Invisible Ink: A Practical Guide to Building Stories that Resonate

There are already a ton of reviews for invisible ink and I'm going to add another. What is invisible ink? It is a book about story telling, structure, best practices really and it's extraordinary. You can read ton of reviews that will echo that thought so I'm going to instead try a different approach. Who is invisible ink for? Every body.Invisible ink goes into great detail about the aspects of story telling that usually isn't apparent, the parts that are planned and guide and build the story without necessarily actually being a part of the story. Sub text and so on. While it might be apparent from the get go what makes this useful for a writer, it might not be so apparent what makes this useful for a reader. The truth is that this is maybe the best tool for getting enjoyment out of reading I've ever read. This book has some very simple concepts that will be relayed to you in a simple manner which does not presume you have any background in writing at all. Anyone will be able to follow and understand the concepts and the way the book builds on those concepts to deliver more makes it all the more accessible. If you enjoy stories, movies, books, comics.. You should read this book because you'll get way more out of them after reading this book than you did before.One of the main concepts of this book is that stories should have a simple theme and follow them. This book is itself non-fiction, and yet it even follows that concept. The theme of having a theme is the glue that basically puts every concept together. The book will keep revisiting this theme itself and and further cement why it is important. Additionally in doing so the subject matter is easier for the reader to retain (I took notes while reading and plan to read again, but you by no means have to go through such lengths). If you've ever read a book, or watched a show and thought something was especially well done or bothered you, but couldn't quite put your finger on why, this book makes it clear.As far as flow this book though non fiction really feels like a page turner. Through use of example and relating it back to stories you're familiar with, the lessons flow from the pages not like a lecture, but rather like you are actually watching an entertaining movie itself. Never a time did I find the material dry or especially difficult to trudge through. Finishing this book is something you could do quickly or savor it and re-reading potential, in order to retain more is quite high.I do have one complaint and the author knew this would happen as he addresses it in the book. There is a time when he uses a gender tag for a concept that I personally wonder if it was a necessary way to describe the concept. He insists it is and spends a bit of time defending it in his work, but it felt a tiny bit like a distraction to me. I know some readers have found that section to be too much and stopped reading, but I personally think they missed out. It's a minuscule nitpick and for such an accomplished writer whose book is so extraordinary, I think we should forgive that section even if we don't entirely agree with it. I personally thought the content was spot on, just the labeling bothered me a tad. Small price to pay for this masterpiece book and I for one defer to the author's wisdom.So in conclusion, who is this book for? Everyone. There is no one who could not benefit from the knowledge contained and it even reads a little like a fun little fiction. If you don't read this book you are seriously missing out.

I bought this as a gift for my nephew who is an aspiring screenwriter. I started to thumb through it and couldn't put it down. Insightful. Compelling. Thoughtful.

Overall this is a very good book. Easy to read, easy to comprehend and a pretty straight forward explanation of how the author sees story structure. I found it pretty helpful in constructing and clarifying the story I'm working on, so that alone merits it's attention. After the initial idea is related he goes off on some tangents of other things that happen in stories, such as clones, male and female storytelling (action and emotion), and main character change. This is all well and good, but I wish the author had instead gone deeper into the structure he started. Explaining the armature and showing different ways that others had used it. He talks about main character change, and how sometimes they don't, but never goes further into explaining the how and why the character does or doesn't change. The Dramatica theory of structure does a decent job of explaining the why of Main Character change (and why not), but overall it's a lot more confusing and complex and sometimes the advocates can get a little partisan, thinking it's the only way a story should be told and anything else is lesser.So, If you already have your structure, this won't help much but there are some little things that are interesting (such as character clones) which may make you see things in a slightly different way. If you have an idea and need it fleshed out more, it's a pretty decent and inexpensive book to help you out with that. Well worth the $5 in my eyes.

Real easy reading, McDonald shows his skill with how easy it is to read this book and inform the reader of how stories work under the hood. A must read for anyone curious to how theater and emotion tick and don't tick in the culture we swim in.

After placing finalist in a screenwriting contest, I vowed to work on my weakness, Story/Character! I could write entertaining movies, but they weren't deep. So I bought over a dozen books on Story/Characters, and they all said the same thing, "you have to make the audience care for your character." Yeah, but how? Annoyed, I started to focus on the breakdown of Pixar movies on YouTube (they know about story) And that is when I stumbled upon Brian McDonald. I liked what he said, so I bought his book Invisible Ink. Wow, he opened my eyes to a different way of writing focused stories. Brian has taught story Pixar and Disney but, what turned me into a super fan was when I found out he was a big fan of The Twilight Zone. (I love that show) That's when I bought his other four books. Invisible Ink isn't a book on formatting, but if you are looking at how to tell a better story, this is it!

This book has helped me understand why stories exist, and what makes one a classic. Its deeply insightful and walks you through melticously the structure of how to craft great story. A must buy on all fronts!

Brian breaks down the essential components of storytelling and presents them in clear, succinct ways using specific examples. I feel like now I have the secret sauce of storytelling!

Eines der besten Bücher, das ich bisher über Storytelling gelesen habe.Sehr flüssig und schnell zu lesen (angenehmes Englisch).Ich kann es nur jedem ans Herz legen, dieses Buch zu lesen, dem es beim Schreiben in erster Linie um die Story, und nicht um irgendwelche Strukturen oder sonstige Story-externen Dinge geht.„It‘s about the story, and it‘s always about the story“, wie Stephen King in seinem On Writing sagte.

In a world that tells artists of all kinds that there are no rules, that you must push the boundaries, this book is an essential read. There are rules, they are knowable, and they help you craft a good story. They are not the bogeymen that the more pretentious in the artistic community might have you think.

I found this book extremely useful. Concepts are very clear and has forced me to rethink the way I write. Thanks so much.