but there's always room for some good subtext even in fantasy. The trialogue part shows how to write subtler dialogue using subtext, and how it's achieved through the use of another object/target which characters use to convey how they feel without saying it directly. I've now bought 'Character' and look forward to reading that soon.

[Flaviu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book does a great job showing you the importance of good dialogue in all fiction mediums.
I grew to have a deeper appreciation for it and after reading just a few chapters I found myself paying more attention to dialogue wherever I could find it.

Combined with Story (by McKee) it becomes a powerful package for amateur writers.
I'll have to re-read both of them in the future since they pack a condensed punch of useful information and insight.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I appreciate about McKee is he never promises anything about helping you sell your script or a get rich fast scheme. McKee is dedicated to the craft of writing and doesn't allude to the difficulty of what is effective and what is ineffective. This was one of those books I'll have to reference a lot because quite honestly, it was a lot to take in.

Definitely made me think about story and scripts differently.

[Tama · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I could convince Robert McKee that what he’s taught the reader here is how better to think about dialogue that’s already been written. Make a better analyst, critic/editor. But it doesn’t and can’t teach how to write dialogue. If writing is rewriting then drafting dialogue is not writing at all. The “In Character” writing is the mystical process that can only relate to the brain and not a writing guru book.

[Emma Whear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for NSA's MFA.

Really enjoyed the format - McKee often pulled examples and then wrote them multiple different ways to show off the benefits of excellent dialogue.

Well formatted. Authoritative.

[Jake Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly? Another essential read from McKee for the aspiring writer. You're kidding yourself if you think you can master story with zero guidance.