Book: Untying Aristotle’s Poetics for Storytellers
This fresh look at Aristotle’s Poetics finally makes sense of his ideas on plot and plot structure.
Untying Aristotle’s Poetics for Storytellers shows that his model is a much better description of Greek tragedy than has been believed. The Greek tragedy is the grandfather of the mass market movie. Most of the principles that go into the production of a successful Hollywood script were first formulated by Aristotle.
But due to its terse form, the Poetics has never been well understood. Commentators have pointed out apparent self-contradictions, logical errors, lack of coherence, and cryptic passages. This new take on chapters 6 to 18 resolves many of these problems. Finally, Aristotle’s model of the tragedy is explained in a way where the pieces fit together and that make sense in the real world of storytelling.
We see a beautiful and coherent theoretical model reveal itself.
Aristotle is a deep thinker capable of penetrating the heart of his subject. His model is based on the study of the Greek tragedy, which evolved in response to spectator and judge reactions. This anchors it to the practical realities of what works and does not work. He himself anchors it in his profound understanding of human nature.
In the first half of Untying Aristotle’s Poetics for Storytellers, Aristotle’s model of the tragedy is explained. The second half is a new, clarified rendering of chapters 6 to 18 of the Poetics that will help you avoid many of the traps that until now has led readers and interpreters astray.
There are many writing teachers who can offer a toolbox or a bag of tricks. Aristotle goes one step further and shows you how they work. His thoughts are not easy, but once grasped, they will take you to the next level.
Check it out here.
