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Writer Quotes by Robert McKee

9 Writer quotes by Robert McKee

All Writer quotes Robert McKee’s page

If you’re curious about what drives a seasoned screenwriting teacher, this short set of nine thoughts gives a quick taste of McKee’s approach to craft and narrative.

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We rarely know where we are going; writing is a discovery.

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Writing is a marathon, not a sprint.

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Anxious, inexperienced writers obey rules. Rebellious, unschooled writers break rules. Artists master the form.

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The material of literary talent is words; the material of story talent is life itself.

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Don't be didactic - don't write about poverty. Write about poor people. When you dramatize their lives and let life and characters…

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Write every day, line by line, page by page, hour by hour. Do this despite fear. For above all else, beyond imagination…

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When talented people write badly, it's generally for one of two reasons: Either they're blinded by an idea they feel compelled to…

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“Beyond imagination and insight, the most important component of talent is perseverance—the will to write and rewrite in pursuit of perfection. Therefore,…

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“Nothing moves forward in a story except through conflict. Writers who cannot grasp this truth, the truth of conflict, writers who have…

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More by Robert McKee

Story isn't a flight from reality but a vehicle that carries us on our search for reality,

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Don't be didactic - don't write about poverty. Write about poor people. When you dramatize their lives and let life and characters be your…

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To connect to people at the deepest level, you need stories.

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Talent without craft is like fuel without an engine, it burns wildly but accomplishes nothing.

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“If the story you're telling, is the story you're telling, you're in deep shit.”

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Classical design is a mirror of the human mind. It's how we see the world.

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To get the truth, you want to get your own heart to pound while you write.

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What happens is fact, not truth. Truth is what we think about what happens.

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The universal erosion of values has lead to the universal erosion of story.

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In a world of lies and liars, an honest work of art is always an act of social responsibility.

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Influence is just persuasion in slow motion.

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Good story' means something worth telling that the world wants to hear. Finding this is your lonely task...But the love of a good story,…

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Most of life's actions are within our reach, but decisions take willpower.

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We realize we can't go around saying and doing what we're actually thinking and feeling. If we all did that, life would be a…

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Oh, by the way, I tend to use a lot of profanities. I do that for a reason: I like it.

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