– Classes–

Library

I’ll keep adding to the list but for now, I hope this is a decent resource to sate anyones needs looking for a place to start or brush up on something until I can get a proper class going.

One thing I want to mention up front if you’re new to story, is that no book, method, or system is ever meant to give you a ‘paint by numbers’ approach to storytelling. You could read every story book on earth and still be a terrible storyteller. In fact, that might actually make it more likely. Books and methods are useful are for a number of reasons including but not limited to:

They help you understand the components of a story, so they’re easier to work with. Even if it’s to say things like “Three act structure’s for chumps! I’ll show you all!”, learning a thing helps you avoid that thing too because you have the eye and awareness to recognize it.
They can serve as useful diagnostic tools when your story isn’t doing what you would like it to. Most of writing is re-writing and knowing how to diagnose and doctor a story is going to save you from wearing yourself running in circles or getting lost in the woods.
They give us a common glossary of terms to use in working together. You might be surprised how often that is an issue (and how much time, money, and efforts are wasted because of it)! Instead of everyone falsely assuming they share the same definition of “More cinematic”, or having conversations that devovle into a derivative drivel of “-ishes”, “Kinda like”, or “remember in -”, you have a clear common language of shared definitions, based in theory and craft, not someone else’s results and implementations of it.
It’s inspiring to hear different approaches to storytelling. The more you learn, the more you see the common challenges we all face, the various solutions, and over time that allows you to begin to develop your own methods and variants as well.
It’s great for writers block! If it doesn’t help you see what you’re doing wrong, it might make you think ‘Well that’s not applicable to MY story because….oh damn, that’s it!”. Then if it doesn’t work you can come back “Ok, let me read that again - maybe it does apply after all”.

- Reference Library -

Creating Stories

- Character Creation -

TRUTH: Personas, Needs, and Flaws in Building Actors and Creating Characters
Susan Batson

This is a great overview of what goes into making a character work, covering the development of a Persona from acting coach Susan Batson. All good storytelling stems from a fundamental understanding of the ‘story physics’ of character, and builds out its world, plot, lore, and backstories from there.

CHARACTER: The Art of Role and Cast Design for Page, Stage, and Screen
Robert McKee

A companion book to his original “STORY” textbook, this focuses specifically on the creation of characters and the character motors that drive authentic decision making that gives them life.

Science of Writing Characters, The: Using Psychology to Create Compelling Fictional Characters
Kira-Anne Pelican

Drawing from real world Psychology, this approach aims to define the art of character craft from a scientific perspective.

- Worldbuilding -

A Pattern Language
Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein, et al.

This classic is a study in the repeating patterns found throughout human history and civilization. It’s a great tool in building believable frameworks for your worlds.

Building Imaginary Worlds
Mark J.P. Wolf

This is a study in transmedia worldbuilding which is increasingly relevant.

The World of Ice & Fire
George R.R. Martin

The author himself takes you through the world he developed for Game of Thrones.

The Art of Language Invention
David J. Peterson

A great book on inventing languages unique to your world.

- Story Structure (Linear) -

The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Joseph Campbell

This is the classic “Hero’s Journey” or “Monomyth” structure developed by Campbell which serves to create a common narrative between all stories across histories, cultures, and religions. This is the centerpiece of the “Campbell Pilgrimage” so many authors take, including his other works “The Power of Myth and Symbol”, “The Masks of God (Series)”, and “Myths to Live By”.

The Anatomy of Story
John Truby

Don’t be scared, it’s more like 7 steps. This is a solid, practical, approach to story structure which can work across mediums. It’s also a nice foundation to its companion book that builds on his method, expanding into tone and genre (below). Together they make a really powerful kickstart combo for new writers.

Shonda Rhimes: Teaches Writing for Television
Shonda Rhimes | Masterclass

This Masterclass is a nice overview of story structure as applied to TV Writing by the creator of Grays Anatomy, but is applicable to all story forms. I would also add that it’s arguably a better approach to writing features than most traditional 3 act feature formats are.

Save the Cat: The Last Book on Screenwriting That You’ll Ever Need
Black Snyder

This classic breaks down story structures into a few key types with defining tropes such as “Save The Cat”, meaning having your main char do something kind early on so the audience will know “Hey, that person may have problems, but they’re alright”. Ex: When we first meet Mr. Incredible, despite his self-absorbed swagger he takes time to not only help an old lady but does so by literally saving a cat. If it’s good enough for Brad Bird, I’m sold.

