--- product_id: 111258225 title: "The Idea: The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen, Stage or Fiction" price: "R576" currency: ZAR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/111258225-the-idea-the-seven-elements-of-a-viable-story-screen store_origin: ZA region: South Africa --- # The Idea: The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen, Stage or Fiction **Price:** R576 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Idea: The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen, Stage or Fiction - **How much does it cost?** R576 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.za](https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/111258225-the-idea-the-seven-elements-of-a-viable-story-screen) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Write Stories That Could Actually Sell Most writing books focus on structure, scenes, dialogue, and execution. But long before those things matter, a more fundamental question must be answered: Is the idea itself strong enough? Many writers spend months—or years—developing stories with hidden weaknesses. Problems with the concept, stakes, originality, emotional connection, or audience appeal often don't become obvious until deep into the writing process—or after the script or manuscript is finished. The Idea takes a different approach. Drawing on Emmy-winning writer-producer Erik Bork's experience in film and television, the book identifies seven essential elements found in stories that succeed commercially and creatively. Together, these elements form the acronym PROBLEM : Punishing Relatable Original Believable Life-Altering Entertaining Meaningful Through examples, analysis, and practical guidance, you'll learn how to evaluate your own ideas before investing months of work in them—and how to strengthen concepts that aren't yet reaching their full potential. Whether you write screenplays, novels, television pilots, plays, or other narrative forms, The Idea provides a framework for identifying story problems early and building projects with a stronger chance of connecting with audiences. Most screenwriting books tend to focus on story structure, scene writing, navigating the business, and other parts of the craft that come AFTER the initial choice of the central concept for a story. Review: A must read for the serious writer - There are many books on screenwriting and even more opinions on which are good and which are junk. My opinion is that this is one of the better books, if not along the best. Any screenwriter worth their salt will tell you, you never stop learning. That comes through writing, reading scripts, and learning from others: books, seminars, classes, or simply taking to and listening to those doing it. There are bits of wisdom out there. But those same screenwriters will tell you they only have so much time in a day, so they look for something or value. This book is among the worthwhile. Perhaps I like Botk’s approach because I come out of the UCLA system where he teaches. Perhaps it’s the clear, well written, enjoyable read with outstanding points, ideas, and explanations for how to enact what he’s offering. Perhaps it’s simply because it’s a good, well written book that offers outstanding ideas. For all the books I’ve read (around a dozen in screenwriting) this is one of my top two - and they are tied. But where even that other book I couldn’t take all on board or agreed with - for myself - Bork speaks to me and I’m with him all the way - again for me. I’d already begin reading articles from his blog before I put the two together, then through that found his book, and I’m glad I did. Well worth the read. Review: Hands down THE BEST screenwriting book out there - For a while now, I've shared Bork's sense that the basic premise of a script is the most important part, and doesn't get nearly enough attention in screenwriting pedagogy. I bought the book to see what he had to say on this subject, though I expected to be disappointed—like many, I thought that "having good ideas" was a talent one either has or doesn't, and that a craft book would have very little to say about it that was generalizable enough to be useful. I couldn't have been more wrong. This is the book every screenwriter should start with. Not Story, not Save the Cat. As Bork very convincingly lays out, the basic idea IS what usually makes or breaks a script, and there ARE principles for what makes a good one—principles that are specific enough that they're hardly ever done right, and general enough that they apply to almost any project, not just the "mainstream Hollywood" movies that many of us writers deride. These principles are the Seven Story Elements, which brilliantly add up to the acronym PROBLEM. Some of them are well-known, like the fact that we need a relatable character facing a problem that's really, really hard. Others are genuinely new, like the idea of shooting for a specific entertainment, which in all my study of screenwriting I've never seen anyone break down as well as Bork does here. And whether they're old hat or new insights, they're all absolutely, 100% on-point, and will make you see your writing far more clearly. I can't stress this last part enough. This is truly 200 pages of just the good stuff, the stuff that matters to us writers and can help us understand what we need to do to improve our work. A huge reason for this, counter-intuitively, is that Bork only tells us how things should work, and why they often don't—he doesn't spend a lot of time on "how to fix it." I'd have thought I'd want more of this, but in retrospect, I realized these have been some of the least helpful parts of other books. Everyone has they're own process; I don't want to be told to change the way I think, or even how I approach my writing, for the most part. What I want is clarity on my overall goals—what I should be shooting for in trying to develop solid, viable script ideas. And this book is nothing less than a bible on what we as aspiring professional writers should be looking for in our concepts. I also hugely, hugely appreciate how this book is written. It's incredibly clear and simple, distilling each of the seven points down to their most basic and fundamental tennants. Bork, more than any other screenwriting author I've read, has a great sense of just how specific to get without crossing over into his own personal tastes or proprietary theories of drama. He's also the only screenwriting author I've found who writes with real humility and empathy. I could barely get through Story and Save the Cat, because these writers came off as such jerks—unlike them, Bork doesn't make you feel like he's better than you, or that you're stupid for not already knowing what he's telling you. He just shares his insights, accumulated through years of experience, about "what audiences tend to want." And he acknowledges at multiple points how hard it is to do what he's telling you to do, sometimes even for him. This tone made it easy, even pleasurable, to absorb all the brilliant wisdom he had to offer. If you're on this page for any reason, buy this book now! I personally guarantee it will be some of the best $8 you ever spend. