Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting
by Robert McKee · Robert McKee
Distilled from McKee's long-running Story seminar, covering story values, scene design, act structure, subtext and the gap between expectation and result. Provides a working vocabulary for diagnosing why a scene or script fails to move an audience.
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More resources on Storytelling
Helping Writers Become Authors
K.M. Weiland's long-running craft blog and podcast covering story structure, character arcs, outlining and scene construction. Readers get a consistent structural vocabulary of beats, arcs and act turns for diagnosing why a draft stalls and revising it.
The Power of Storytelling
IESE Business School's course on using narrative in professional settings, covering story structure, emotional appeal and delivery. Participants practise building talks and pitches that hold attention and make an argument memorable rather than relying on data alone.
duarte.com
Duarte is a premier presentation design firm that helps individuals and teams craft persuasive slide decks through design, storytelling coaching, and training services. The site offers information on their services, case studies, speaking engagements, and resources such as articles and books on presentation design.
themoth.org
The Moth is a nonprofit dedicated to storytelling, presenting live, unscripted personal stories told on stage and distributed as podcasts, radio, and video. Explore a vast archive of true stories, catch upcoming events, and access resources for aspiring storytellers.
David JP Phillips' talk 'The magical science of storytelling'
A TEDx talk by presentation coach David JP Phillips on how stories trigger specific hormones such as dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins. Viewers learn to choose and structure anecdotes deliberately to hold attention, build trust and make a message memorable.
Pixar in a Box - Khan Academy
Khan Academy's collaboration with Pixar breaks filmmaking into interactive lessons on story structure, character, visual language and the math behind animation. Working through the exercises shows how narrative decisions and technical craft shape a finished film.