“A story should have a beginning, middle, and end, but not necessarily in that order.”
—Jean-Luc Godard
“The purpose of great narrative fiction is to argue a particular point-of-view through the context of problem-solving”
—James R. Hull, narrativefirst.com
“Poor structure can alienate an audience in the same way that a good joke can be wrecked by poor telling.“
—The 21st Century Screenplay, Linda Aronson
“The worst crime you can commit is telling [the audience] something they already know.”
—Aaron Sorkin
“Write what you feel and write what’s in your heart and write something that means something to you.”
—Larry Wilson (Beetlejuice)
“Sentimentality is ‘unearned emotion’.”
—The 21st Century Screenplay, Linda Aronson
“The scene is not about what the scene is about.“
—Story, Robert McKee
“Revenge is your past controlling you”
—William C. Martell
“In a film, character is what it does… think about what your characters do or might do, rather than what they are.”
—The 21st Century Screenplay, Linda Aronson
“The hero is the audience.“
—Eric Edson
“The protagonist must be empathetic; he may or may not be sympathetic.”
—Story, Robert McKee
“I worship at the altar of intention and obstacle”
—Aaron Sorkin
“Put the worst most unforgivable parts of yourself into your characters”
—William C. Martell
“A skin jump is when the audience becomes the person on screen”
—William C. Martell