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| Aristotle's Poetics for Screenwriters |
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 Aristotle's Poetics for
Screenwriters
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Enter, stage
left, Michael Tierno and his book: Aristotle's Poetics for Screenwriters.
First, a little about Tierno. He's an award-winning writer-director, a story analyst
for Miramax Films and a national screenwriting seminar teacher (check him out
at http://www.moviepoetics.com).
He knows what he's talking about and is able to explain Aristotle's Poetics
in a manner we can all understand and use to our advantage.
I love
reading an analytical book on writing when I'm in the middle of a revision. It
allows me to apply the book's information to the work at hand. For instance, I
recently finished the first draft of a script, so now it's plugging holes and
chopping limbs time. My copy of Tierno's book is looking a little raggedy. There
isn't a chapter in it that hasn't had something for me. Oh, sure, there have been
a few I've read and thought, "I don't need that." But eventually I ended
up going back to the chapter because something in it poked at me until I realized;
yes, I do need that.
For writers
never exposed to Aristotle's Poetics, often considered the bible for storytellers,
this is a great way to understand what he had to say about story structure and
what makes a story sing. This isn't dry reading. I don't advise trying to use
it as a sleep aide. If anything, it'll get your brain going and you'll want to
start work immediately. Tierno's years of film analysis enabled him to segue Aristotle's
principles naturally over to screenwriting. As with anything that seems simple,
the book is actually complex and likely to leave you pondering its information
long after you've closed it, which, as we all know, is how a good movie should
affect you. From explaining the unity of a plot to figuring out how to make dialogue
and action work together, it's all here.
At $13.95,
Tierno's book isn't very damaging to the pocketbook, and there is always the library.
But my guess is, once you've read it, you'll want your own copy. Screenwriting
books come and go, but like the original, Tierno's Aristotle's Poetics for
Screenwriters is likely to remain a classic for a long time.
Good reading.
Sable Jak
About This Author
Sable Jak is a former actress
and dancer and has, like so many others writers, been writing ever since she can
remember. She’s a columnist with Absolute Write and has radio mysteries running
on Virtually American. She is also president of The Screenplayers http://www.screenplayers.net.
and may be reached at: Sable Jak
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