Developing Story Ideas offers students and other young artists a spectrum of resources and a structure of writing practice so that anyone can quickly and reliably generate a wide variety of stories. It does so stressing the importance of understanding oneself and creating collaboratively. This book provides exercises and projects to help each person draw an artistic self-profile to summarize what he or she most needs to investigate in their creative work. It teaches narrative structure and critical language, and asserts that giving and taking criticism is an essential part of the creative process. It treats fiction and non-fiction as highly related - for fiction needs its roots in the real world, while documentary needs narrative drive and structure to impose meaning on its reality. All the assignments are illustrated with examples of student work and/or pieces drawn from classic works of literature and film, each followed by meaningful and sensitive commentary from the author. Throughout the book the author has placed boxed text to emphasize information that is critical to the success of a particular writing project or to the creative process generally. Readers will experience what education has come to recognize as particularly effective: hands-on creative projects, an emphasis on self-actualization, and working not as an embattled individual competing for recognition, but as part of a learning community. In this atmosphere people naturally form the friendships, creative partnerships, and teams that make filmmaking gratifying and productive. Exercises and projects help writers find what they need to investigate in their creative work Examines fiction and non-fiction writing, narrative structure and critical language Boxed text and examples of student work illustrate each lesson
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Drawing ideas from every day life:
Developing Story Ideas, by Michael Rabiger, tackles the question that plagues most writers today: where do you get your ideas. This book is his valiant attempt at an answer. It's also a textbook, aimed for use in screenwriting classrooms. I saw it on the textbook shelves for the Art Institute of Portland while perusing books at Powell's. The title was enough to intrigue me and I knew that I needed a copy. Despite the book's goal to provide exercises and structure to fit a classroom setting, Rabiger... more info
Gift for my son.:
This was a gift for my son. He just graduated from film school and it was on his list of 'books I must read'! He said it is great!
A basic textbook for beginner groups:
With the 2nd edition, the author continues to claim that you could use this book by yourself. But nearly every exercise throughout the book requires a classroom of people or at least a writing partner, and they're not adaptable for working alone (despite the author's insistence). Although I think some reviewers were a little harsh, they're also correct about the basic substance. The book is really a broad answer to the question "Where do you get your ideas?" Other writing books, including screenwriting... more info
To be fair I have to say...:
You need to know what I'm going to tell you so that you have the right expectations when buying this book. The book is designed more to support a storytelling class. There are group excersies and specific drills to complete after each section. So if you are alone it feels rare to read about class exercises. So, you have to understand this book's main target are teachers and students in a class. The drills actually seem to be quite a promising activity. If I went to a fiction writing course I would... more info
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