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Dialogue

The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen

Dialogue Open the full-size image

Contributors

By Robert Mckee

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Jul 12, 2016
Page Count
336 pages
Publisher
Twelve
ISBN-13
9781455591916

Price

$35.00

Price

$46.00 CAD

Format

Format:

  1. Hardcover $35.00 $46.00 CAD
  2. ebook $9.99 $12.99 CAD
  3. Audiobook Download (Unabridged)

Buy from Other Retailers:

The long-awaited follow-up to the perennially bestselling writers’ guide Story, from the most sought-after expert in the art of storytelling.

 Robert McKee’s popular writing workshops have earned him an international reputation. The list of alumni with Oscars runs off the page. The cornerstone of his program is his singular book, Story, which has defined how we talk about the art of story creation.

Now, in Dialogue, McKee offers the same in-depth analysis for how characters speak on the screen, on the stage, and on the page in believable and engaging ways. From Macbeth to Breaking Bad, McKee deconstructs key scenes to illustrate the strategies and techniques of dialogue. Dialogue applies a framework of incisive thinking to instruct the prospective writer on how to craft artful, impactful speech. Famous McKee alumni include Peter Jackson, Jane Campion, Geoffrey Rush, Paul Haggis, the writing team for Pixar, and many others.

Genre:

  • "Writing dialogue is a challenging art. McKee's book DIALOGUE is a great tool for writers."
    John Lasseter, chief creative officer, Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios
  • "McKee's DIALOGUE is a mother lode of insight and inspiration for any writer. His teachings have changed my career and changed my life. Robert McKee is in a category of one."
    Steven Pressfield, bestselling author of The Legend of Baggar Vance, The War of Art, and Gates of Fire
  • "McKee teaches what is not yet taught. He shines his unwavering analytical light on the structure and invisible substructure of dialogue. He takes a craft that is often considered instinctual or magical and reveals its chemical secrets."
    Terry Johnson, writer/director, winner of the Olivier Award, Critics' Circle Theater Award, WGA, and BAFTA
  • "DIALOGUE is a masterwork. There's nothing harder to teach. Now this book exists. McKee has written an essential book akin to The Elements of Style for all writers."
    Margaret Nagle, winner of the Writer's Guild Award, Emmy, NAACP, Golden Globe, and Pen
  • "I used to think great dialogue couldn't be taught. You either had an ear for it or you didn't. That was before I read McKee's DIALOGUE. He's a wizard at explaining the unexplainable."
    Sarah Treem, writer/producer, co-creator and showrunner of Golden Globe-winning TV Series The Affair, winner of the Writers Guild of America Award and Emmy Award nominee
  • "Bob McKee's approach to writing dialogue, as with every other aspect of storytelling he has taught, reflects his great breadth of experience and mastery of his craft. Clear, precise, ad rich in insight, it will prove indispensable to both the aspiring writer and the seasoned professional."
    Patrick McGrath, author of Asylum and Spider
  • "An essential purchase destined to be replaced over the years as generations of aspiring writers wear out the copies with extensive study."
    Library Journal (Starred Review)

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Robert Mckee

About the Author

Robert McKee, a Fulbright scholar and member of Final Draft’s Hollywood Hall of Fame, is the world’s most sought-after author and lecturer known for his seminars/webinars that provides writers with crucial insight on the story universe. His writing seminars have earned him an international reputation. The cornerstones of his teaching are Character, Storynomics, and Dialogue. Translated into 23 languages, these singular works have defined how we talk about the art of storytelling. Over the last 35 years, he has mentored screenwriters, novelists, playwrights, poets, documentary makers, producers, and directors. The list of McKee alumni includes the winners of over 60 Academy Awards, 200 Emmy Awards, and 100 Writers Guild of America Awards, as well as recipients of the Pulitzer, Booker, Olivier, and other major prose and playwriting prizes.

Bassim El-Wakil has worked closely with Robert McKee for over a decade, as author and lecturer. Acknowledged as an expert on all forms of story structure and genre, he has a personal love for Action, Crime, Fantasy, and the long-form serials of television and comic books. His podcasts, THE STORY TOOLKIT and THE WRITER’S JIHAD are available on all major podcast platforms.

Learn more about this author