Thau's Primer: Effective Storytelling for Screenwriters (& Novelists)

By Martin Thau

Review from Goodreads https: //www.goodreads.com/book/show/58402576-kola-scen-ristiky

This is a useful little pamphlet, currently available on Kindle Unlimited, setting out the basics of story telling (for screenplays but also applicable to novels). It's very summarised and not very well translated from the original German, as the phraseology is awkward at times in French. Nevertheless, it contains a few gems that might seem blindingly obvious when read but this advice is clearly needed by some writers.

The old chestnut is explained: know your market means know what your intended readers expect and what will surprise them. Build up suspense means set up your plot early and resolve it only at the end, to keep the readers interested and prevent them leaving early. A twist, according to none other than Aristotle, must be foreshadowed in order to be satisfying rather than an expectation-busting bad surprise. A plot basically comes down to: will it happen? The readers want to know. If they don't, the story has been pitched at the wrong market.

Other gems include the best structure to ensure a story is enjoyed more than once, deepening the experience; how to prevent readers skipping to the end, by revealing it and using the reader's knowledge advantage over the protagonist; how to keep the reader waiting and willing to wait for the expected, and the unexpected.

All in all, it's short but a good eye opener.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1499554583
• ISBN13: 9781499554588
• Release Date: May 2014
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 38 Pages
• Weight: 0.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"