Read McKee's book ONCE. Interesting, a little TOO indepth, perhaps, but good stuff to think about and come to grips with.

Scott, are you a big believer in McKee?

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

P.S. Script decompression complete. Between the five of use that went out we caught 3 salmon Monday: 2 silvers, 1 king. Caught 10 salmon Tuesday: 8 silvers, 2 kings, + two flounders. Kinda windburnt today, a little tired. Not used to all this WEATHER behind at my seat before my computer.

I enjoy McKee's stuff, but your right E.C. Henry, his book is not for the faint of heart, but if you really want to delve deep into the story,I think he is one of the best.

I like using McKee's book as more of a reference, or when i get stuck on something, I usually crack open "Story" and it usually helps me out.

A couple others I like going to:

1. Save The Cat

2. Screenplay Writing The Picture

3. The Writers Journey

I have found, for whatever reason, that a pronounced backlash has befallen Mr. McKee in the past few years. Most of it I see in various scriptwriting talkbacks such as this, but in other arenas as well.

Perhaps it's because of Brian Cox's caustic (yet certainly no less hilarious) portrayal of the man in Adaptation, a film I'm sure all screenwriters love to watch and cringe to. Lord knows I do. Or perhaps, like the Kaufman version of McKee, the people dumping on him went to one of his seminars thinking they knew everything there was to know about scriptwriting and left 48 hours later, devastated that their magnum opus wasn't going to pay their outstanding charge card bills.

Or maybe McKee just theatrically lashed out and called them a "hapless, ill-informed, talent-free rube." (My friend Ron got that one zinged his way from McKee back in '02!)

However, I must say, the usually sarcastic dismissal of the man and his theories is mostly baseless. And if you delve into STORY (in dribs and drabs, please... anybody who sits down and reads it cover to cover gets what they deserve!), especially at a time when you feel there's no hope for you or your screenplay, you will find sagacious wisdom beyond anything anyone out there has to offer. (er, no offense, Scott!) Within STORY is the riddle of the Sphinx, screenplay-wise, as far as I am concerned. He deconstructs what makes an audience tick (something WE should be nothing less than passionate about from day 1, right?) down to the most miniature model and then is actually able to formulate a solid working methodology for guidance.

He plants seeds from which our tales should grow.

Is the man himself a bit a pompous blowhard? Probably.

Sorry to get so long in the tooth on this one but he's saved my bacon more than once and I felt I needed to return the favor!

What I have to say about McKee matters not. How about what the godfather of contemporary American screenwriting William Goldman. In his book, "Which Lie Did I Tell," there's this about Goldman attending McKee's seminar:

"It's four full days over a single weekend, and no one feels cheated when he's done. I wish he had been around when I started writing CUT TO for a living."

Good enough for Goldman, good enough for me.

Like 'em or not we need gurus. They give creatives a basis for arguement and a way to break stories down. A common language when things get heated.

And I'll second good buddy. "Good enough enough for Goldman. Good enough for me!"

I checked out the audio tape from the library yrs ago. Don't remember too much about it other than Mckee made everything sound way more complicated than it should be.

Too much jargon and convoluted ideas. I never read the book.