The Story Circle
Dan Harmon

A lot of new writers don’t see the value in Campbell, so I’ll put Harmon right after this. It’s his boiled down version of the Campbell theory which he has used to great success in his own work creating the series “Community”, and co-creating “Rick and Morty”. *I was also lucky enough to work with him shortly before he created this, and can attest directly that he knows his shit.

The Poetics
Aristotle

I’m not going to say you need to read this, but to start getting into the weeds of what stories actually are to us as humans on an evolutionary scale, it’s good to first understand that history of how they evolved and what people thought was important about a story. Aristotle tried capturing this and it’s a nice window into that time.

The Anatomy of GENRES
John Truby

This follow up to “The Anatomy of STORY”, focuses on building that model out into the key traits of the 14 most popular genre’s, well beyond a surface level and into the actual story anatomy of what makes a genre actually that genre from a narrative level. A simple alberit powerful reference.

- Story Structure (Dynamic/Interactive) -

Immersive Storytelling for Real and Imagined Worlds
Margaret Kerrison

This is a great book on creating story structure of games and other dynamic narratives such as branching, looping, sandbox, etc. This is also very applicable to narrative design, immersive theater, theme park storytelling, and escape rooms.

Video Game Storytelling
Evan Skolnick

Another book focusing on stories for video games, and the nature of what sets them apart from linear narratives.

Interactive Storytelling for Video Games: A player-centered approach to creating memorable characters and stories
Josiah Lebowitz, and Chris Klug

This book focuses on interactive stories for video games, with a priority on player engagement and memorable character development.

The Game Masters Handbook of Proactive Roleplaying
Jonah and Tristan Fishel

I’ll dig out a number of RPG-writing books, but this was a recent one I enjoyed that does a nice summary of many of the lenses to be considered in writing a narrative your players, not your ‘main character’ is driving.

Telling Stories

- Visual Storytelling -

Graphic Storytelling & Visual Narrative
Will Eisner

Learn the foundations of Visual Storytelling from the master, Will Eisner. These principles have stood the test of time and serve as eternally applicable across mediums.

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
Scott McCloud

This is one of my favorite books on visual storytelling because of how universally applicable it is, despite being focused on graphic novels and comics. This is in my must read list.

The Visual Story
Bruce Block

On a technical level, the art of visual storytelling requires a firm command of the ability to lead the eye. Where good design and illustration principles do this for still images, Bruce Block has created a model for this with the inclusion of time, as inhabited space, and interactivity.

- Screenwriting -

SCREENPLAY: The Foundations of Screenwriting
Syd Field

This is the first ‘official’ book on screenwriting as film matured and evolved it’s own standardized language for screenplays. It is the attempt to tell a visual story without using images, typically because most filmmakers couldn’t draw but there were exceptions like Akira Kurosawa, Alfred Hitchcock, Hayao Miyazaki, and Ridley Scott to name a few.

STORY: Substance, Structure, Style, and The Principles of Screenwriting
Robert McKee

This has been the most universally referenced book throughout my career. It’s a very comprehensive analysis and study in what makes screenplays work, with examples. I was first turned on to this by my some of my mentors from Pixar during college.

Studio Ghibli Storyboards - Princess Mononoke
Hayao Miyazaki

In animated films, it’s not uncommon to write the film as storyboards that are later transcribed into script pages where dialogue can be refined for voice recording and production. I don’t think there’s a better example of that method than Miyazaki, and his series of storyboard books serve as the equivalent of someone releasing the book of a final screenplay to study. If screenplays are an attempt to ‘write’ a visual story, this is how you do that free of interpreting text. But, not everyone can draw, so screenplays are the next best thing.

TWO GUYS NAMED JOE: Two Master Animation Storytellers
John Canemaker | Disney Editions

A short overview of the careers of Joe Grant, and Joe Ranft - two Story Artists who fundamentally shaped and influenced the storytelling methods and culture of Disney, Pixar, and by proxy the entirety of the animated film industry. This is that same method of writing a visual story with sketches, but applied to a collaborative ‘writers room’ or as we call them a ‘story room’.

