"The most exciting thing about Dara's remarkable technique is the way it enhances the creative process. It helps writers identify and express the deeper themes of the story, which gives the structure greater depth and meaning. This is a book you can read with each script you write, as both guide and inspiration. It is more than a unique approach to story. It is an understanding of the transformational process that is life."

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"Dara Marks covers everything a writer needs to know about how to take passion and turn it into a meaningful story for an audience. What's more, she does it with the intelligence, clarity, and generosity of a true teacher. Inside Story is an excellent addition to any writer's library."

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"Dara Marks has written a breakthrough book on the art of crafting extraordinary stories. Inside Story takes you where few other books about writing can—inside not only the structure and substance of great stories but also inside the writer's heart, mind, and soul from which great stories spring. With skill and penetrating insight, Dara Marks will transform forever the way you understand the deepest layers of crafting a story. In the process, you'll learn important truths about writing that compelling screenplay, stage play, or novel and you'll learn important truths about yourself. If they gave an Oscar for the best book on screenwriting, Dara Marks would be the odds-on favorite to win it for Inside Story."

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"Dara Marks has done it!!! Just when one thinks there can be nothing new to say about screenwriting, along comes Dara Marks with Inside Story! This newest screenwriting book is for you!!! Dara's wisdom creates a veritable smorgasbord of adjectives: comprehensive, entertaining, challenging, qualitative. Her book also contains the best writing advice of all: 'Dare to be guided by your passion.' That's as good as it gets and Dara's Inside Story is as good as it gets. Write on, Dara!!!!"

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"I just finished reading this remarkable book. At one point it made me cry; it is so beautiful. I had no idea a book on writing could affect me this way... Dara's heart, her wise heart, is reflected on every page. How painful but exhilarating a journey she must've had to write this."

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"Dara Marks is in a class by herself."

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"This book is fantastic! I wish I had read it before we started writing our last film, Simple Things. As I read Inside Story, I'm already thinking through my next movies, clarifying the protagonist and centering on the theme. This is so helpful! Dara identifies what is missing in the heart of most of our modern stories and she shows us how to reclaim it. This not only help us write better stories, but in so doing we will develop a better understanding of ourselves and others. Bravo, Dara!"

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"Provides the tools for the way in, to understanding the complex architecture of screenwriting."

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"They say you can't learn screenwriting from a book. They were right—until Inside Story. This is a book every screenwriter must read before writing the words: 'Fade In...' Frankly, the only problem I had with Inside Story is that it's hard to type with one hand while you're holding this book in the other."

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"Nobody can give a writer talent, but Dara Marks can guide us through the craft of telling our stories in the most thoughtful and thought-provoking way. She teaches us to mine our ideas and bring them home."

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"Replete with examples from both classic and contemporary films, Dara Marks' Inside Story offers fresh insights into screenwriting structure, enabling writers to better hone their craft and elevate their art."

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"Study this book. Memorize it. Keep it by your computer. There are a lot of books about structure, but this book guides you on how to go beyond all those formulaic and false external structural guidelines and leads you on a deep journey inside the heart and soul of your story."

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"The three-act structure theory is enlightened by Dara's new vision of the deeper meaning of storytelling. She has given me a real gift of intelligence and insight into my work."

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"Treat yourself to a screenplay analysis by Dara Marks; she's worth every penny."

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"Inside Story is not your average book about writing. Marks takes you to a deeper level of storytelling that adds complexity and intensity to any writer's work no matter how experienced or inexperienced they may be."

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"'People never change' may be the cynical working analysis of human nature, but Dara Marks bases her insightful and unique book, Inside Story, on the premise that life demands change. She demonstrates through the use of the 'transformational arc' that when a screen character grows from one condition to another, the audience is not only moved, but we all are left with a better appreciation of our own humanity. As we read her remarkable book, we understand why so few movies today leave us feeling nothign! But now, with the ideas she puts forth in this book, that can all change."

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"Theme, character, and transformational arc often get convoluted and confused in the complicated process of script development. Dara's Inside Story takes the highly complex craft of screenwriting and breaks it down into the simple art of good storytelling."