Action

From the master of Story, Dialogue, and Character, ACTION offers writers the keys to propulsive storytelling. 

ACTION explores the ways that a modern-day writer can successfully tell an action story that not only stands apart, but wins the war on clichés. Teaming up with the former co-host of The Story Toolkit, Bassim El-Wakil, legendary story lecturer Robert McKee guides writers to award-winning originality by deconstructing the action genre, illuminating the challenges, and, more importantly, demonstrating how to master the demands of plot with surprising beats of innovation and ingenuity.

Topics include:

• Understanding the Four Core Elements of Action
• Creating the Action Cast
• Hook, Hold, Pay Off: Design in Action
• The Action Macguffin
• Action Set Pieces
• The Sixteen Action Subgenres

A must-add to the McKee storytelling library, ACTION illustrates the principles of narrative drive with precision and clarity by referencing the most popular action movies of our time including: Die Hard, The Star Wars Saga, Dark Knight, The Matrix, and Avengers: Endgame.

• "ACTION inspires action. McKee and El-Wakil have created the guide I’ve been looking for all my years as a professional screenwriter. ACTION helps you understand how and why the thing works—how its heart beats, how it thinks, and most importantly, what makes it move. For a professional action writer, it almost feels like cheating."
  Zak Penn, American screenwriter and director
• "Robert McKee’s books offer lucid analysis, perceptive insights and fruitful challenges to those of us who practice the magical arts of storytelling. I highly recommend his latest: ACTION—THE ART OF EXCITEMENT Buy it, read it, put it to work!"
  Michael Hirst, creator, screenwriter, series producer of Vikings, and Billy the Kid
• ACCLAIM FOR ROBERT MCKEE "Legendary."
  The Washington Post
• "Universally acclaimed."
  The New York Times
• "McKee is the world's best-known and most respected lecturer of Storytelling Arts."
  The Wall Street Journal
• "The ultimate master."
  BBC
• "His great insight into storytelling is unparalleled."
  Los Angeles Times
• "A not-so-secret force in the movie industry and Hollywood's most sought-after screenwriting instructor."  
  Vanity Fair