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #192,081 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #48 in Screenplays #63 in Screenwriting (Books) #92 in Playwriting (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 932 Reviews | ## Images ![The Idea: The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen, Stage or Fiction - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61yankwY0vL.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Media Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A must read for the serious writer *by Q***7 on February 26, 2021* There are many books on screenwriting and even more opinions on which are good and which are junk. My opinion is that this is one of the better books, if not along the best. Any screenwriter worth their salt will tell you, you never stop learning. That comes through writing, reading scripts, and learning from others: books, seminars, classes, or simply taking to and listening to those doing it. There are bits of wisdom out there. But those same screenwriters will tell you they only have so much time in a day, so they look for something or value. This book is among the worthwhile. Perhaps I like Botk’s approach because I come out of the UCLA system where he teaches. Perhaps it’s the clear, well written, enjoyable read with outstanding points, ideas, and explanations for how to enact what he’s offering. Perhaps it’s simply because it’s a good, well written book that offers outstanding ideas. For all the books I’ve read (around a dozen in screenwriting) this is one of my top two - and they are tied. But where even that other book I couldn’t take all on board or agreed with - for myself - Bork speaks to me and I’m with him all the way - again for me. I’d already begin reading articles from his blog before I put the two together, then through that found his book, and I’m glad I did. Well worth the read. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Hands down THE BEST screenwriting book out there *by M***H on January 3, 2019* For a while now, I've shared Bork's sense that the basic premise of a script is the most important part, and doesn't get nearly enough attention in screenwriting pedagogy. I bought the book to see what he had to say on this subject, though I expected to be disappointed—like many, I thought that "having good ideas" was a talent one either has or doesn't, and that a craft book would have very little to say about it that was generalizable enough to be useful. I couldn't have been more wrong. This is the book every screenwriter should start with. Not Story, not Save the Cat. As Bork very convincingly lays out, the basic idea IS what usually makes or breaks a script, and there ARE principles for what makes a good one—principles that are specific enough that they're hardly ever done right, and general enough that they apply to almost any project, not just the "mainstream Hollywood" movies that many of us writers deride. These principles are the Seven Story Elements, which brilliantly add up to the acronym PROBLEM. Some of them are well-known, like the fact that we need a relatable character facing a problem that's really, really hard. Others are genuinely new, like the idea of shooting for a specific entertainment, which in all my study of screenwriting I've never seen anyone break down as well as Bork does here. And whether they're old hat or new insights, they're all absolutely, 100% on-point, and will make you see your writing far more clearly. I can't stress this last part enough. This is truly 200 pages of just the good stuff, the stuff that matters to us writers and can help us understand what we need to do to improve our work. A huge reason for this, counter-intuitively, is that Bork only tells us how things should work, and why they often don't—he doesn't spend a lot of time on "how to fix it." I'd have thought I'd want more of this, but in retrospect, I realized these have been some of the least helpful parts of other books. Everyone has they're own process; I don't want to be told to change the way I think, or even how I approach my writing, for the most part. What I want is clarity on my overall goals—what I should be shooting for in trying to develop solid, viable script ideas. And this book is nothing less than a bible on what we as aspiring professional writers should be looking for in our concepts. I also hugely, hugely appreciate how this book is written. It's incredibly clear and simple, distilling each of the seven points down to their most basic and fundamental tennants. Bork, more than any other screenwriting author I've read, has a great sense of just how specific to get without crossing over into his own personal tastes or proprietary theories of drama. He's also the only screenwriting author I've found who writes with real humility and empathy. I could barely get through Story and Save the Cat, because these writers came off as such jerks—unlike them, Bork doesn't make you feel like he's better than you, or that you're stupid for not already knowing what he's telling you. He just shares his insights, accumulated through years of experience, about "what audiences tend to want." And he acknowledges at multiple points how hard it is to do what he's telling you to do, sometimes even for him. This tone made it easy, even pleasurable, to absorb all the brilliant wisdom he had to offer. If you're on this page for any reason, buy this book now! I personally guarantee it will be some of the best $8 you ever spend. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Best book of writing I've seen yet *by L***B on July 23, 2019* So far this book is ironically good. It has some good thoughts, but lots of tedious exposition. It self indulges references to personally influencial works but without giving enough support to make it meaningful. This leads the book to be tedious mediocrity with a few nice nuggets --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/111258225-the-idea-the-seven-elements-of-a-viable-story-screen](https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/111258225-the-idea-the-seven-elements-of-a-viable-story-screen) --- *Product available on Desertcart South Africa* *Store origin: ZA* *Last updated: 2026-09-01*