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Action: The Art of Excitement for Screen, Page, and Game
From the master of Story, Dialogue, and Character, ACTION offers writers the keys to propulsive storytelling.
ACTION explores the ways that a modern-day writer can successfully tell an action story that not only stands apart, but wins the war on clichés. Teaming up with the former co-host of The Story Toolkit, Bassim El-Wakil, legendary story lecturer Robert McKee guides writers to award-winning originality by deconstructing the action genre, illuminating the challenges, and, more importantly, demonstrating how to master the demands of plot with surprising beats of innovation and ingenuity.
Topics
Understanding the Four Core Elements of ActionCreating the Action CastHook, Hold, Pay Design in ActionThe Action MacguffinAction Set PiecesThe Sixteen Action SubgenresA must-add to the McKee storytelling library, ACTION illustrates the principles of narrative drive with precision and clarity by referencing the most popular action movies of our time Die Hard, The Star Wars Saga, Dark Knight, The Matrix, and Endgame.
ACTION explores the ways that a modern-day writer can successfully tell an action story that not only stands apart, but wins the war on clichés. Teaming up with the former co-host of The Story Toolkit, Bassim El-Wakil, legendary story lecturer Robert McKee guides writers to award-winning originality by deconstructing the action genre, illuminating the challenges, and, more importantly, demonstrating how to master the demands of plot with surprising beats of innovation and ingenuity.
Topics
Understanding the Four Core Elements of ActionCreating the Action CastHook, Hold, Pay Design in ActionThe Action MacguffinAction Set PiecesThe Sixteen Action SubgenresA must-add to the McKee storytelling library, ACTION illustrates the principles of narrative drive with precision and clarity by referencing the most popular action movies of our time Die Hard, The Star Wars Saga, Dark Knight, The Matrix, and Endgame.
219 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 6, 2022
78 people are currently reading
458 people want to read
About the author
Robert McKee
24 books596 followersRobert 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 31, 2022
An excellent addition for any writer's ever growing pile of books. A perfect companion for when you’re in a stump, this book provides redirection and is a great cure for writer’s block to get you back on track. Helps you figure out your characters’ roles clearer and finish your plot, no matter what genre book you are writing.
January 6, 2024
I didn't want to read it when it came out, but as it was the only one I had yet to read by McKee, I ended up giving it a chance, it was a total waste of time, as I had anticipated. The subject didn't interest me, action cinema is interesting for having a good time without thinking, so thinking in depth about it seemed a paradox.
However, that's not what McKee does, this is his book in which he does the least thinking, spending all the time describing and exemplifying. McKee has created a vast list of points about what action cinema is, with some sub-points, and then goes on to discuss each point, offering examples of action blockbusters (Mission Impossible, James Bond, etc.). In the end, you're left with nothing because nothing has really been built up about action cinema, but only a few descriptive examples have been thrown in.
However, that's not what McKee does, this is his book in which he does the least thinking, spending all the time describing and exemplifying. McKee has created a vast list of points about what action cinema is, with some sub-points, and then goes on to discuss each point, offering examples of action blockbusters (Mission Impossible, James Bond, etc.). In the end, you're left with nothing because nothing has really been built up about action cinema, but only a few descriptive examples have been thrown in.
August 31, 2023
Robert McKee is a legendary storytelling expert. He developed a storytelling seminar for screenwriters while he was a film school professor at the University of Southern California. His students have won Oscars, Emmys, and many other awards. His previous books:
** Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting
** Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen
** Character: The Art of Role and Cast Design for Page, Stage, and Screen
are classics that should be on every novelist’s shelf as well as every screenwriter’s.
While McKee’s previous books are informative, they’re also dense, theory-heavy, with the occasional pages-long rant on a tangential topic.
Action, with its focus on a single-genre, is less theoretical, more concise, and contains many tips you can immediately apply to your work-in-progress.
Some of what this book covers:
** What makes an Action story an Action story
** The three key roles in any Action tale - hero, victim, villain - and what traits each needs
** The different types of heroes, villains, and victims and examples of characters who combine roles (eg hero-victim, villain-victim, etc.)
** Ways to demonstrate the power differential between hero and villain (i.e. to make the hero look vulnerable and the villain invulnerable)
** How the Inciting Incident can unfold, and what strategies to use to keep audience attention if you have a delayed Inciting Incident
** How the Spine of Action (the plot) relates to the villain’s plan and how you can raise the stakes
** What makes a great Hero at the Mercy of the Villain scene
** What a MacGuffin is and the three characteristics of a great one
** The qualities compelling heroes and villains have
** How to dramatize your BIG scenes (Set Pieces) so that they stimulate the senses and generate a sense of excitement
** Strategies for managing pacing and progression in an Action story
** The 16 subgenres of Action and examples stories for each
** Takedowns of the Whammo Formula and the Journey Formula
If you're writing an Action story, whether it's set in a contemporary, historical, fantastical, or science fictional world, you'll want this book. And if you're writing a close relative of Action, like Thriller or Suspense, you'll want this book too.
** Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting
** Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen
** Character: The Art of Role and Cast Design for Page, Stage, and Screen
are classics that should be on every novelist’s shelf as well as every screenwriter’s.
While McKee’s previous books are informative, they’re also dense, theory-heavy, with the occasional pages-long rant on a tangential topic.
Action, with its focus on a single-genre, is less theoretical, more concise, and contains many tips you can immediately apply to your work-in-progress.
Some of what this book covers:
** What makes an Action story an Action story
** The three key roles in any Action tale - hero, victim, villain - and what traits each needs
** The different types of heroes, villains, and victims and examples of characters who combine roles (eg hero-victim, villain-victim, etc.)
** Ways to demonstrate the power differential between hero and villain (i.e. to make the hero look vulnerable and the villain invulnerable)
** How the Inciting Incident can unfold, and what strategies to use to keep audience attention if you have a delayed Inciting Incident
** How the Spine of Action (the plot) relates to the villain’s plan and how you can raise the stakes
** What makes a great Hero at the Mercy of the Villain scene
** What a MacGuffin is and the three characteristics of a great one
** The qualities compelling heroes and villains have
** How to dramatize your BIG scenes (Set Pieces) so that they stimulate the senses and generate a sense of excitement
** Strategies for managing pacing and progression in an Action story
** The 16 subgenres of Action and examples stories for each
** Takedowns of the Whammo Formula and the Journey Formula
If you're writing an Action story, whether it's set in a contemporary, historical, fantastical, or science fictional world, you'll want this book. And if you're writing a close relative of Action, like Thriller or Suspense, you'll want this book too.
February 26, 2023
Action: The Art of Excitement for Screen, Page, and Game by Robert McKee & Bassem El-Wakil is an excellent introduction to a film genre in which the protagonist(s) are thrust into a series of events that typically include violence, extended fighting, physical feats, rescues and frantic chases. The Action genre is highly prevalent in movies and video games and is characterised by a lot of adrenaline and blowing things up! ALL THE GREAT STUFF!
The story or tension in Action typically shades compared to the visuals but will be a threat of physical danger to the heroes or a loved one, often with a race against the clock aspect. Increasingly, the soundtrack has become as crucial to works in the action genre as the action sequences are. In film, the genre developed in the 1970s with the increase of modern stunt work. McKee and El-Wakil help the writing knowledge of an unappreciated genre, and I recommend it.
The story or tension in Action typically shades compared to the visuals but will be a threat of physical danger to the heroes or a loved one, often with a race against the clock aspect. Increasingly, the soundtrack has become as crucial to works in the action genre as the action sequences are. In film, the genre developed in the 1970s with the increase of modern stunt work. McKee and El-Wakil help the writing knowledge of an unappreciated genre, and I recommend it.
July 25, 2025
As someone who finds story construction fascinating, I found “Action” by Robert McKee to be very enlightening. I learned a lot about the core elements of the genre and subgenres, the three important character roles and how they can shift around, what a MacGuffin is (now I see them everywhere in stories I injest), and how the plot is driven by the villain’s plan. It was very clear and used a lot of examples. It uses Die Hard as an example a lot, so I watched that movie to help myself understand the concepts.
August 12, 2024
Not bad, had a lot of information that could not be processed through one read. I don't know that I felt like this one helped me as much as Robert's 'Story'. It was helpful in some respects though. Recommended if you feel like you are in a tough spot and need that extra oomph for your action.
There it is and there you have it.
There it is and there you have it.
December 1, 2024
McKee is the master of storycraft and this book is a prime example of that. He captures the heart of the genre of action, makes it tactical and shows how it manifests in every medium, from movies to video games. If you are a writer in any field, this is a must read.
March 15, 2025
This book breaks down the mechanics of action sequences, the types of characters in the genre, and key themes. McKee analyzes a range of scenes in films to help understand pacing, stakes, and character motivations that drive the action forward.
Read
December 26, 2022McKee nver disappoints in breaking down the details of arts of fiction writing
February 3, 2024
Like his other books, McKee's Action is a must-read. Clear and direct.
February 15, 2025
“Es vēl mazliet pamācīšos” ir tik kolosāls veids, kā novilcināt laiku, lai tikai nebūtu jāķeras pie rakstīšanas :D
Bet grāmatiņa laba! Laba!
Bet grāmatiņa laba! Laba!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews