Take a photo of a barcode or cover
43 reviews for:
The Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives
Lajos Egri
4.06 AVERAGE
43 reviews for:
The Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives
Lajos Egri
4.06 AVERAGE
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
I don’t know how I read, watched, or wrote a play before reading this book. Good soup. I should read some more theory.
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
The most direct and harsh writing book I've read. Highly recommended.
medium-paced
I cannot agree with everything written in the book. The book is more black&white than I thought at the beginning. I feel some elitisme through it's pages, which can seem condescending at some passages (i.e. the one about "genius"). Overall it has good advices, but they are put on a pedestal which is not deserved.
The dialectical Q&A's rubbed me the wrong way. It just felt like asking himself questions, which asserts his thesis. I feel like many arguments could have been made against his writing rules, with examples to back them up. On a more important note, I think the philosophy behind the "why" of writing, and what art is suppose to do is shortsighted, and dissmisive of other aesthetic philosophies.
He also sparsely adopts a sarcastic tone which do not fit with the intend of the book - which longs to be instructional.
The dialectical Q&A's rubbed me the wrong way. It just felt like asking himself questions, which asserts his thesis. I feel like many arguments could have been made against his writing rules, with examples to back them up. On a more important note, I think the philosophy behind the "why" of writing, and what art is suppose to do is shortsighted, and dissmisive of other aesthetic philosophies.
He also sparsely adopts a sarcastic tone which do not fit with the intend of the book - which longs to be instructional.
I'd love to be able to give this a 4.5. The concepts in this book are excellent; the thesis of the book states that good characterization drives a plot, whether it's a play or a novel. Egri is very thorough in explaining the writing process. The one problem that I have is that the concepts in here are slightly hard to explain and grasp. This book has forever changed the way I look at writing, plot, and people. One of my top five writing books!
I really loved how realistic Mr. Egri made the process of writing. He's very much about the practicality of writing and the building of a full story. It's a lot of basic knowledge and building blocks that he shares for the reader to then take and find their way of utilizing them. I appreciate how down-to-earth he kept everything and didn't give into what many creativity books do, which is how you 'feel.'
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Very informative. The book is rich with knowledge and pulls from real plays for examples. However, the author is sexist. Grating to read in the modern day, but I was able to push through to find the valuable information throughout.
Without this book, my novel wouldn't be what it is
All my life, every advice any writer has ever given me - be it in a seminar or in a book - has always been based on instincts and feeling. That's all very well and good, but it also means inconsistency, which so many writers suffer from. This book makes clear everything that is needed to make a good film, play, novel, story, and it does so with absolute certainty.
I have been writing a screenplay, and nothing has helped me more than this book so far. Whereas I'm good with ideas, and I look at every element individually, this book gave me a totally different way to go about it, and make it whole.
I have been writing a screenplay, and nothing has helped me more than this book so far. Whereas I'm good with ideas, and I look at every element individually, this book gave me a totally different way to go about it, and make it whole.