Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting

In story, we concentrate on that moment, and only that moment, in which a character takes an action expecting a useful reaction from his world, but instead the effect of his action is to provoke forces of antagonism. The world of the character reacts differently than expected, more powerfully than expected, or both.

Limitation is vital. The first step toward a well-told story is to create a small, knowable world.

With rare exceptions, unrecognized genius is a myth.

A BEAT is an exchange of behavior in action/reaction. Beat by Beat these changing behaviors shape the turning of a scene.

Americans are escapees from prisons of stagnant culture and rigid class who crave change.

You may think you know, but you don’t know you know until you can write it down.

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Story is metaphor for life.

A film isn’t just moments of conflict or activity, personality or emotionality, witty talk or symbols. What the writer seeks are events, for an event contains all the above and more.

The weakest possible excuse to include anything in a story is: “But it actually happened.