--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I never start with the story first, which…" description: "\"I never start with the story first, which is maybe obvious, because the narrative line of my films is really not that strong or dramatic. They're very ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/jim-jarmusch-3256_dramatic_i-never-start-with-the-story-first-which_3168404.png" --- # I never start with the story first, which is maybe… ![“I never start with the story first, which is maybe obvious, because the narrative line of my films is really not that strong or dramatic. They're very simple.” quote by Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/jim-jarmusch-3256_dramatic_i-never-start-with-the-story-first-which_3168404.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/jim-jarmusch-3256_dramatic_i-never-start-with-the-story-first-which_3168404.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/jim-jarmusch-3256_dramatic_i-never-start-with-the-story-first-which_3168404.png) > “I never start with the story first, which is maybe obvious, because the narrative line of my films is really not that strong or dramatic. They're very simple.” [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He admits his films lack strong, dramatic narratives, favoring simple storytelling. **In simple terms:** His movies are simple, not dramatic. Key Takeaway Embrace simplicity in storytelling. Themes film storytelling simplicity Mood reflective introspective Type artistic personal When to use this quote - indie filmmaking - screenwriting - directorial style Key Concepts narrative structure artistic choice Questions to Reflect On - How does simplicity affect viewer connection? - Can simplicity be a deliberate artistic strategy? A Different Perspective Simplicity may limit audience engagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dramatic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dramatic/) [Film](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/film/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) ## Related quotes > [“I am yours. It's both as dramatic and as simple as that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-ridley/i-am-yours-it-s-both-as-dramatic-and-as-simple-as-that/) Erica Ridley > [We tell ourselves stories in order to live...We look for the sermon in the suicide, for the social or moral lesson in the murder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/we-tell-ourselves-stories-in-order-to-live-we-look-for-the-sermon-in/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [We live entirely, especially if we are writers, by the imposition of a narrative line upon disparate images.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/we-live-entirely-especially-if-we-are-writers-by-the-imposition-of-a-2/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Ida was a natural historian who knew how to throw in enough fiction to keep up dramtic tension. And she was replete with details,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-piesman/ida-was-a-natural-historian-who-knew-how-to-throw-in-enough-fiction/) Marissa Piesman > [I'm working on my own life story. I don't mean I'm putting it together; no, I'm taking it apart. If you'd wanted the narrative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-m-working-on-my-own-life-story-i-don-t-mean-i-m-putting-it-together-2/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [We tell ourselves stories in order to live. We live entirely by the impression of a narrative line upon disparate images, the shifting phantasmagoria,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/we-tell-ourselves-stories-in-order-to-live-we-live-entirely-by-the/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Everyone’s got a version of the same story, or maybe there’s no such thing as the same story; it’s a different story every time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-tei-yamashita/everyone-s-got-a-version-of-the-same-story-or-maybe-there-s-no-such/) [Karen Tei Yamashita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-tei-yamashita/) > [It's pretty easy to think of the idea of a story, and maybe even to write a scene or two, but understanding the ebb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-green/it-s-pretty-easy-to-think-of-the-idea-of-a-story-and-maybe-even-to/) [Dennis Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-green/) > [I detest the word plot. I never, never think of plot. 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We were trying to raise money in the midst of shooting it, and just explaining to people took a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-quinn/hoop-dreams-was-an-unbelievable-struggle-we-were-trying-to-raise/) [Gordon Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-quinn/) > [“How are you going do your writings? How can the others understand you through words describing places, sensations, thoughts, feelings, hope, love, separations on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-vanderbuilt/how-are-you-going-do-your-writings-how-can-the-others-understand-you/) [Frederick Vanderbuilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-vanderbuilt/) > [“Someday you'll have to tell me the whole story behind you two." "Maybe. But first, I have to figure it out myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-kane/someday-you-ll-have-to-tell-me-the-whole-story-behind-you-two-maybe/) [Andrea Kane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-kane/) > [I didn't ever think of it as a social thing at the time. I took it as a good story. Maybe because I've always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-steiger/i-didn-t-ever-think-of-it-as-a-social-thing-at-the-time-i-took-it-as/) [Rod Steiger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-steiger/) ## More by Jim Jarmusch > [I realized, "Gee, you're making the same film over and over here." I just kept making them for my own amusement, but also with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/i-realized-gee-you-re-making-the-same-film-over-and-over-here-i-just/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) > [The beauty of ideas is that they are like waves in the ocean and they connect with things that came before them, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/the-beauty-of-ideas-is-that-they-are-like-waves-in-the-ocean-and-they/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) > [Nothing is original.. