---
product_id: 49941543
title: "Into The Woods: How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them Paperback – 3 April 2014"
brand: "john yorke"
price: "HK$47"
currency: HKD
in_stock: false
reviews_count: 6
url: https://www.desertcart.hk/products/49941543-into-the-woods-how-stories-work-and-why-we-tell
store_origin: HK
region: Hong Kong
---

# Into The Woods: How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them Paperback – 3 April 2014

**Brand:** john yorke
**Price:** HK$47
**Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Into The Woods: How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them Paperback – 3 April 2014 by john yorke
- **How much does it cost?** HK$47 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Currently out of stock
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.hk](https://www.desertcart.hk/products/49941543-into-the-woods-how-stories-work-and-why-we-tell)

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- john yorke enthusiasts

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## Description

Full description not available

## Images

![Into The Woods: How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them Paperback – 3 April 2014 - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71AWqfMCa5L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A simple thesis that tries to sound grand
  

*by J***R on Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 August 2017*

Yorke's book examines the standard structure of stories not just to show writers how to write but why humans, psychologically, require stories that are so structured.  The current thinking is that all stories have three 'acts' (put simply: 'beginning', 'middle', 'end') although writers of old, for instance Shakespeare, used five.  He examines the 'mirror' structure where events at the end faithfully reflect events that occurred in the reflexive position at the beginning.  He then goes on demonstrate this tripartite structure is 'factal' being found in each act, sequence and even scene.First the god things: Yorke obviously understands his topic and is able to discuss it at length and in depth.  His experience in TV scriptwriting shines through and his real life exmaples are ilutsrative and incitedful.On the minus side: He is verbose and feels quite opinionated.  He will make a point; then again, and aagain, and again, almost as if constant repetition reinforces his poin.  If this repetition were removed the book would be substantially shorter.  At times the writing is obscure and obtuse and, althugh it was understandable it made the reading tougher.  For a professional writer, I would have expected him to make his work clearer and more accessible.  It was almost as if he wrote in a more 'erudite' style to give the work a gravitas it did not achieve.

### ⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Just another screenplay formula book
  

*by J***R on Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 October 2018*

It is marketed as being an alternative to other story template books, but while it might go into slightly more depth than most, it still makes key assumptions, and boils down to an oversimplified recipe for a story rather than anything deeper. Generalisations like 'every story is essentially about a protagonist who is thrust into strange world and made to adapt' (paraphrasing here but that's the gist) rub me up the wrong way as much as any generalisation in any other magic screenplay formula book.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Insightful treatise on the anatomy of narrative
  

*by J***T on Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 February 2020*

This book is a deep dive into how stories are constructed. The author is a screenwriter who created memorable BBC series like “Life on Mars” and “Shameless”. He is also extremely knowledgeable regarding all kinds of stories spanning classic authors like Shakespeare and Dickens and modern TV drama from Easter Enders to The West Wing. The book is a dissection of story structure that takes the reader on a journey that begins with the well-known structure of Ancient Greek drama until the reader eventually realises that the same structures elements are also found in a fractal form in individual sciences in East Enders. The author convincingly argues that there is a universal form of narrative that underlies all good drama and that just naturally arises even when the writer is not consciously aware of it. The book concludes with a discussion of why this structure arises and what it may tell us about the nature of our thinking. The book is immensely insightful and made my view everything I read or watch with different eyes. Being more conscious about narrative structure also enriched my own writing. The detailed discussion of narrative structure is sometimes a bit technical. I read this book into several spurts and sometimes put it down because it was too much for bedtime reading after a long workday. I would highly recommend it though to anyone interested in getting a broader view of film, TV, literature, or human psychology.

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*Product available on Desertcart Hong Kong*
*Store origin: HK*
*Last updated: 2026-02-27*