Praise for Into The Woods: A Five-Act Journey Into Story "Love storytelling? You need this inspiring book. John Yorke dissects the structure of stories with a joyous enthusiasm allied to precise, encyclopedic knowledge. Guaranteed to send you back to your writing desk with newfound excitement and drive." --Chris Chibnall, creator/writer, Broadchurch and Gracepoint "Outrageously good and by far and away the best book of its kind I''ve ever read. I recognized so much truth in it. But more than that, I learned a great deal. Time and again, Yorke articulates things I''ve always felt but have never been able to describe . This is a love story to story--erudite, witty and full of practical magic.
I struggle to think of the writer who wouldn''t benefit from reading it--even if they don''t notice because they''re too busy enjoying every page." --Neil Cross, creator/writer, Luther and Crossbones "Part ''how-to'' manual, part ''why-to'' celebration, Into The Woods is a wide-reaching and infectiously passionate exploration of storytelling in all its guises . exciting and thought-provoking." --Emma Frost, screenwriter, The White Queen and Shameless "John Yorke''s Into the Woods is brilliant. It illuminates and explains." --Susan Hill, author of The Woman In Black and the Simon Serrailler crime novels "Even for a convinced sceptic, John Yorke''s book, with its massive field of reference from Aristotle to Glee , and from Shakespeare to Spooks , is a highly persuasive and hugely enjoyable read. It would be hard to beat for information and wisdom about how and why stories are told." --Dominic Dromgoole, Artistic Director, the Globe Theatre Copyright ''Art consists of limitation.
The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame.'' G. K. Chesterton Praise for Into The Woods: A Five-Act Journey Into Story Copyright Introduction ACT I HOME 1. What is a Story? 2. Three-Act Structure 3. Five-Act Structure 4. The Importance of Change 5.
How We Tell Stories ACT II WOODLAND, DAY 6. Fractals 7. Acts 8. The Inciting Incident 9. Scenes 10. Putting It All Together ACT III THE FOREST 11. Showing and Telling ACT IV THE ROAD BACK, NIGHT 12. Character and Characterization 13.
Character and Structural Design 14. Character Individuation 15. Dialogue and Characterization 16. Exposition 17. Subtext ACT V HOME AGAIN, CHANGED 18. Television and the Triumph of Structure 19. Series and Mini-Series Structure 20. Change in Drama Series 21.
Home Again 22. Why? APPENDICES I. Act Structure of Raiders of the Lost Ark II. Hamlet - The Structural Form III. Being John Malkovich - The Structural Form IV. My Zinc Bed - The Structural Form V. The Godfather - The Structural Form VI. First and Last Act Parallels: Some Further Examples VII.
A Lightning Guide to Screenwriting Gurus Notes Bibliography Acknowledgements Credits Index About the Author About Into the Woods Introduction A ship lands on an alien shore and a young man, desperate to prove himself, is tasked with befriending the inhabitants and extracting their secrets. Enchanted by their way of life, he falls in love with a local girl and starts to distrust his masters. Discovering their man has gone native, they in turn resolve to destroy both him and the native population once and for all. Avatar or Pocahontas ? As stories they''re almost identical. Some have even accused James Cameron of stealing the Native American myth.1 But it''s both simpler and more complex than that, for the underlying structure is common not only to these two tales, but to all. Take three different stories: A dangerous monster threatens a community. One man takes it on himself to kill the beast and restore happiness to the kingdom .
It''s the story of.