Editions

Into The Woods

  • Imprint: Penguin

  • ISBN: 9780141978109

  • Length: 336  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 19mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 247g

  • RRP: £9.99

Into The Woods

  • How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them

'The best book on the subject I've read. Quite brilliant' Tony Jordan, creator/writer, Life on Mars, Hustle

We all love stories. But why do we tell them? And why do all stories function in an eerily similar way? John Yorke, creator of the BBC Writers' Academy, has brought a vast array of drama to British screens. Here he takes us on a journey to the heart of storytelling, revealing that there truly is a unifying shape to narrative forms - one that echoes the fairytale journey into the woods and, like any great art, comes from deep within. From ancient myths to big-budget blockbusters, he gets to the root of the stories that are all around us, every day.

'Marvellous' Julian Fellowes

'Terrifyingly clever ... Packed with intelligent argument' Evening Standard

'The most important book about scriptwriting since William Goldman's Adventures in the Screen Trade' Peter Bowker, writer, Blackpool, Occupation, Eric and Ernie

  • Imprint: Penguin

  • ISBN: 9780141978109

  • Length: 336  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 19mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 247g

  • RRP: £9.99

Reviews

  • Brimmingly insightful ... fresh, enlightening and accessible ... a gripping read from beginning to end

    Robert Collins, Sunday Times

  • Terrifyingly clever ... Packed with intelligent argument

    Evening Standard

  • So detailed and engaging is his methodology that any consumer of books, plays, TV or films will find the experience enhanced; and scriptwriters themselves will find useful guidance - because when you know the why, the how is natural

    Robert Epstein, Independent on Sunday

  • This is a marvellous analysis of screenwriting and, with any luck, should help a great many people achieve their dreams

    Julian Fellowes, writer/creator of Downton Abbey

  • Another book on screenwriting! Oh, how I wanted to hate it! I didn't. I loved it. Much of it was fresh to me. And always interesting, always intelligent and, for a writer, always rewarding

    Jimmy McGovern, screenwriter, The Street and The Accused

  • In an industry full of so called script gurus and snake oil salesmen, at last there's a book about story that treats writers like grown ups. This isn't about providing us with an ABC of story or telling us how to write a script by numbers. It's an intelligent evaluation into the very nature of storytelling and is the best book on the subject I've read. Quite brilliant

    Tony Jordan, screenwriter, Life on Mars and Hustle

  • Even for a convinced sceptic, John Yorke's book, with its massive field of reference from Aristotle to Glee, and from Shakespeare to Spooks, is a highly persuasive and hugely enjoyable read. It would be hard to beat for information and wisdom about how and why stories are told

    Dominic Dromgoole, Artistic Director, The Globe Theatre

  • This book is intelligent, well written, incisive and, most of all, exciting. It is the most important book about scriptwriting since William Goldman's Adventures in the Screen Trade

    Peter Bowker, screenwriter, Blackpool, Occupation and Eric & Ernie

  • Part 'How-to' manual, part 'why-to' celebration, Into The Woods is a wide-reaching and infectiously passionate exploration of storytelling in all its guises ... exciting and thought-provoking

    Emma Frost, screenwriter, The White Queen and Shameless

  • Into The Woods is an amazing achievement. It has a real depth and understanding about story, a fantastically broad frame of reference and it's interesting and absorbing throughout. Full of incredibly useful insights, every TV writer should read the first chapter alone

    Simon Ashdown, series consultant, EastEnders

About the Author

John Yorke

John Yorke is Managing Director of Company Pictures, the UK drama independent producing Skins, Shameless, The White Queen and Wolf Hall. For many years he's been responsible for a vast array of British drama; as both Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he's worked on big popular works such as Hustle, Spooks, Casualty and Holby City alongside award-winners such as Bodies, Omagh, Sex Traffic, Not Only But Always and The Curse of Steptoe. His career began single-handedly story-lining EastEnders in its very first BAFTA winning year - beginning a 14 year association that produced some of the biggest audiences in British television history. As a commissioning Editor/Executive Producer, he championed some of the defining works of British television including Life On Mars, The Street, Shameless and Waterloo Road. In 2005 he created the BBC Writers Academy, a year-long in-depth training scheme which has produced a generation of successful television writers. He's also worked as Editor of The Archers. John is Visiting Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He lives and works in London.

John Yorke

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