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. 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I find it beautiful to watch and I like that they break for tea. That is very cool,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/cricket-makes-no-sense-to-me-i-find-it-beautiful-to-watch-and-i-like/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) > [I'm like a navigator and I try to encourage our collaboration and find the best way that will produce fruit. I like fruit. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/i-m-like-a-navigator-and-i-try-to-encourage-our-collaboration-and/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) > [When I left Ohio when I was 17 and ended up in New York and realised that not all films had the giant crab…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/when-i-left-ohio-when-i-was-17-and-ended-up-in-new-york-and-realised/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) > [The beauty of a movie is that you walk in, you don't know anything about it, you enter a world that's new to you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/the-beauty-of-a-movie-is-that-you-walk-in-you-don-t-know-anything/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) > [Before she married my father, my mother was a film reviewer for The Akron Beacon Journal - a small newspaper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/before-she-married-my-father-my-mother-was-a-film-reviewer-for-the/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) > [There is something very pleasurable about watching cartoons, a really warm, comfortable feeling. My taste is quite broad, but most of all I like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/there-is-something-very-pleasurable-about-watching-cartoons-a-really/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) [Explore all 135 Jim Jarmusch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) ## More Dramatic quotes > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think if I have any kind of unique gift, it's more in the comedy area than it is in the dramatic area.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sullivan/i-think-if-i-have-any-kind-of-unique-gift-it-s-more-in-the-comedy/) [Susan Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sullivan/) > [A counted number of pulses only is given to us of a variegated, dramatic life. How may we see in them all that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/a-counted-number-of-pulses-only-is-given-to-us-of-a-variegated/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. Now I am living on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/sure-i-m-dramatic-and-sloppily-semi-cynical-and-semi-sentimental-but/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [There is a comfort zone of knowing where things are going and having characters in place, but the action gets more and more dramatic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-b-jenkins/there-is-a-comfort-zone-of-knowing-where-things-are-going-and-having/) [Jerry B. Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-b-jenkins/) > [I really think the biopic thing so rarely works, because peoples lives dont have a dramatic shape that can be satisfying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-condon/i-really-think-the-biopic-thing-so-rarely-works-because-peoples-lives/) [Bill Condon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-condon/) > [“I am yours. It's both as dramatic and as simple as that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-ridley/i-am-yours-it-s-both-as-dramatic-and-as-simple-as-that/) Erica Ridley > [My illness is one often characterized by dramatic overspending - in my case through frenzied shopping sprees, credit card abuse, excessive hoarding of unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/my-illness-is-one-often-characterized-by-dramatic-overspending-in-my/) [Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/) > [We have committed ourselves to pursue joint policies, but then national governments say, "We aren't bound by that." That is a dramatic situation, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-schulz/we-have-committed-ourselves-to-pursue-joint-policies-but-then/) [Martin Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-schulz/) > [Failure in the theater is more dramatic and uglier than any other form of writing. It costs so much, you feel so guilty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-dramatic-and-uglier-than-any-other/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [Schengen cannot survive without the most dramatic reform, and the external borders of Europe must be rapidly strengthened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-soames/schengen-cannot-survive-without-the-most-dramatic-reform-and-the/) [Nicholas Soames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-soames/) > [In 2008, Bitcoin was mysteriously introduced to the world in an obscure, technical paper written under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. By late 2013, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-hanke/in-2008-bitcoin-was-mysteriously-introduced-to-the-world-in-an/) [Steve Hanke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-hanke/) > [I was going to say 'my friend Stuart', but I suppose he's not a friend any more. 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