Into The Woods
How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them
Author: John Yorke
Genre: nonfiction; writing, storytelling, scripts
Rating: 4/5
In one sentence: story creation dissected into clear and usable building blocks; why and how does it work.
For those who swear creativity is a mysterious process: you will hate this book. With many examples from well-known Western movies and TV series, John Yorke tears apart the process of story creation, deconstructing it to its core components. It is like a master magician unveiling the inner workings of his tricks; if you want to stay enchanted by the magic, better not to go here.
If, on the other hand, you want to get better at writing stories, or are simply interested in the creation of them, this is a great read. While I’m by no means an expert and can therefore not judge whether all stories truly hold up to Yorke’s analysis, this book certainly helped me to finally finish my own first short story and get a better understanding of what elements a (fictional) story and good characters need.
“Every form of artistic composition, like any language, has a grammar, and that grammar, that structure, is not just a construct — it’s the most beautiful and intricate expression of the workings of the human mind.”
This quote summarizes perfectly what this book is all about: defining and summarizing the rules (grammar) of good, classical storytelling.
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