Reviews - The Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives

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43 reviews for:

The Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives

Lajos Egri

4.06 AVERAGE

codythewriter's review against another edition

4.0

Dated, but still incredibly relevant.

His analysis is less about analyzing good stories and more about what drives stories: character.

garygach's review

5.0

seed of drama = conflict

[ this was the textbook at both ucla & sc when spielberg, copolla, lucas, etc. were at film school ]

This was a recommendation on The Children of Tendu podcast. It was originally published in 1942 and though it's a bit prosaic it does do a good job of covering the basics. I sort of expected this to be out of date and unhelpful but it holds up quite well. The author is knowledgeable on a variety of subjects and in 1942 this must have been somewhat ahead of its time.

I found most interesting and helpful the section on creating a "unity of opposites" in one's characters.

gilliflower's review against another edition

5.0

Quick and easy to read and the best single general handbook for creating stories I've found. There are other good ones out there but few of them are so concise / useful.