Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting

Although the possibilities of storytelling are quite literally limitless, McKee argues that all story comes from the same foundations that have existed for thousands of years. This is one of the first ideas that the book’s introduction puts forth: “Story is about eternal, universal forms, not formulas” (3). It is about taking what we know to be true about human nature and portraying it in a poignant, satisfying way.

McKee is not the first to try to compartmentalize these story foundations. In Chapter 4, “Structure and Genre,” he explores some of the story classification systems that have developed over the centuries. Aristotle defined four basic story types depending on the central values and the way those values shifted. Georges Polti defined 36 “dramatic situations” that explored the root conflicts of all storytelling. McKee presents 25 cinemagraphic story types in use at his time of writing. Later, however, he argues that there is really only one universal story form that matters and that all other story archetypes and dramatic situations derive from, the Quest:

For better or worse, an event throws a character’s life out of balance, arousing in him the conscious and/or unconscious desire for that which he feels will restore balance, launching him on a Quest for his Object of Desire against forces of antagonism (196-97).