FUNNY! Twenty Five Years of Laughter from the Pixar Story Room
Lasseter, Katz | Chronicle Books

This coffee table book is a collection of sketches and anecdotes that give you a good idea of what it’s like to create stories for Pixar and other studios that write their scripts in this collaborative way. This is an exceptionally challenging but profoundly rewarding and consistently successful method when mastered. Many try, but few succeeed.

THE SCREENWRITING LIFE (Podcast)
Meg LeFauve, and Lorien McKenna

Another fantastic screenwriting podcast with perspectives from Pixar screenwriters with an array of guests and lectures by working, prolific screenwriters.

SCRIPTNOTES (Podcast)
John August, Craig Mazin

Get fresh insights and lessons from two prolific, successful, very active hollywood screenwriters and the myriad guests they have in discussing all things story and screenwriting.

Filmmaking

- Directing -

On Film-making: An Introduction to the Craft of the Director
Alexander MacKendrick

This book is a great primer and overview of what the role of directing a film entails. He goes over the importance of a strong narrative throughline into developing believable characters, Visual Storytelling, and proper ways of directing actors. This is a great place to begin learning about directing, or even as a refresher.

Directing Actors
Judith Weston

This book covers specifically the art of directing actors, especially useful when you need to know how to separate directing voice actors, from directing animators. You’ll learn about building trust and rapport that lets them breath, understand the acting perspective, and how to navigate the back and forth. She highlights the importance of active listening (not just talking) as a fundamental directing tool.

Hitchcock’s Secret Notebook
Dan Auiler

It’s my opinion that Hitchcock was one of the first great masters of the cinema along with Kurosawa, bringing it into maturity as an artform. This is book goes over Hitchcock’s creative process and has a lot of his sketches and storyboards as well.

STARTING POINT: 1979-1996
Hayao Miyazaki | Viz Media LLC

An autobiography of how his career as an animator into director for animated productions began in Japan, leading him to the creation of Studio Ghibli and his films leading up to Princess Mononoke. He’s been an inspiration to pretty much anyone I know who’s a story artist.

- Storyboarding -

Film Directing Shot By Shot: Visualzing from Concept to Screen
Steven D. Katz

This is ‘the’ storyboarding book everyone I know and all my storyboarding teachers before me learned from. It will give you a very solid foundation in all the basics of how to storyboard from framing shots, to 180 rule, camera setups, using cuts effectively, all of it.

Learn to Storyboard (CLASS)
Leo Matsuda

Leo is another story artist turned writer/director and one of the best filmmakers I know with decades of experience (Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero 6, Inner Workings, Hello Kitty). His class in storyboarding is another one that will show you the ropes from someone who understands the entire spectrum of storytelling.

Storyboard for Feature Animation (CLASS)
Rej Bourdages

Rej is an absolute legend of storyboarding for feature animation for over 40 years from Chicken Run, to Shrek, to Soul and so many more. If you want to learn from a pro who’s a beyond proven master of this on how write great scenes, board them out superbly, and pitch them like a pro of pro’s - this is genuinely the chance of a lifetime.

PAPER DREAMS: The History and Art of Disney Storyboard Artists
John Canemaker | Disney Editions

This was one of the first officially ‘storyboarding’ books I bought during college. Because you couldn’t direct animated characters the same way you direct actors Disney created storyboarding as a method of ‘making the film before you make the film’, and this follows that evolution up through the 90’s.

- Editing -

In the Blink of an Eye
Walter Murch

This is a fantastic introduction to editing from Walter Murch, legendary editor of The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, THX 1138, American Graffitti.

Selected Takes: Film Editors On Editing
Vincent LoBrutto

This collection of various takes on editing from prolific editors offers a window into various approaches and experiences which gives a more global understanding of the craft itself.

- Production Design -

Dream Worlds: Production Design for Animation
-

This book is a really nice introduction and overview of the Production Design process for Feature Animation.

By Design: Interviews with Film Production Designers
Vincent LoBrutto

This was a great book introduced to me by Bill Cone (Pixar) when I was studying Production Design with him in college.

- Cinematography & Lighting -

The 5 C’s of Cinematography
Joseph V. Marcella

Tom McGrath (Boss Baby, Madagascar) gave me my first copy of this book when I was starting out. This is one of those holy tomes that everyone needs to read to get a solid understanding of camerawork, lenses, staging, and framing for film.